We design and manufacture custom water bottles in bulk for importers, brand owners and promotional buyers worldwide — stainless steel, Tritan, plastic and more, with your logo, your Pantone colour and retail-ready packaging, from a 500-piece MOQ. Made in our own plant in Yongkang, Zhejiang, on tooling we have been cutting since 1998. Buyers phrase it differently — customized water bottles, customizable water bottles, custom made water bottles — but it is the same production line, and customised water bottle labels, stickers and insert cards run in-house alongside it.
Everything happens under one roof, so your custom water bottles are consistent, certified and priced direct from the factory.
Branded, promotional, or private-label — whatever you call them, we build custom water bottles with your logo in bulk at wholesale pricing.
A real factory
Manufacturing since 1998 with in-house mould development, vacuum welding, spray-painting and printing. You deal with the team that actually makes it.
Low MOQ
Start at 500 pcs per design (1,000 for a fully custom Pantone colour). Test the market without a huge first order.
Certified & compliant
FDA 21 CFR, California Prop 65, LFGB, EU 1935/2004 and GRS recycled materials — reports on request.
Full custom branding
Laser engraving, silk screen, UV, heat transfer and in-mould label; custom caps, sleeves and retail/FBA packaging.
Customisation
What you can customise
You customise the bottle itself plus custom water bottle labels, caps, lids, colours and your branded logo — everything a private-label or promotional program needs.
Send us a sketch, a sample or just an idea — we turn it into a production-ready custom design water bottle.
Material
304/316 stainless steel, Tritan, food-grade AS & PP and bamboo-fibre options.
Colour
Any Pantone colour — matte, gloss, gradient, soft-touch or powder-coat finishes.
Logo & artwork
Laser engraving, silk screen, UV, full-wrap heat transfer and in-mould label.
Cap & accessories
Sport caps, straws, handles, sleeves, wrist straps and gift accessories.
Capacity & shape
Stock sizes 250ml–1L, or a brand-new custom shape from a steel or plastic mould (from ~US$2,000–3,000 per part; US$10,000–20,000+ for a complete set, more for a complex design).
Packaging
PE bag, colour gift box, custom retail packaging, UPC/EAN, FNSKU and FBA-ready cartons.
Product range
Custom water bottle types we make
Over 500 SKUs across 10+ categories — every one can be customised with your brand.
From a 500-piece pilot run to full container loads, you get factory-direct wholesale pricing — the more you order, the lower the unit cost. Typical first order: MOQ 500 pcs per design, custom Pantone from 1,000 pcs, samples in 7–10 days and bulk production in about 30 days. New custom moulds start from about US$2,000–3,000 per part.
Tell us style, quantity, logo and packaging — or ask for our catalogue.
Quote & artwork
We quote within 24 hours and prepare your logo mock-up and colour match.
Sample
Pre-production sample in 7–10 days for your approval.
Production
Bulk run in about 30 days after deposit, with in-line QC.
Shipping
Retail/FBA packing and shipping by sea or air, direct to you or your FC.
Choosing a material
Which material actually fits your programme
Nearly every custom water bottle enquiry starts with a shape the buyer likes and ends with a material decision, because material is what sets your MOQ, your unit cost and what you are allowed to promise on the packaging. Here is how the four families actually behave on our lines.
304 and 316 stainless steel. The default for insulated and sports bottles. It takes laser marking, which is permanent and cannot scratch off in a gym bag or a hotel dishwasher — but laser reads as steel-on-steel, not as your brand colour. If your logo has to be a specific Pantone on a steel body, we spray the body first and then print, which is two operations instead of one and shows up in the quote. Steel bottles start at our standard 500-piece MOQ per design.
Tritan and food-grade PP or AS. Lighter, far cheaper to ship, and the right answer for high-volume promotional runs and school or event programmes. Moulded plastic is also where custom colour gets interesting: because we mix and purge resin for a run, a matched Pantone across body, lid and any moulded accessory carries its own minimum. Buyers often plan a five-colour range and only discover at quoting stage that each colour is a separate purge.
Bamboo shell and bamboo lid. A real bamboo outer over a steel or glass inner. It is our premium finish, it laser-engraves beautifully, and no two pieces are identical because the grain is natural — worth telling your end customer rather than treating it as a defect complaint.
