screen printing inks

People want cozy, comfortable, lived-in looking screen prints. The vintage t-shirt trend seems to be here to stay. That means if you’re in the screen printing business, you’d better understand how to create vintage screen prints.

Screen printing is a competitive industry, so it’s important to always be on the lookout for ways to separate your business from the pack. It’s hard to attract new customers (and retain existing ones) if you can’t catch their eye…and giving metal flake ink a try can help you do just that!

The market for workwear can be a golden opportunity for garment decorators. Construction, emergency and industrial workers not only require clothing that shows they’re part of a team, they also require clothing that keeps them safe.

As the demands of decorating performance wear increasingly cross over into the world of fashion, it’s become necessary to develop new inks for screen printing. Given the strength and extreme stretch of many of these fabrics, it can be difficult to get the desired result, even with special additives. In response to these challenges, a number of ink manufacturers have developed silicone based inks.

If you’ve ever tried to create the perfect color for a persnickety customer, you know color matching ink for screen printing can be a complicated proposition. Sure you have color matching systems to guide you, but many factors can interfere with color matching in screen printing.

There are countless screen printing inks that claim to be «ready for use», but in reality almost all inks require some care before they hit your press. Whether you’re seeking the right consistency, the right color or a special effect, there are proper ways to get your ink ready for printing.

Screen printing customers have been increasingly demanding a softer hand feel to their printed t-shirts. Many apparel screen printers have turned to water-based and discharge ink to achieve the soft, retro prints customers request. But plastisol can get the job done too!

When you decide to make a go of printing t-shirts for a living, you’ll soon realize that in order to produce garments in any significant quantity, you need a conveyor dryer. But there are so many choices, from tiny tabletop models to giant industrial dryers six feet across. How do you know which is right for your shop?

When many screen printing veterans first got started, they may not have realized just how many variables factored into properly curing their prints. As the industry has advanced, new technology has made it even more difficult to get fully caught up. Fortunately, by familiarizing yourself with the basics of curing and doing some careful tests, you can make it easier to get a proper cure.

As screen printing has advanced, new fabrics and inks have increased in popularity and brought with them a number of different challenges. In this day and age, it’s more important than ever for screen printers to develop, test, record and implement conveyor dryer procedures to properly cure their prints.

As a screen printer, the last thing you want is an unhappy customer wanting to return items. In another blog post, we shared some tips on how to keep your plastisol prints from washing out. Those tips will go a long way towards keeping your prints vibrant and making them last, but there’s another issue you may run into: dye migration.

A screen printing shop can accumulate a lot of ink. Storing that ink can prove a challenge, and often shops will simply look for a quick and convenient spot in which to store their inks. It’s important to put more thought and consideration into your ink storage, however.