Screen printing has become a popular way to create custom apparel. It’s a great option for creating a large number of items, due in large part to its speed and quality.
With this increasing interest comes a lot of questions. So we’ve put together a quick guide to get you up to speed on what screen printing is and if it’s right for you.
What Is Screen Printing?
Here is a simple definition of screen printing: it’s any printing method that pushes ink through a mesh screen.
But how exactly does it work?
Think of it kind of like a stencil. For every color in a design, a screen is printed, allowing ink to be pushed through only where that one color appears. The bottom layer is then placed over the thing you are printing on, like a t-shirt, and ink is pressed over with a squeegee. Each layer is in order until it’s complete.
This has been a popular method for do-it-yourself projects where people are looking to create a large number of apparel quickly — think of a garage band making their own merch. But unless you have state-of-the-art facilities like Sofia’s Findings, it can be time consuming and expensive to make a screen print without extensive prior experience.
Why Do People Like Screen Printing?
There are a lot of reasons that people seek out screen printing when ordering custom apparel. These include:
● Quality: Screen printed custom shirts look and feel wonderful. This is especially true if you use water-based ink, which is soft to the touch. Compare that with vinyl, which is highly versatile but feels hard to the touch. Vinyl leads to uncomfortable clothing, but screen printing keeps things soft, even with large designs.
● Bulk Orders: Screen printing becomes extremely cost effective when making bulk orders of personalized clothing.
● DIY Appeal: Many artists and beginning fashion designers like the ability to make their own mass-produced prints — and screen printing is more DIY friendly than many other processes. This is true as long as you are willing to invest the time and money to master this art.
Should I Get Apparel Screen Printed?
When you get custom apparel through a service like Sofia’s Findings, screen printing offers a great option. For one, you won’t have to worry about set-up, so you can sit back and enjoy the superior look and feel of screen printing.
This form of on-demand t-shirt printing uses equipment that makes screen printing at any quantity affordable, allowing you to get all of the benefits without the drawbacks of needing to order at scale.
However, if you are wanting to do it on your own, it’s best to only use it for projects where you will be making many copies. Also, be prepared for many of your attempts to go poorly early on in the learning process!
Get On-Demand Screen Printing at Sofia’s Findings
If you are interested in screen printed custom clothing, check out the apparel section of our store. There you can find a wide range of clothing options that can all be screen printed with your company logo or any other custom design you want.
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