Bamboo fibre. Bamboo powder with a corn-starch binder, not melamine. It is the low-cost eco option and it prints well — we solved the logo-adhesion problem on this material in-house, which is not a given with fibre bodies. But be honest with your buyers about the limits, because we are: hand wash only, not dishwasher safe, and rated to about 70 °C. We have third-party food-contact test reports from accredited lab STQ, downloadable from the certifications page rather than promised by email. What we will not do is let you print “certified biodegradable” or “compostable” on the box — we do not hold EN 13432 or ASTM D6400, and a claim like that on a European retail shelf is the kind of thing that gets a shipment pulled.
Branding & budget
Six ways to put your logo on, and what each one costs you
We run six decoration methods in-house. The five shown below cover most briefs; spray painting is the sixth — matte, soft-touch and Pantone-matched bodies, where the colour is in the body rather than printed on top. A matched Pantone is its own spray run from 1,000 pieces. Pad printing and in-mould label are available for specific parts and specific briefs, but for most custom water bottle programmes the decision is between the four printing and marking methods — and picking the wrong one is where budgets and lead times quietly go wrong.
Silk screen
Cheapest per unit at volume, and the method most affected by how closely the line is watched.
Silk screen — what it is best at One to three flat colours, and the cheapest route to a clean logo at any quantity. A single-colour mark on a matte body is where screen printing beats every other method on price, and the ink sits thick enough to stay solid rather than looking washed out. A four-colour logo is a different method entirely, not an upcharge on this one — see the register limit below.Silk screen — one screen per colour Each colour is a separate screen and a separate pass, and each pass has to line up with the last. Three colours means three screens, three setups and three chances to sit a fraction out of register — which is why fine multi-colour artwork with line weight under about 0.3 mm is the wrong brief for this method. The part nobody mentions in a quote: a screen wears as it runs. After enough impressions the mesh edge starts to break down and the print picks up fine burrs — the first pieces off the line look perfect and the ones an hour later do not. There is no machine setting that prevents this; someone has to stand at the line and watch for it, and change the screen when it starts. We staff that position on every screen run. When you compare suppliers, ask who is watching the screen mid-run — the answer separates a quality attitude from a price.Silk screen — what a worn screen produces This is a reject from our own line, not a competitor sample. The screen had run past its useful life and the mesh edge had started to break down, so the print lost its clean edge in two places at once — both arrowed. The fingers of the hand graphic have broken up, the gaps between them filling and the edges going ragged; and the final letter has lost part of its stroke. Fine detail always fails first, which is exactly why artwork under about 0.3 mm of line weight is the wrong brief for screen printing. None of this shows in a pre-production sample, because that sample comes off a fresh screen. We catch these because someone is watching the line; a factory that is not watching will ship them. When you audit a supplier, ask to see a screen-print reject. Every factory that actually runs production has them. A supplier who says they have none is either not inspecting, or not telling you.
Laser engraving
Permanent and dishwasher-proof — but the colour is decided by the steel, not by you.
Laser on a black bottle — the finished piece The same HYDROBREW bottle at full length. A single-tone mark on a black matte body is the most ordered combination we run — it photographs as premium, survives commercial dishwashing, and needs no colour matching. Close-up of the actual mark colour is the next image.Laser on a black matte body — the real colour This is what laser actually looks like on a dark powder-coated body: the beam removes the coating and the mark reads as bare stainless with a faint warm cast, not white and not bright silver. It is the single most common surprise when a buyer approves artwork on screen and then sees the sample. Nothing is wrong with this bottle — that is simply the colour of exposed steel. Judge it in daylight, not under shop lighting.Laser on a coffee tumbler — the finished piece A textured black tumbler with a laser-marked brand name. Laser suits this body because the texture would break up a printed edge, while an engraved mark sits in the surface rather than on it. Note the mark is the only decoration — on a body this dark, laser is often the whole brief.Laser on a textured body — still one tone Same method on a heavily textured black tumbler. The finish under the coating differs, so the mark reads slightly brighter here than on the smooth matte body above — but it is still one tone, still the colour of the steel underneath, and still not adjustable. If two products in one range need to look identical, tell us at enquiry: the body finish, not the laser setting, is what changes the result.Laser engraving — one tone, and only one The laser burns off the coating to expose the metal underneath, so the mark comes out stainless-steel colour with a slight yellow cast — not white, not silver, and not adjustable. That is the one tone you get: no gradients, no second colour. It also does not work on plastic; on a PP or Tritan body the laser melts rather than marks, so those get screen print or heat transfer instead. What you gain is permanence — the mark is cut into the steel, not sitting on it, so it survives commercial dishwashing that strips print within a season. Ask to see a laser sample in daylight before you approve: the yellow cast is easy to miss under warm shop lighting.
