Drinking Paper Cups

Water cups or drinking cups: which one you need

This collection has two products, and the split is mostly about size and where the cup gets filled. Think of the person holding it. Someone at an office water cooler takes a few sips and throws the cup away within a minute. Someone at a gym takes two or three refills. A guest at a wedding reception or a trade show booth may carry a cup of lemonade or soda around for half an hour.

The printed paper water cups are the small ones, made in sizes from about 3 oz to 12 oz. They suit water coolers, bottle-less dispensers, dentist and doctor waiting rooms, school nurse offices and hotel front desks. Paper drinking cups cover a wider range, roughly 4 oz to 24 oz, and are meant for juice, iced tea, soda and lemonade as well as water. They are the better choice for restaurants, events and anything served from a pitcher or a fountain.

Both are single-use cold-drink cups. If you plan to pour coffee or tea into the same cup, read the section on hot drinks below before you order.

Sizes, settings and what each one is good for

If you are torn between two sizes, our guide to paper cups by size goes through each ounce size on its own.

Where branded drinking cups get noticed

Offices and coworking spaces

A water cooler is one of the few places in an office where everyone stops for a minute. Coworking spaces and corporate offices print their name, a Wi-Fi network or a short line about the company on cooler cups so visitors and new hires see it. These orders are steady and predictable, which makes them easy to plan around.

Gyms, studios and sports clubs

Fitness centers go through a lot of small cups at the water station. A bold logo on a white or colored cup keeps the brand in front of members on every refill, and a social handle or the name of your booking app gives members something to do while they drink. Youth leagues and running clubs order short runs for race day aid stations.

Clinics, dentists and salons

Waiting rooms and treatment rooms need small, clean-looking cups. Dental offices use them for rinsing, and salons and spas offer water or cucumber water while clients wait. For bathroom counters and rinse stations, our small paper bathroom cups are sized for exactly that job.

Events and trade shows

At a booth, a printed cup walks around the venue for you. Brand activations, product launches, weddings and charity runs all use drinking cups as a cheap, visible giveaway. Event orders are usually one-off runs, so it is worth putting the date or event name on the cup.

Material, lining and print options

Drinking cups are made from food-grade paperboard with a thin lining on the inside that keeps liquid from soaking into the paper. White board is the most common because it shows colors cleanly. Kraft board gives a natural brown look that suits juice bars and health-focused brands. If disposal is part of your message, the recyclable paper cup options use recyclable stock with soy- or vegetable-based inks.

Print goes on the outside wall. CMYK suits full-color logos, photos and gradients. PMS (Pantone) gives an exact brand color, which matters when the cups sit next to your signage, uniforms or packaging. A matte finish feels softer in the hand and photographs without glare; gloss makes colors brighter. Spot UV can pick out a logo on a matte cup, though on small water cups a simple one- or two-color design usually reads better.

Design tips for cold drinks

• Plan for condensation. Iced drinks sweat. A matte or coated finish holds up better, and very fine lines or tiny text can blur where a wet hand grips the cup.
• Keep the design to one side on small cups. A 3 oz or 4 oz cup has very little print area. One logo, sized large, is easier to read than a wraparound pattern squeezed in.
• Check the dispenser. Cooler and wall dispensers hold cups by the rim. Printing too close to the top edge can rub off as cups are pulled out.
• Use contrast. A dark logo on a white cup or a white logo on a colored cup reads from across a room; mid-tone on mid-tone doesn't.

You can pick your size, print and finish with the step-by-step order form on this page and attach your logo, or send us the file and our team will set it up for free.

A note on hot drinks

Water and cold-drink cups are thin-walled. They can take a warm tea in a pinch, but they get hot to hold and aren't made for steaming coffee. If your office or clinic also serves coffee, order a separate cup for it. Our insulated hot paper cups have the wall strength for it, and you can print both with the same artwork.

Common first-order mistakes

The most common one is ordering a cup that doesn't fit the dispenser already on the wall. Cooler dispensers are fussy about rim width, and a cup a few millimeters too wide jams or drops out two at a time. Check before you approve anything.

The second is choosing a cup that is too big. A 12 oz cup at a water cooler sounds generous, but most people fill it halfway and throw the rest out, so you go through stock faster and pour water down the sink. Match the cup to the drink, not to what feels like good value.

The third is cramming too much onto the cup: logo, tagline, web address, phone number and a pattern. On a drinking cup, a clear logo and one line of text do more than a busy layout that nobody stops to read.

Ordering and restocking

1. Count your usage. Track how many cups a week your cooler or station uses. Offices and gyms often find it is more than they guessed.
2. Choose size and material. Match the cup to your dispenser and the drink you serve.
3. Ask for samples. Free samples let you check the dispenser fit and how the cup feels with ice water.
4. Send your logo. We prepare a digital proof for your approval.
5. Approve the proof. Production takes 4–6 business days after approval, with rush options before an event date.
6. Reorder before you run low. The minimum is 100 units, and volume discounts make bigger restocks cheaper per cup. Offices with steady use often reorder on a fixed schedule.

Shipping is free to the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia. Call (503) 358-0443 if you want to talk through sizes before you order.