News
If You Had to Pick One, Which Would You Choose: A Flash Unit or Tabletop Conveyor Dryer?
As much as a new business owner may wish and strive for it, not all have a budget to cover all their startup expenses. So, decisions have to be made and creative solutions have to be discovered. New screen printers may find themselves in this dilemma. Sometimes, they might have to pick one piece of equipment over another, like deciding between a conveyor dryer and a flash dryer. How do you know which is the better investment? Well, it depends on what you want to do. Here are three factors to consider to help you decide which is better for your shop.
Best Practices to Ensure Proper Ink Curing with 4 Curing Methods
Curing your prints is one of the last steps of the screen printing process, but it is one of the most important steps. Ink needs to be cured properly so it sets into the garment. If the ink does not cure fully, it will crack, fall apart, and not last for long. Printers use either heat guns, heat presses, flash dryers, or conveyor dryers to cure inks. Let's take a look at how each curing device works.
3 Steps for Mixing Your Own Colored Shimmer Ink
Who doesn’t love a bit of shimmer? While shimmer inks like Silver or Gold shine bright on their own, sometimes a little color brightens the whole print. Mixing colored shimmer inks takes a bit of experimenting, and can be super fun to test out. Here’s a three-step guide to mixing colored shimmer inks.
Streamline Your Printing Prep Process with These 6 Tips
A screen printing job takes a lot of man hours. The whole process, from art prep to screen reclaim, takes time and effort to constantly hone in processes and learn from mistakes. The pre-press process — everything you do before setting up the press for a print run — is a big part of the screen printing process. Want to improve productivity and streamline this process? Here are six ways to dial in the pre-press process.
Curable Reducer, Soft Hand Additive, Extender Base: What’s the Difference?
Looking for your prints to have a soft hand feel? There are three products that seem pretty similar: Extender Base, Curable Reducer, and soft hand additive. While they may look the same, they have different functions. Let’s take a look at all three and discover which ink gives prints the softest feel.
Best Practices for Adding Screen Printing Ink to a Screen
Adding ink to a screen for the first time can be a bit daunting. It seems easy enough, but once you get the ink bucket, spatula, and screen, you might wonder exactly how to do it. How much ink do you add? Where do you put it? If you’re asking these questions, keep reading. Let’s walk through how to prep ink for printing and how to apply it to a screen.
Which Screen Printing Kit is Right for Your Shop?
So you’re looking to start up a shop, but don’t know where to start. Maybe you want to upgrade your equipment, but hate comparison shopping. Well, there’s a solution. Buying a screen printing kit can be a great way to get all your equipment and supplies with one click. Whether you’re just starting out or looking for a shop upgrade, there’s a kit for you. How do you know which screen printing kit is right for you? Let’s break it down.
A Guide to Screen Printing T-Shirts
Each printer has their own unique story of why they got into screen printing. Some wanted to start their own clothing line. Others found it as a way to make a living. No matter what boat you're in, screen printing can be challenging. Check out this easy guide to learn the proper steps for screen printing t-shirts.
The Lowdown on Low Cure Plastisol Ink
Been looking at FN-INK™? Did you just get it? You probably have a million questions about the plastisol ink: what’s different, best practices for using it, and more. Well, fasten your seatbelts folks. We’re going to guide you through everything you need to know about using FN-INK™.
How to Screen Print on Polyester with a Blocker Base
Take a stand against dye migration with FN-INK™ Barrier Black. It’s a specially made ink designed to stop dye migration on polyester garments from the ground up. Print guru Josh Wells walks you through the entire print process—from art creation to cure—to give you a leg up when using Barrier Black.
How to Print on Nylon Windbreakers
Printing on nylon is a struggle. Many variables and differences in the material can make print jobs difficult. Once you get the process right, it’s a cinch. Jonathan Overmeyer at Golden Press Studio walks through how to print on nylon windbreakers using their original shirt design.
Four Ways to Print Black Plastisol Ink on a Black Shirt
Printing black plastisol ink on a black shirt — trendy, right? As with everything in screen printing, there are multiple ways to achieve this goal. From using a puff base to printing with clear base to curing at higher and lower temperatures, printers can offer a variety of effects and looks to their customers. Let's take a look to see how each technique turns out so you can decide what's best for your next print job.