UV digital
Full colour with no screen setup. Two things to know: the dark-body white base, and the raised feel.
UV digital — what it is best at Full colour with no screen setup, so artwork that changes between runs costs nothing extra to switch. Photographs, gradients and fine detail print directly onto the body in a single pass — this tiger is one pass, not four. It is the method to quote when the design has more than three colours, or when a range shares one bottle with different artwork per SKU.UV digital — the ink sits slightly proud Close up, UV ink has a slight raised relief you can feel with a fingertip. On most programmes that is a bonus — it reads as a quality cue in the hand. It matters when the artwork butts up against a moulded edge or a lid seat, where a raised layer can interfere with fit. Send the model with the artwork and we will flag it before tooling if the print area is too close to a mating surface.UV digital — colour on a dark body needs a white base UV ink is semi-transparent. On a white or light body the colours read true straight away; on a black or dark body the printer has to lay down a white base layer first, then print the colour on top. That is an extra pass, so a dark body costs more than a light one for the same artwork — and if the white base is skipped to save money, the colours go muddy and dark. When you compare quotes, check whether the cheaper one included the white base at all.
Heat transfer
The only method that wraps a body end to end, with three constraints that decide whether it fits.
Heat transfer — what it is best at The only one of the five that covers a body end to end. Artwork runs continuously round the bottle with no visible start or finish except at the join, so it is what you quote when the design has to wrap rather than sit as a panel. Best value on large runs of a single design — see the three limits below before you brief it.Heat transfer — where the seam lands Full-wrap artwork goes all the way round, so the two ends of the film meet somewhere. That join is visible on every heat-transfer bottle, ours included — arrowed above. It is not a defect and it cannot be removed; what we control is where it lands. Tell us which face must stay clean and we rotate the seam to the back, or hide it inside a dark block. Two other limits worth knowing before you brief this method: it only works on a straight cylindrical body — the film cannot conform to a stepped or sharply tapered shape, so a cola-curve or a bottle with a shoulder step is out. And the film tooling charge is the highest of the five methods, which is why heat transfer rarely pays off below a few thousand pieces. Ask any supplier to show you this side, and to quote the tooling separately from the unit price.
Electroplating
A body finish rather than a logo method — and the most expensive of them.
Electroplating Mirror and gradient metallic finishes on the body itself — a colour effect, not a printed layer. It works on both stainless steel and plastic bodies, which surprises buyers who assume plating is a metal-only process. What it cannot do: plating covers the whole body, so it is not a way to apply a logo — there is no masking and no partial plating. Choose the finish for the bottle, then add the logo by one of the other four methods on top. Gradient transitions are set by the plating jig, not by artwork. And the real constraint is cost: plating is the most expensive of the body finishes, well above spray painting for the same bottle. It earns its price on gift and retail programmes where the finish is the selling point, and rarely on a promotional giveaway where unit price decides the order. Ask for a plated sample alongside a sprayed one before you commit — the difference is easier to judge in the hand than in a photograph.
The four printing methods, side by side
Method
Best at
The constraint buyers miss
Silk screen
Crisp, survives daily use, cheapest per unit at volume.
One to three colours only. Each colour is a separate screen and a separate pass, so a four-colour logo is not an upcharge — it is a different method. Gradients or photographs mean UV or heat transfer.
Laser engraving
A mark that outlives the bottle. Our recommendation for stainless bodies going to hotels, gyms and anywhere the bottle gets washed hard.
One tone, not colour — and it does not work on silicone. Silicone folding bottles take silk screen or heat transfer instead. Buyers sometimes specify laser across a whole mixed range and we have to unpick it at artwork stage.
UV digital
Full colour and photographic artwork with no screen setup. The practical choice for short runs and for programmes with many artwork variants — one bottle, forty different school or club logos.
Dark bodies need a white base layer laid down first, which adds a pass.
Heat transfer
When the design wraps the whole body or fades between colours. The most complete coverage of the four.
The most sensitive to the surface underneath. If your bottle has a matte or soft-touch finish, tell us at quoting stage rather than after approval — matte surfaces and transfer film need to be matched deliberately, and that is a conversation better had before tooling than after.
Colour-changing finishes — and the one constraint nobody mentions
Colour change is a coating, not a separate product line, so it is not limited to one shape. But it is limited by construction, and this is where most briefs go wrong.
