# Heat Pressing Mugs Procedure



## SirNips (Jun 12, 2012)

Quick question,

I was wondering what the standard procedure was for heat pressing mugs? 

There seem to be variations reference time, temp,removing paper post press and dipping in water.

3 mins at around 180c - 200c seems to be a common setting. I was wondering, is that 3 mins when the press gets back up to 200c after placing the mug in it or 3 mins from the point of placing it in the press.

Thanks for any advice


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## pisquee (Jan 8, 2012)

The press needs to be back up to temp before putting the mug in
once you close the press around the mug, your 3 minutes start
depending on the room temperatre, and the temp of the mug you're putting into the press, you will notice the temp of the press drops when the clamp is closed, and may never get back up to the desired temp before the 3 minutes is up, so you may need to tweak your temperature accordingly so that you get a good print.


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## SirNips (Jun 12, 2012)

pisquee said:


> The press needs to be back up to temp before putting the mug in
> once you close the press around the mug, your 3 minutes start
> depending on the room temperatre, and the temp of the mug you're putting into the press, you will notice the temp of the press drops when the clamp is closed, and may never get back up to the desired temp before the 3 minutes is up, so you may need to tweak your temperature accordingly so that you get a good print.


Thanks for the info. I was wondering if perhaps pre-warming the mugs with a hair dryer prior to placing them in the heat press might help maintain a better temp throughout the process?


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

SirNips said:


> Thanks for the info. I was wondering if perhaps pre-warming the mugs with a hair dryer prior to placing them in the heat press might help maintain a better temp throughout the process?


Use either a hot plate ot a toaster oven if you want to preheat, a hair dryer won't get hot enough.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

I get the temp of the press up to 400F, place a "practice mug" in the press for 4 minutes, then start with the serious mugs. I leave it in the press for 4 min. 15 sec. on firm pressure, remove it and place on a baking sheet and then put another mug in the press. It takes about 2 1/2 minutes to get back to 400 degrees. I then take the paper off the one I just printed and leave it on the baking sheet in front of a 4" square fan to cool off. I have never dunked mine in water. I can do about 14 per hr. at this rate. A convection oven and wraps would save time when doing large quantities, but I have more time than money.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

I use a Convection oven and wraps. I can do about 6 mugs at a time. Only problem is it takes 15 minutes. I actually only do 4 at a time since I only have 4 wraps. 

I let them cool enough to take the wraps off with an oven mit. Then I put them in the sink with tap water to finish cooling. Once I remove them I dry and remove the paper. 

They stink, but look really nice.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Mike, If I can ask, how much do you sell 24 and 36 for? You can PM me if you don't feel comfortable giving the info on the forum.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

Paul, PM sent.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Replied. Thx


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

selanac said:


> I use a Convection oven and wraps. I can do about 6 mugs at a time. Only problem is it takes 15 minutes. I actually only do 4 at a time since I only have 4 wraps.
> 
> I let them cool enough to take the wraps off with an oven mit. Then I put them in the sink with tap water to finish cooling. Once I remove them I dry and remove the paper.
> 
> They stink, but look really nice.


Another advantage of wraps is that they don't start the "run away" dye migration like a mug press does since the heating is gradual and even in an oven. Most mugs in a mug press need to be dunked right away in warm water to check the migration. 

I have one of the best mug press made but it still can't beat wraps. I only used the mug press for events or when I did some live retail.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Don't mean to bump the thread, but does anyone have or know where to get Mug Templates/Mockups?


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

mgparrish said:


> Another advantage of wraps is that they don't start the "run away" dye migration like a mug press does since the heating is gradual and even in an oven. Most mugs in a mug press need to be dunked right away in warm water to check the migration.
> 
> I have one of the best mug press made but it still can't beat wraps. I only used the mug press for events or when I did some live retail.


What is this "migration" you speak of? I have printed close to 2000 mugs with my mug press and never had an issue and never dunked. There have even been a few times that I've forgot to take the paper off right away and never had a problem. I also don't use a cover sheet.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

Dye migration within the surface of the coating is caused by persistent heat retained by the ceramic of the mug. The mug can remain at sublimating temperatures for maybe 5 minutes, during which the dyes are still activated even though the paper has been removed. It can cause the colors to bleed. 

