Hot Tea; Cool Fingers - with Sugru

I think all of us have been seduced by lovely a teacup, but the romance may only be a one night stand when you come to find out your cup lacks a handle and is hotter than your fingers can't stand to hold on to. Maybe the lovely cup gets delegated to the back of the cupboard, maybe it ends up holding pens and pencils. How sad.

Well 6 years ago a dear potter friend made me two very special cups, but alas I could not use them because there was nothing to hold the heat away from my fingers. They sat, forlorn and unused in my cupboard - until Sugru came along - and made me happy and my teacups happy. Especially because what I did to make them useful in no way took away from their beautiful and simple design. This 'ible will help all sad forsaken teacups out there - and with very little instructions - it's all in the photos.

If you don't yet know about Sugru I will give you a little information here, otherwise move right along to the steps. So, Sugru is a really great new product made in London. It acts like sticky clay for a few minutes, then acts like clay for half hour or so, then it hardens and acts like rubber. In fact it is silicone rubber. The hardest thing about using it it to open the package and think what to do with it - once you do that though the ideas just keep coming. But don't open the package until you know what you want to do.

It bonds to itself, aluminium, steel, ceramics, glass, wood, leather and some plastics. Go to their website to find out how to buy it and for lots of great ideas on what to do with it at Sugru.

Step 1 Supplies

• I teacup you love but don't use because it gets too hot to hold.
• A decision on whether or not you use 4 fingers or 5, to drink tea.
• 1 package of Sugru

Comments

[amizzy55]

wow this is so genius. i always used a towel to hold a hot teacup. thanks to you i shall towel no more!! Thanks a lot!

[Ninzerbean]

That is a funny visual.

[evan1123]

One thing you can do to keep the Sugru from sticking to your fingers is to wet them first. Nice instructable!

[Ninzerbean]

Great tip! Thank you.

[porcupinemamma]

You find, and share the coolest stuff. Thanks a lot. :0) xxoo

[Ninzerbean]

No, YOU find and give compliments on the coolest stuff - not just mine, I see your encouraging comments everywhere on this site, thank you for all the positive feedback you leave to everyone!

[canida]

A neat idea, and it looks great too!

[RadBear]

Couldn't wait for the contest?

[Ninzerbean]

I have one I am saving for the contest, or two, or three...

[RadBear]

Ahhhh...the crafty Nizerbean practices stratgey in the cut throat Ibleverse!!!

[projectsugru]

Hey, I love this, such a cool idea and it looks fantastic. sugru should not damage the glaze should you want to remove it. But to be safe, I would recommend cutting the bulk of the material off first and then just scraping the residue off with your fingernails. Happy tea drinking :)

[PKM]

Should you want to remove the sugru, I wonder what will happen? Do you know how it will interact with the glaze? I'd hate to wreck a handmade cup by sticking things to it... (but then if you leave the sugru on that probably won't be an issue)

[Ninzerbean]

Well you have 24 hours to change your mind, I put some on a sea shell and after 8 hours found the idea I had didn't work (magnets I used were not strong enough) and I just scraped off the bits with my finger nail. I don't want to try with my orange cup but I will try with my blue cup because I find I don't need the dot for my pinkie, hold on a second while I try... I peeled it off, no harm to the glaze! Good question, thanks.

[sniper_lew]

Great Idea, but what happens when you want to clean the cups? Is it dishwasher safe?

[Ninzerbean]

Yes, it says so above, not a problem. I have so many more things to do with this stuff I ordered two more packages. Click on the highlighted "Sugru" in the intro to go to their website, it even states that things are dishwasher proof. And thank you! I waited a week before I published this so I could put the cups though some normal day in and day out use.

[ChrysN]

Clever!

[Ninzerbean]

I never thought of myself as a hacker but maybe I am, thank you!

[Jayefuu]

Ha ha that's amazing. Love it.

[Ninzerbean]

He he, I 'm just getting started... Thank you!

[Jayefuu]

You missed a good pun then.... should have been "I'm just warming up". Though that's good to hear because you're..... 27483 behind! *blows raspberry*

[Ninzerbean]

*blows raspberry back*

[jen7714]

That's a really cool idea- like oven mitts already attached!!! Great job!

[Ninzerbean]

Thanks!