Effect
Reacts to
Suits
Construction limit
Thermochromic
Heat — the artwork appears when a hot drink goes in and fades as it cools
Coffee and tea programmes where the reveal is the point
The body must be single-wall. Not negotiable — see below.
Photochromic
UV — the colour shifts outdoors in sunlight and returns indoors
Sports bottles, festivals, outdoor events
None. Any construction works.
Thermochromic cannot be used on a vacuum bottle — it needs a single-wall body. The whole point of a double-wall vacuum bottle is that heat does not reach the outer wall — that is what keeps your drink hot and the outside comfortable to hold. It is also exactly what stops the paint from reaching the temperature it needs to change. Put thermochromic paint on a vacuum flask and you get a weak, patchy, unreliable effect, or nothing at all.
So the choice is explicit: if the reveal is the point of the product, specify a single-wall body and accept that it will not insulate. If insulation is the point, choose photochromic instead, or drop the colour change. We would rather have this conversation at quoting stage than after 1,000 pieces are painted.
Material
How the colour change is achieved
Stainless steel
A sprayed coating.
Ceramic
The same sprayed approach — though ceramic mugs are not a product we make ourselves.
Plastic
Usually not a coating at all — the pigment is compounded into the resin itself, so the effect is in the material rather than on top of it. Far more durable, but the base colour and effect have to be settled before moulding.
Any of the three can still take a printed or engraved logo. As a custom run, the minimum is 1,000 pieces.
Specialty finishes — what each one actually is
Four more we run in-house. They are worth knowing by name, because buyers often describe the effect they want and get quoted the wrong process.
Finish
What it actually is
Worth knowing
Electroplating
A plated layer on the stainless surface that produces an iridescent, shifting lustre — the finish people usually describe as “holographic” or “oil-slick”.
The colour genuinely moves as the bottle turns in the light. A premium finish that photographs extremely well, which is why it keeps appearing on retail shelves and in influencer listings. It is also the most expensive finish we offer.
MOPA laser colour gradient titanium only
A MOPA laser heats the titanium surface to grow an oxide layer; the thickness of that layer decides the colour.
This is the one most often confused with electroplating, so be precise about which you are asking for. The gradient is fixed — it does not shift as the bottle turns. Titanium only; it cannot be done on stainless.
An actual reply we sent
A real quotation email, reproduced in full
A European buyer asked our sales team to break down the cost of every decoration and packaging option. This is the reply, word for word — only the buyer’s name removed. Nothing has been tidied up for the website.
Dear [buyer], Please check our replies marked in red on your original text below.
Hi Candy,
Thank you for the detailed information.
Could you please let us know if there are price differences between the available customization processes?
For the bottles, we would like to understand the cost impact of each option:
Our quotation defaults to UV printing. The exact printing fee will be based on your actual logo design.
• Silk-screen printing
Suitable for simple logos, texts and icons with 1-3 solid colors, small-to-medium print area. Good abrasion resistance, cost-effective for large quantity orders. USD 0.03/pc for single-color, USD 0.07/pc for two-color, USD 0.10/pc for three-color.
• UV digital printing
For orders over 3 colors, UV printing is recommended. Suitable for small-to-medium print area, multi-color logos, fine texts, photos and gradient artwork. USD 0.20-1.00 per pc.
• Full-wrap heat transfer
Heat transfer is used for 360° full-wrap continuous patterns, landscape pictures and full-cup large-size artwork. Printing only works on the flat main bottle body. The uneven neck part cannot be printed. There will be a seam line for full-wrap circular printing. The film plate charge is USD 600, with unit price at USD 0.10-0.2 per piece.
• Laser engraving
Suitable for single color logos, texts and icons on stainless-steel cups. Permanent wear-resistant effect, dishwasher-safe. No color printing available. 0.1-0.5USD per pc.
• Custom Pantone color and different finishes
Stock colors no customed fee. Custom Pantone requires color mixing surcharge with MOQ up to 1000pcs. Exact cost depends on color & finish
Matte — No extra cost
Gloss — No extra cost
Spray — No extra cost
Powder-coating — add 0.05 usd per pc
electroplating — add 0.8-1.6usd per pc, calculable with your Pantone code.
And for the packaging, please also indicate the price variation, if any, between: • CMYK full-color printing • Matte or gloss lamination
No extra cost — both included. The color box cost is $0.30 per piece, including CMYK full-color printing and free matte or glossy lamination (your choice).
