Guide to buying Personalised Coffee Mugs, Promotional Mugs, Photo Mugs and Printed Mugs.

The minute or two that it takes to read this article may save you hundreds of dollars !!!

Purchasing a Personalised Coffee Mug with name/logo printed on it may at first seem rather straight forward, but consider this, how will you look in the eyes of your customers when only after a few washes in a dishwasher your name/logo has faded or is no longer there. You will immediately look cheap and also that special deal on Personalised Coffee Mugs has become an expensive flop.

What you need to know about mugs.

Low Fired Mugs
(Usually called a ceramic mug) The Majority of mugs on the market in Australia come from China or Asia, they are fired in a kiln to around 750 degrees. And are well made and represent great value for money.

Porcelain
Is made of a ceramic material made by heating refined materials, often including clay to high temperatures in a kiln at temperatures between 1,200 C and 1,400 C. Porcelain mugs are stronger, lighter and have a more whiter, glassier, translucent finish than the standard low fired mug.

Bone china
Is a type of Porcelain first developed in Britain in which bone (bone ash) is a major constituent. Fired to similar temperatures as Porcelain. Bone China is finer and whiter in appearance with thinner walls than Porcelain. Both Porcelain and Bone China cost more to produce, but are definitely worth considering when you are looking at making an impression. Bone China is noticeably light and therefore a favorite with the ladies.

What you need to know about decorating your mugs.

Pad Printing
Pad printing is where a silicone pad is used to lift an image from a printing plate after it has been inked and transferring the image to the surface on which you wish to print. Up to 4 colours on hard items like pens, golf balls, plastic or metal items. This is the most common method for branding colour logos to a maximum size of approximately 50mm. The problem with this process is that it is not dishwasher safe, but still used by many promotional companies because it is less expensive.

Low Fired Pad Printing
Not to be confused with standard pad printing which will wash off quickly in a dishwasher, using this process mugs are pad printed using ceramic inks and oven fired to produce a long lasting printed product. This method is dishwasher resistant and microwave safe as well as scratch resistant.

Screen Printing or Silk Screen Printing - High Fired
This process allows larger areas to be printed and produces very good results. The problem is that if the mug is not high fired after printing the decoration is not permanent. All our Screen Printed Mugs are high fired and therefore the image becomes part of the item being branded leaving a decoration, which cannot be removed and will stay in place for the life of the item. Our Screen Printed Mugs are Dishwasher Safe and Microwave Safe (except for silver and gold decorations which are not microwave safe).

Offset Printing - High Fired
This process is used on more complex artwork and for higher quantity print runs. Offset Printing is the choice for photographic and high quality images and is available on all white mugs. Most photographic finishes on mugs are not dishwasher safe, but our unique Australian developed process uses regular offset printing with the latest in-house pre-press technology. The end result is not only an impeccable reproduction, but also offers the permanency of being dishwasher safe as well as Microwave Safe (except for silver and gold decorations which are not microwave safe)

In Summary
Coffee mugs are mostly all similar in terms of quality except for the differences noted with Porcelain and particularly Bone China because of the noticeably lighter weight of the mug. Apart from this the major difference is in the quality of the decoration on the mug. We only sell mugs that are dishwasher safe and can be washed in dishwasher hundreds of times. The majority of processes that we use are considered permanent and will last a lifetime. If you need more information don't hesitate to talk to one of our staff.

See our
Printed Mugs Range