How to Bake a Painted Mug to Make it Dishwasher Safe
One of my daughter’s favorite things to do when she was about 4 years old was to make my coffee in the morning before I go downstairs. She started this routine on her own and it is the best. What a sweetie. She told me the other day that she wanted to make me a coffee mug. I, of course, obliged and we bought some supplies so I could show her how to bake a painted mug after she was done. Just recently, not only has she made my coffee, she places it on the kitchen table along side of my notebook and pen and my laptop. She even plugs it in! Anyway, here is how we did it!
Here’s What You Need
Time: A few hours
Materials:
This list and instructions contain affiliate links to my recommended products for paint.
- Ceramic Mug
- Enamel
or Oil Based Paint - Paintbrush
Equipment:
- Oven
- Timer
Watch the YouTube Video
Selecting the Paint
The main reason for baking a painted mug is to make the paint permanent and the mug dishwasher safe. This tutorial is for ceramic mugs. Consider going to a thrift store for a large and inexpensive selection. You can use oil based paint markers
(affiliate link) or oil based paints, or any paint recommended for glass or ceramics. This is also called enamel paint. Enamel paint is oil based and is usually glossy. You can find a great selection of colors at any craft store. If you have doubts, read the label and description. It will usually say, “dishwasher safe”.
Instructions
I laid out some paper and let my daughter unleash her creativity! She is 6 years old and thought this was the coolest craft because of her special morning routine. When she was finished, I followed these easy steps:
- Do not preheat the oven because the mug may crack or shatter if it does not gradually heat. Place the freshly painted mug in a cold oven.
- Turn the oven onto bake at 360°.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- When the 30 minutes is up, turn off the oven, but leave the mug inside. Allow the oven and mug to cool together completely.
As I mentioned, you can now wash the mug in the dishwasher. So far, we have washed this mug four times and so far so good! Please note that we did not scrub the mug, rather rinsed it and then washed it in the dishwasher. Avoid using abrasive sponges on the paint.
Is it microwave safe?
The answer is, it depends on your mug. The mug I chose was microwave safe. The paint has been fine in the microwave as well.
Make these with the kids for:
- Kid’s birthday parties
- Gift for Mother’s or Father’s Day
- Library Crafts
- Christmas gift for Grandparents
- Church or Girl Scout Troop project
Update: This post was originally published on 07/11/2017 but has since been updated and improved. This mug is still my favorite (5 years later) and has lasted many many dishwasher cycles!
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You may also like these fun kids craft ideas:
- How to Tie Dye Shirts
- DIY Doll School Supplies Pencils and Homework
- DIY Pug Bookmark
- Airplane Clothespin Craft Video
Like it? Pin it!
I’d love it if you shared this on Pinterest. Thank you in advance!
This is darling beyond words! If this mug doesn’t get broken over the years, I can guarantee you it will be one of
your price possessions! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much T!! I hope one day she’ll take it to college with her 😉
Love the mug! Thanks for the blog!
I’m just looking at my big solid red coffee mug with one line of white writing (a website address that i don’t care about) wondering if I could paint it 🙂
Did the paint continue to be permanent or did it come off?
Is there something you’d do differently if you were to do it again?
What was the paint that you used (if you recommend it)?
Thanks again!!
Hi Kelly! We still have the mug and it has lasted many many washes! The paint still looks the same. Any acrylic paint will work.
What would happen if you bake the mug with dried paint?
I think it will be fine.
Before baking, did you use a seal on the painted mug? Or would you recommend doing that after baking
Hi Kayla! There is no need to seal it after painting or after baking. 🙂
Hi! Is the mug a glossy normal
one before? Or like the plain ceramic ones you would do at a paint your pottery place?
It was a glossy mug before and I still have it and it’s lasted many many washes! 🙂
Do you bake it for 30 minutes after it reaches 360 or preheat time included?
Hi Katie! I did it time included. I imagine you can keep it in there for 30 minutes after it is preheated, though. I think both would work.
I baked mine as directed and some of the oil paint is still wet. How do I cure it completely?
That is very strange! Paint shouldn’t take that long to dry. Perhaps the paint is defective?
Is it microwave safe?
Yes
Would this be able to be done on a glass mug and stay?
I haven’t personally tested this, however it should also work on glass.