• Spot UV — +$0.05~0.10 per pc
• Embossing — +$0.05~0.10 per pc
• Debossing — +$0.05~0.10 per pc
Fees can be stacked for combined processes. We will provide the final unit price once you confirm your artwork.
Also, could you please send us photos of actual production samples for each bottle model we requested a quotation for, showing the different printing and customization techniques available?
We would especially like to see real examples of silk-screen, UV digital printing, full-wrap heat transfer, laser engraving, different body finishes and Pantone colors.
Logo Printing: 1. Silk-screen Printing 2. UV Digital Printing 3. Full-wrap Heat Transfer 4. Laser Engraving
Cup Body Pantone Custom Color + Different Surface Treatment Comparison Chart:
1. Matte spray coating (Morandi Pantone shades, soft non-reflective surface)
2. Glossy Paint (High Gloss Solid Color, Vibrant Hue)
3. Stainless steel raw finish / Electroplated metallic surface
4. Powder-coating
For the packaging, we would also appreciate photos of actual examples showing matte/gloss lamination, spot UV, embossing and debossing.
Full Process Real-shot Photos of Color Box Packaging:
Gloss / Matte Lamination — gloss lamination (high reflective finish) & matte lamination (soft frosted surface)
5. Spot UV — close-up: matte lamination base with spot glossy UV text
6. Embossing / Debossing
This will help us compare not only the costs, but also the visual and perceived quality of each solution before defining the final specifications.
Looking forward your feedback.
Thank you, Candy
Why we publish this. We are asked about these costs almost every day, so it is simpler to put them in one place. Knowing the numbers up front lets you work out roughly what your order will come to before you write to anyone. These are the same figures our sales team quotes daily, and the photographs the buyer asked for are sent routinely — ask for them and you will get them. The same figures laid out as a table →
FAQ
Custom water bottle FAQ
Who actually makes the bottles — and can you handle my customization?▾
We run the production ourselves. Jupeng Drinkware has manufactured drinkware in Yongkang, Zhejiang since 1998 — eight in-house workshops covering moulding, welding, spraying, printing and packing, 100+ staff, 10,000 m². That means a spec change mid-run takes a day, not a week of emails. We also work with sourcing agents and trading companies who buy on behalf of their clients — many of our long-standing partners are agents, and a good one earns their margin. Either way, the customization work happens on our lines: 500 pcs MOQ, free mockup in 24 hours, printed sample in 7–10 days.
What is the MOQ for custom water bottles?▾
500 pieces per design for in-stock colours, or 1,000 pieces for a fully custom Pantone colour. Lower quantities can be discussed for catalogue items.
How much does a custom water bottle mould cost?▾
Most custom water bottles use existing moulds, so there is no tooling fee — you just pay for your logo and colour. A brand-new custom shape needs a steel or plastic mould from about US$2,000–3,000 per part, with roughly a 60-day mould lead time.
Are your custom water bottles FDA and LFGB certified?▾
Yes. Our materials and finished bottles are tested to FDA 21 CFR, California Prop 65, LFGB and EU 1935/2004; test reports are available on request.
What is the lead time?▾
Samples in 7–10 days, then about 30 days for bulk production after deposit and artwork approval.
Can you do private label and Amazon FBA-ready packaging?▾
Yes. We offer full private label, custom retail and gift-box packaging, UPC/EAN barcodes, FNSKU labels and FBA-compliant cartons shipped direct to fulfilment centres.
Do you sell single custom water bottles or small quantities?▾
No — we are a factory, not a print shop, so the smallest order we can run is 500 pieces per design. If you need one personalised bottle or a handful for a gift, a local print or engraving shop will serve you far better and far faster than we can. Where we do make sense is from 500 pieces upward: importers, brand owners, promotional distributors, retail chains and Amazon sellers who need consistent product, real test reports and export documentation.
Which printing method should I choose for my artwork?▾
It depends on the artwork, not the bottle. One to three flat colours: silk screen, cheapest at volume. Full colour or photographic: UV digital. Artwork that wraps the body or fades between colours: heat transfer. A permanent mark on stainless that survives hard washing: laser engraving — but laser gives one tone, not colour, and does not work on silicone. Send us the artwork file and the material you have in mind and we will tell you which of the four we would run and why.
Can I mix several colours in one 500-piece order?▾
For most stainless bodies the 500-piece MOQ is per design and per colour, because each colour is a separate spray or resin run. A few catalogue items can be mixed within the total — ask us about the specific model rather than assuming, since it varies by how the part is made. A matched Pantone across body, lid and accessories has its own minimum because we mix and purge resin for your run.