It's not always noticeable, and really depends on the coating. If it's not a problem for you then you don't need to worry about it, but ways it can show up is bolder text or lines than you mean to be there. Use a small magnifier to see things up close.

Other ceramic substrates don't have the same problem because they cool faster. A tile has a nicely flat surface that dissipates its heat much more quickly when placed on a marble slab or aluminum baking sheet.

If you quench your mugs just be careful about cracking. The less expensive thin-walled mugs can develop hairline cracks that may leak right off, or after a few washings.

Not sure if paper backing is really needed for a mug press. It's a good idea when using an oven because any transfer paper that sticks out beyond the top and bottom of the mug can dry out, causing cracks. The cracks then spread and can produce voids in any printed parts. The paper is not required if it's trimmed to within the surface area of the mug.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

mn shutterbug said:


> What is this "migration" you speak of? I have printed close to 2000 mugs with my mug press and never had an issue and never dunked. There have even been a few times that I've forgot to take the paper off right away and never had a problem. I also don't use a cover sheet.


It depends on the mug, the coating on the mug and the mug press. 

What happens is that the mug is heated very rapidly and the heat spreads through the mug during the cycle. The bottom of the mug is a much larger mass and is not directly heated. So the heat from the area that is directly heated will travel from the hotter areas to the cooler areas. 

If enough heat is applied over enough time the temperature _eventually_ will be fairly even across the cylinder area. 

Often the problem is the time needed to evenly distribute heat is often too long and you can overcook the mug and also make the image less sharp. So the dyes don't stay stationary when the mug is removed from the press as the heat is still trying to spread into the cooler areas. You will see this more in the top/bottom areas and closer to the handles.

So what happens is an image that can vary from being very noticeably blurry to an image that is not as sharp as it can be.

When you go to larger size mugs and steins there is more area to heat up and the probelm can worsen. Different mugs have different mass and coatings effect this as well.

This is a well known issue, I suspect if you took 2 mugs with an identical image on both, pressed at the same settings, dunk 1 then don't dunk the other you would see a sharper image on the one that was dunked. I have tested some mugs that did OK but they were the same size as the cactus mugs I use but still lighter in mass and the coatings were not dishwasher safe. 

Some mugs can look acceptable without dunking but others cannot. But suggest that same mug would look sharper if dunked.

Dwell time is a big factor but depending on the coating the dwell time needed to get a good image may not be long enough to allow sufficient heat transfer time to heat the mug long enough to allow even heating.

Many here and at other forums report they dunk the mugs, so surprised you haven't heard of this.

Not using cover sheet isn't something I would leave out, just depends on if the dyes don't "blow" through the back side of the paper to the heat platten. Many users end up with backgrounding eventually from lack of cover sheet. 

Many here have posted they also dunk mugs.
A few links on this from DSSI if you think I am making this up.

DSSI

DSSI

DSSI

DSSI

It is a very common practice to dunk or preheat the mug on a small griddle before transfering to prevent migration.

Cactus mugs (see the last post link "Cactus Bob") was a bit down on dunking the mugs due to the potential of cracking them so they recommend a mug warmer which is really just a hot plate.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

To dunk or not to dunk, that is the question. Actually, my mugs always look sharp without dunking and this includes small text, so I have no reason to change my habits. It was recommended to me when I started out to use cover sheets. I did at first, but occasionally I'd forget and never had a problem so I just did away with that extra step. It's never been an issue for me.


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

GordonM said:


> Dye migration within the surface of the coating is caused by persistent heat retained by the ceramic of the mug. The mug can remain at sublimating temperatures for maybe 5 minutes, during which the dyes are still activated even though the paper has been removed. It can cause the colors to bleed.
> 
> It's not always noticeable, and really depends on the coating. If it's not a problem for you then you don't need to worry about it, but ways it can show up is bolder text or lines than you mean to be there. Use a small magnifier to see things up close.
> 
> ...


Yes the mugs can crack, I used fairly warm water, usually dunking the mugs frequently helped keep the water warm as well. One thing that may be not obvious is that when doing live print on demand the cool down time for the mug is too long if you don't dunk. You make the mug in about 5 minutes but takes 10 minutes to cool down before before you can hand it to a customer means they have to come back or wait a long time.

I haven't done live retail or events in a while so the occassions I do mugs now they are always done in a small oven and with wraps. I can get much more closer to the handle and the top bottom areas than I can with a mug press.

