A test of sharpies on a ceramic mug.

There's been a lot of talk of using a regular sharpie marker to decorate a mug, baked in the oven for 350 deg for 30 mins. Some say it worked great for them and others say it doesn't work at all. Of course, I had to try it for myself.

DIYopolis has a great list of tips to try for this sharpie thing.

Edited October 18/14 - the link for DYIoplolis doesn't seem to exist anymore.

1. Cheap ceramic mug - yep.
2. Clean well - yep.
3. Wipe area with rubbing alcohol - yep.
4. Write or draw design and let dry for 24 hours - yep.
5. Bake for 425 deg for 30 mins -yep.

As a test, I used a red regular Sharpie and used oil paint Sharpies for the black and purple. I wanted to see how they compared.

Just painted, before baking. 

In hindsight, I should have tested with a regular black sharpie too. The red was nice and bright before baking but faded to an orange colour after.

After baking

This is the mug after cooling in the oven and washed by hand with a dishcloth and dish soap. Scrubing wasn't vigorous - just washed as a normal coffee mug would be. The black and purple paint markers held up well to the baking. The red faded but seems to be ok.  Next test will be the dishwasher. 

This is the mug after the dishwasher. It seems to have worked...with the exception of the red fading, the regular sharpie stayed on. The purple is the same - looks different as the dishwasher photo was taken inside.