What are your shipping terms and how far are you from a port?▾
We quote EXW Yongkang, FOB Ningbo or FOB Shanghai, and DDP door-to-door where you want us to handle it end to end. Our plant is about three hours by road from Ningbo port, which is why our cut-off dates before Chinese New Year and peak season tend to be later than suppliers further inland. For Amazon sellers we also ship FBA-ready cartons direct to fulfilment centres.
Can you make colour-changing bottles and mugs?▾
Yes, but there is one constraint that decides the whole brief, so read this before you specify. Two effects: thermochromic reacts to heat (design appears with a hot drink, fades as it cools) and photochromic reacts to UV (colour shifts outdoors, returns indoors). Thermochromic needs a single-wall body. A double-wall vacuum bottle is built so that heat never reaches the outer wall — which is precisely what prevents the paint from changing. On a vacuum flask the effect comes out weak and patchy, or not at all. So: single-wall if you want the reveal, and accept no insulation; photochromic or no colour change if insulation matters more. On steel it is a sprayed coating (the same method works on ceramic, though we do not make ceramic bodies); on plastic the pigment is compounded into the resin instead, which is more durable but has to be decided before moulding. Minimum 1,000 pieces, and a printed or engraved logo can still go on top.
What is the difference between electroplating and MOPA laser colour?▾
They look similar in a photograph and behave completely differently in the hand, so it is worth being precise. Electroplating is applied to stainless steel and gives a genuinely shifting, iridescent lustre — turn the bottle and the colour moves. That is the “holographic” or “oil-slick” effect. MOPA laser colour only works on titanium: the laser grows a titanium-dioxide film on the surface and the colour comes from thin-film interference in that oxide, so you get a fixed gradient — blue to purple to gold — that is part of the metal and cannot chip or peel. Turn a MOPA cup and the colour does not flow; there is no rainbow shimmer. Ask for electroplating if you want movement, MOPA on titanium if you want a permanent gradient burned into the metal. The process cannot be transferred to stainless steel because it relies on titanium oxide chemistry.
Can you laser engrave a plastic bottle, and why is my laser logo slightly yellow?▾
Two questions we get constantly, same answer behind both. Laser does not work on plastic — on a PP or Tritan body the beam melts the surface instead of marking it cleanly, so plastic bodies get screen print or heat transfer instead. On stainless the laser burns off the coating to expose the metal underneath, and that bare metal reads as stainless-steel colour with a slight yellow cast. It is not a fault and it cannot be tuned to pure white or bright silver — it is what exposed steel looks like. Ask to see a laser sample in daylight rather than under warm shop lighting, where the cast is easy to miss. Launching a brand from scratch? Seven decisions, in order.
Why is heat transfer quoted so much higher, and can it wrap any bottle shape?▾
The film tooling charge is the highest of our five methods, which is why heat transfer rarely pays off below a few thousand pieces — ask any supplier to quote the tooling separately from the unit price. On shape: it only works on a straight cylindrical body. The film cannot conform to a stepped or sharply tapered profile, so a cola-curve bottle or one with a shoulder step is out; those take screen print, UV digital or a partial wrap instead.
How do you stop screen print quality drifting partway through a run?▾
This is the question we would ask a supplier, and most cannot answer it. A silk screen wears as it prints — after enough impressions the mesh edge begins to break down and the print starts picking up fine burrs. The first pieces off the line are perfect; the ones an hour later may not be. Nothing in the machine settings prevents this, and it will not show up in a pre-production sample because the sample comes off a fresh screen. The only control is a person watching the line and changing the screen the moment the edge softens — we staff that position on every screen run, and we inspect 8% of every batch on top of it. When you compare quotes, ask each supplier who is watching the screen mid-run. A factory that has never thought about it will talk about the machine instead of the person, and that tells you what you need to know.
Can you electroplate a plastic bottle, and when is plating worth the cost?▾
Yes — plating works on both stainless steel and plastic bodies, which surprises buyers who assume it is metal-only. The question is not whether it can be done but whether it should be: plating is the most expensive body finish we offer, well above spray painting for the same bottle. It pays for itself on gift sets and retail programmes where the mirror or gradient finish is the reason someone picks the product up. On a promotional giveaway decided by unit price, spray paint gets you 90% of the look for a fraction of the cost. Ask us for a plated sample next to a sprayed one before committing — the gap is much easier to judge in the hand than in a photograph.
