Coffee Mugs

The history of mugs dates back to ancient times. For example, old mugs were usually carved in wood or bone, ceramic or clay shaped. Modern mugs are ceramic materials like bone china, earthenware, porcelain, or stoneware. Some are made from strengthened glass, such as Pyrex. However, these are not the only materials we can find in a mug. Other materials also include enameled metal, plastic, or steel. They have a reduced weight, and their resistance to breakage is premium.

We usually need these kinds of mugs when we go camping. A travel mug is insulated and contains a cowl with a little sipping gap to forestall spills. Mugs also can come with decorations. For example, techniques such as silk screen printing and decals are also applied, such as logos, images, or fan art.

Like a ubiquitous desktop item, the mug is often seen as an object of art or advertisement. Some mugs are instead decorations than drinking vessels. In ancient times, traditionally, mugs were carved and had some decorations applied to them. Deforming a mug in an unusual shape was often the ideal decoration. However, nowadays, the most popular decoration technique is printing on mugs. They are usually performed as follows: ceramic powder is mixed with a chosen color dye and a plasticizer. Then everything is printed on gelatin-coated paper using a traditional screen-printing technique. The mixture is then applied through a fine woven mesh stretched on a frame and has a mask of the desired shape.

The technique produces a thin homogeneous coating. However, the ceramic mixture is painted directly with a brush if smoothness is required. Besides, there is another more complex alternative. This technique is to coat the paper with a photographic emulsion, photoprint the image and then use ultraviolet light where you can cure the emulsion. After the printed paper called litho is dried, it can be stored indefinitely. When it is time to decorate the mug, the litho is first softened in warm water, then applied to the mug. This process detaches the gelatin cover with the printed image from the paper, and then it is applied to the mug. The mug is then kept in heat at 700-750 °C. This softens the top surface of the glaze then the image is embedded into it.

Another popular way to store mugs is with the help of the “mug tree”, which is a wooden/metal pole mounted on a round base and fitted with pegs to hand mugs by their handles. There are also designed rags for hanging mugs.