Becky Striepe
Did your favorite coffee mug lose its handle? Here’s how to fix a broken coffee cup handle quickly and simply. The repair is even dishwasher safe!
This is why I can’t have nice things:
That mug is a beautiful, hand-thrown coffee mug from my very favorite potter on Etsy. I bought it at the Indie Craft Experience, and it’s the perfect size for my morning cup. It’s my favorite mug, so of course I managed to break the handle off within days of buying it. My poor mug sat sadly on a shelf until I finally pulled it together to repair it.
Related: Make a Planter from a Broken Coffee Mug, How to Repair a Roller Shade with Fabric
The thing about fixing this mug is that I didn’t just want to fix it. I wanted my repair to be dishwasher safe. Hand-washing dishes is not on my agenda with a toddler to chase, meals to fix, and freelance deadlines to meet. The tutorial below shows you how to fix a broken coffee cup handle so that you can wash that sucker in the dishwasher.
My mug has been through many cycles in the top rack of my dishwasher and is still holding up strong, so I’m feeling confident that I’ve got a sharable solution here! Yay!
How to Fix a Broken Coffee Cup Handle
Materials
+ broken coffee cup
+ Gorilla Super Glue – I know, this is not the greenest craft supply, but this glue is very durable. I can’t vouch that other super glues will hold up to the dishwasher.
+ something to protect your work surface, like newspaper or an old piece of cardboard
Directions
1. Piece your handle together. This is especially important if your handle broke into more than two pieces. Once you apply the glue, you need to work fast, so lay out your handle on the table to make it easy to grab the piece you need and orient it.
2. Rebuild your broken coffee cup handle. Apply glue to one of the broken pieces, then press the matching piece to it. Press firmly and hold for 60 seconds to get a nice strong bond going. Repeat until you have a completed mug handle. Set this aside and let it cure for a bit. Just 10 or 15 minutes is fine. You just want to give the glue some extra time to bond, so your handle will be nice and strong when you attach it to the mug.
3. Attach the handle to your coffee cup. Apply your glue to the broken ends of your mug handle, and press the whole thing firmly onto your mug for 60 seconds. Let the mug dry overnight before washing and using.
Note: Your repaired coffee cup handle may have some small pieces of glue that stick out of the repaired areas. That’s ok! They will chip off over time.
I love to use the Kintsugi Repair Kit, it’s an ancient Japanese art that creates a lovely golden touch to the broken item.
https://www.moraapproved.com/products/humade-the-new-kintsugi-diy-repair-kit
Omigosh Claudia, this is SO COOL! I read your link and Thank you for mentioning kintsugi!!!
Been a firm believer in Gorilla Glue for years. Before seeing this article I was first to try this. Failed. Here I am looking for a better answer. Disney heirloom for my boyfriend’s child. His heart is sunken. Trying the next step. …:-(
Here are a couple more options that I often use: 1) Dap Rapid Fuse <http://amzn.to/29EllMV>. This has been my go-to super glue for a couple of months now, and it hasn’t let me down yet. I haven’t needed to use it on anything that goes in the dishwasher yet, but it’s been completely invisible on everything that I’ve tried it on so far, and it seriously sets STRONG.
2) sugru <http://amzn.to/29ycqaZ> This is what I use on all my appliance repairs. I’ve used this on stuff that’s gone in the dishwasher and the oven, as well as to mend cords where the wires are exposed. It’s pretty brilliant, but it’s not invisible like the Dap.
I don’t have a dishwasher, but I do need a glue that can withstand the heat of a microwave on “beverage”!
Sorry but this will not work…………..especially gorilla Glue. it is not made to take the heat and stress to hold . I speak from experience. I repaired my Favorite sSarbucks mug with gorilla glue, let it set for a day and the next day the handle snapped again with it full of coffee!!!! yep coffee everywhere!!!!! trust me it will not work, just write it off and look for a replacement on Ebay or Amazon
What if you lost the handle. The cleaning person at work threw mine out.
There’s a putty -glue product I got at A C Moore a while back. You mold the handle yourself and apply to the mug… I actually haven’t tried it yet.
thank you for this post haha exactly what I need
You didn’t answer Lauren’s question. When the handle broke off my mug, it shattered into little pieces too small to glue together. Is it possible to make a handle from clay & attach it to the mug which is glazed ceramic?
You’d really have to make the handle out of clay, fire it, glaze and re-fire then still glue it on the old mug. Glaze could fuse the mug and clay handle, but the it would have to be the same shrinkage factor as the original mug, and preferably be the same clay as the mug was made from. It still may not work and chances are it will look quite different when the mug is re-fired. If it has any hairline cracks init, those tend to contract and leave a bigger crack… Its an interesting question, but not practical, but could be a fun experiment!!
Wonderful and useful tutorial to fix a broken coffee cup. Thanks for sharing this nice post.
Dropped my favorite mug this morning and luckily only the handle broke into many pieces. Is there a product available to “reconstruct “ a handle without firing it and all the steps used at a ceramic shop?
Thank you!
All superglued work. esp Loctite. All are cyaniacrylates.
Thank you so much for the detailed instructions! I am a Snoopy fanatic and received a coffee mug for Christmas as a gift through the mail. The mug handle did not survive the trip! Now I can repair and enjoy the mug. 🙂
I would not advise re-firing a broken ceramic piece as it will most likely break into smaller pieces (Tested this on various forms myself). Also using glaze as a re-bonding method is probably not strong enough to hold it together and will change the effect of the glaze. Matte glazes will go glossy, colour glazes more transparent/glossy etc.
I think two part epoxy resin and wash by hand might work, no microwaves, no ovens as most of these can only survive up to 60c heat. Or buy a kintsugi repair kit, there are lots of places that sell them online but again no microwaves and wash by hand. (I run a pottery studio that specialises in tableware and homewares including mugs)