For the "blow" paper I always erred on the side of caution with mugs. The transfer paper itself and it's clay coating will effect "blowout" more or less. 

Most of my product are tiles and in that case I print full bleed of course. It didn't take long for my nomex pad under the tile to get some "blowout" from the transfer paper as I don't but a blank sheet between the transfer and the pad. It doesn't effect the tile since the transfer paper completely covers the tile and the transfer paper is not allowing any dyes to transfer from the backside where the "dyed" pad is.

On a mug the areas top and bottom and near the handle get covered by the platen but no printing goes there, so some backgrounding could occur if it gets on the mug press platen or on the wrap. Cutting the transfer precise to fit the cylinder area would help if you don't use paper to prevent "blowout".


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## mgparrish (Jul 9, 2005)

mn shutterbug said:


> To dunk or not to dunk, that is the question. Actually, my mugs always look sharp without dunking and this includes small text, so I have no reason to change my habits. It was recommended to me when I started out to use cover sheets. I did at first, but occasionally I'd forget and never had a problem so I just did away with that extra step. It's never been an issue for me.


But you wouldn't know unless you actually took 2 mugs with the same design and press at the same times then dunk one and don't dunk the other ... then compare side by side. "Sharpness" is a_ relative_ observation. 

Also, the cool down time not dunking is OK if you are not needing to hand the mug to a waiting customer, so may not be a factor for you.


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## sweetts (Apr 4, 2010)

Templates can be found on Conde' site


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Thanks Roger, guess I'll have to brake down and buy some more mugs from them. 

I hate the shipping price, but what else are we going to do. They're heavy and cost a lot to ship.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

Why templates? I buy my transfer paper cut to size at 3 1/2 inches by 9 1/8 inches and then in Photoshop Elements or CorelDraw start a new project the same size as the paper and then line everything up on that. I always print out a sample on my other printer first to make sure everything is exactly where I want it and then tweak here and there if need be. If you use Photoshop or Elements, an imported image drops dead center. If that's where you want it on the mug, you are good to go. If you want it on one side or the other, you only need to move it sideways. it's already centered vertically. Using the rulers option is real helpful.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Need a blank Template to do a mockup for a customer.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

OK, Gotcha.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Thanks for your help Mike.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

mn shutterbug said:


> Why templates? I buy my transfer paper cut to size at 3 1/2 inches by 9 1/8 inches


The problem with the precut paper is that you then can't do full bleed without doing a borderless print, and those aren't really great for your printer. It just makes the dump pad fill up with ink faster, shortening the life of the printer, or else requiring more frequent cleaning with the Simple Green or whatever you use.

Most of my mug designs contain bleed, at least top and bottom, and I've found it's just easier to print on regular-size paper and trim. You can get a couple of mugs on a regular 8.5x14 sheet. When using an oven the printing and cutting can be done as the previous batch of mugs is cooking.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

To recap some on the differences in heat transfer between wrap and press, and why the processes are often different, bear in mind that in a mug press the heat transfers through the paper and directly onto the outer surface of the mug. On wraps, it's just the opposite: the heat is transferred from the interior of the mug, to the surface, where the sublimation then takes places. 

The wrap uses a silicon sheet that has poor thermal conductivity, and the inside-out transfer is one of the things that can make wrapped mugs have a more even appearance. It's the same with tiles when pressing them bottom-end up. The heat is more evenly spread out into the tile before the sublimation starts in earnest.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

I've had my Ricoh for a little over a year and put thru close to 1000 prints and only done a head cleaning 3 times. I'm not too worried. If it takes a dump now, my cost would have figured out to about a quarter a print. However, I think it will go for quite awhile yet. I've either been cutting the paper before hand, or more recently, buying it already cut, since I started printing mugs. Different strokes for different folks.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

GordonM said:


> It just makes the dump pad fill up with ink faster, shortening the life of the printer, or else requiring more frequent cleaning with the Simple Green or whatever you use.


You can Add a Waste Ink Tank to reduce the Dump Pad issue. Do a search for Waste Ink Tank on youTube and you'll find a fix. Also don't reuse the ink. Some people were using it for black ink. Problem is that it's the waste ink, and my have clumps of ink in it.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

Waste tanks won't help the pads used for borderless prints. That ink gets absorbed into the treated foam that runs the length of the print carriage. The waste tank collects ink from the capping station and wiper.


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