Anatol blog

Manual or automatic screen printing machine, flash cure unit, conveyor dryer, exposure unit, screens, squeegees: You know all of the major screen printing equipment you need to get your business up and running. Beyond those basics, there are plenty of tools you can use to help you run your shop more smoothly and efficiently and […]

To succeed in your screen printing business, you need to meet your customers’ demands. You need to be able to provide your customers with quality screen printing, delivered on time – that doesn’t only require screen printing equipment, but also a wide variety of supplies, from squeegees, screens and adhesive to ink, emulsion and reclaiming […]

Halloween is the perfect time to experiment with special effects inks, especially glow-in-the-dark ink. Glow-in-the-dark ink is a fun addition to any Halloween-themed design, but it also works great year round as an interesting accent or safety feature, or as an element for evening events like nighttime “glow” runs. As far as special effects inks […]

It’s a scenario straight from a screen printer’s worst nightmare: You send a full order of high-quality, crisp t-shirts out the door. Days pass or even weeks, and suddenly you have an unhappy customer demanding to return the order because your perfectly laid prints are now washing out of the garments.

Plastisol is favored by screen printers for its ease of use. Nevertheless, there are some problems that can crop up when you’re screen printing with plastisol ink. Here is our list of the top 10 most common problems associated with plastisol screen printing and how to solve them. Problem 1: Prints that wash away If […]

UV inks have been on the market for screen printers since the 1970s. They’ve grown in popularity as manufacturers have worked out product kinks and printers have learned the best applications and methods for UV inks. Screen printers who have been working primarily with garments — or those who are just getting started in screen printing — might be new to the world of UV inks. 

For most screen printers, liquid emulsion is the preferred tool for coating screens to make stencils. There is an alternative that’s often overlooked and undervalued: capillary film. Capillary films are sheets of hardened emulsion on a polyester backing. The emulsion side of the film is applied directly to a wetted mesh screen. The emulsion forms a firm bond with the mesh as it dries, and the backing is peeled away. From there, the printer can expose a stencil much as they would a screen coated with liquid emulsion.

How do you reclaim your screens? This might be one of the least liked jobs in the entire screen printing shop, which leads most screen printers to explore all screen cleaning options. If you’ve undertaken the search for the best way to reclaim your screens, you’ve likely come across the controversial dip tank. Some screen printers love them, touting them as time and supply savers, while other screen printers warn against them, saying they waist chemicals and produce hazardous waste.

Plastisol ink transformed the screen printing industry when it was introduced to the market in the 1970s. Since then, plastisol has become the industry standard. Why is plastisol ink so popular? 

When it comes to altering ink to get it to behave just how you want, ink additives can be invaluable. When you’re trying to get a print to look and feel just so, looking to create an eye-catching effect or printing on tricky substrates, screen printing ink additives are tools you can use to get your screen printing jobs to turn out just right. 

One of the most often overlooked details in screen printing is mesh tension. While brand new screens might print great, over time, your mesh tension will wear down. Poorly tensioned screens can have a major impact on print quality, even if it’s hard to notice that the mesh has become loose or saggy.

To order the right garments for your screen printing shop, you have to understand different fabrics. While our previous blog post provides a primer on general fabric basics, there’s one type of fabric that warrants its own discussion: fleece.