How to Fix a Ceramic Drinking Cup

Ceramic mugs and drinking cups are prone to breakage due to frequent use.

Ceramic mugs and drinking cups are often personalized and they frequently have sentimental value, but unfortunately, they're also prone to breakage because they're carried around and used on a daily basis. When a piece of glazed ceramic breaks, bits of glaze may chip away. So in addition to gluing the pieces back together, you may need to apply patches to fill in the craters and gaps where the glaze has broken away from the underlying ceramic.

Things You'll Need

• Water
• Dish soap
• Paper towels
• Latex gloves
• Super glue
• Single-edged razor blade
• Epoxy bonding putty
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Clear food-safe lacquer
• Newspaper

Instructions

1. Wash the cup and the broken pieces with dish soap and rinse thoroughly.

2. Dry the cup fragments with a paper towel or lint-free towel.

3. Don latex gloves to protect the cup from skin oils. The oils will prevent proper adherence.

4. Apply super glue to the fracture lines and press the broken pieces back together. Hold the pieces in place until the glue sets.

5. Use a single-edged razor blade to scrape away excess super glue from the cup's exterior.

6. Apply epoxy bonding putty to the exterior of the cup along the fracture line and patch craters resulting from chipped-off glaze.

7. Dampen your finger and smooth the putty so it's flush with the rest of the cup's surface. Allow the putty to set per the instructions on the package.

8. Apply acrylic paint to the putty patches and blend the paint with the surrounding areas. Allow the paint to dry.

9. Place the cup face-down on a piece of newspaper and apply three coats of clear, food-safe spray on lacquer to the outside of the cup. Allow each coat to dry between applications.

10. Wash the cup before use.

Tips & Warnings

• Repairs will hold better if you hand-wash your cup and avoid the microwave.

• If it's a clean break, with no glaze chipping, you can skip Steps 5 and 6.

• If you do not feel comfortable performing the repairs, you can bring the broken cup to a professional potter for repairs. Experienced potters can also create a duplicate cup based on the original.

• You may need to paint undamaged regions of the cup to help camouflage the repaired portions.

• Do not apply lacquer to the inside of the drinking cup.

• Do not use bonding putty and paint on the inside of the cup. The constant exposure to heat and cold will cause the patches to disintegrate.