Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with screenprinting

Which hoodie should I pick?

aqhong — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:35:46 -0800

I'm ordering custom screenprinted sweatshirts and am looking for feedback on various brands and styles. Basically, I'm looking for a high quality, relatively lightweight, pullover (not zippered) hooded sweatshirt.

The only one of this type that I'm familiar with is the American Apparel California Fleece pullover hoodie, which I quite like. Unfortunately, I don't know of any screenprinting services that offer this type (although many offer the zippered variety, for some odd reason). If you do, please let me know.

I've used CustomInk in the past (which I highly recommend, by the way; their customer service is excellent), and unless I can find a service that carries the aforementioned AA hoodie, I'll likely go with them again. But I'm not sure which type to order.

Last time I chose Gildan 50/50s, which are fine in terms of quality, but a little too heavy for my tastes. So I'm looking for something more lightweight this time. The two that seem to fit the bill are Gildan Lightweight and Hanes 50/50. Unfortunately, I have no experience with either. Can anyone who does tell me what they think of them, and if possible, how they compare to the AA California Fleece hoodie?

Any other brand/style recommendations (including those available from reputable services other than CustomInk) are welcome as well. Thanks in advance.

Designer style shirts for home screenprinting...

petethered — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 02:55:38 -0800

Where can I purchase "premium" blank shirts for home screen printing? Such as those sold by Express, Calvin Klein, Inc., ect... I am a hobbiest screen printer. Makes for a decent hobby that is actually alot of fun. My problem seems to be that I can not find blank shirts that I like WEARING for printing on.

I've tried American Apparel, Hanes, Distinct Treads, ect.

I've tried abusing shirts ( washing with copious amounts of fabric softener and then tumbling extensively with dryer balls ) , sand polishing, and since I live in honolulu, even tried the old trick for softening jeans of leaving the shirts in sea water for a while and then washing. Still not right.

What I am looking for is the quality and silky feel of t-shirts such as those used by Express, Calvin Klien, ect for printing.

The best I've been able to do so far is use shirts purchased at Old Navy, but still... I'm looking for something better.

Price, of course, is an object. I'd like to keep it around 10$ per and have multiple color choices.

As this is for hobbiest printing, buying in bulk really isn't an option ( I don't need 100 blanks lying around for the maybe 10-20 shirts I print a year for myself and as gifts ).

Seeking t-shirt screenprinter who can handle a short run of tees with an oversized print.

Typographica — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:00:15 -0800

I'd like to print about 100 t-shirts. The trouble is that the art includes a large image that fills much of the front and wraps around the to about 4 inches on the back of the shirt. The local shop that was recommended to me can't handle a print this large but they say there are those who can.

A UK place for film-positive printing

atomicjeep — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:21:18 -0800

Any UK based websites which offer transferral of an image to a film-positive print (for screen printing) I've recently taken up screen printing as a hobby and joined a workshop, I'm limited to the size of designs as I only have access to a A3 printer. I'm looking for UK based websites which will allow me to order a film-positive print of my design/s in sizes upwards of A3. I'll then use that to burn my design onto the screens.

Thanks
Paul

T-Shirt Screenprinting!

Gankmore — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 14:00:24 -0800

I want to get a large quantity of t-shirts made for my start-up company.... any recommendations? I am looking for best quality, cheapest price, and fastest turnaround...

Don't have very much in my budget so any tips on getting a good deal would be appreciated too.

Thanks!

Gocco printer masters don't image correctly

bonecrusher — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 07:19:37 -0800

Anyone out there with a gocco printer? I am having a problem with mine. The masters aren't imaging correctly. When I expose the master, the image doesn't burn into the screen enough to allow for the ink to pass through. I even tried exposing my screen twice and it still didn't work. Has anyone had this happen? Any suggestions on what I could do?

I'm so old!!

hollygoheavy — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:46:23 -0800

Turning 40 at Disney World-family wants some cute shirts. We're celebrating my 40th birthday at Disney World in a couple weeks and my family would like to wear matching shirts one day in order to humiliate me as much as possible. I'm ok with it as long as the shirts are funny and creatively witty. I was thinking along the lines of "my wife is 40" and "my mommy is 40" but then that makes the whole matching tee shirt idea even lamer.

Any ideas on witty sayings for tee shirts?-think something screen printed on a black shirt. It will be immediate family and friends and they're all too excited to point out I'm the first to hit 40. I persuaded them to do this rather than a full blown roast.

Applying letters to book board.

Sreiny — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:34:54 -0800

I need to apply custom type to Davey Board (bookbinding board), is screen printing my only option? I am putting together a portfolio book and case, the main material will be exposed Davey board
and I was wondering if there was a cheaper, and easier way to apply words to the board other than screen printing. Rub-on letters won't work because it is a customized set of letters that I am producing in Illustrator™. Could I get customized rub-on decals made? Is there something like this
that I haven't seen yet, that isn't so expensive/complicated? Thanks for your suggestions.

The reason I am trying to stay away from the whole screenprinting setup is that I'd only apply it at most 4-5 times. So it just doesn't make sense to buy all the supplies for that few times, seems a little inefficient to me. But if that's the best option, that's what I'll do.

I just want one

rossmeissl — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:13:30 -0800

I want a single, large, 2-color silk-screened poster made. I have the artwork in a vector file. Is there a shop that does this sort of thing?

Crash course in Pantone

jackofsaxons — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 14:20:42 -0800

Can anyone here point me in the right direction for a crash course in screenprint ink mixing, ink formulas and Pantone color matching?

DIY screen printing.

Count Ziggurat — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 10:49:47 -0800

Looking for general advice in regards to DIY silkscreening tees. I'm interested in doing small runs of shirts - artwork, mostly. Does anyone do it? Any good resources? What's the best way to cheaply prepare screens for printing?

Question number 9701

fishfucker — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 15:22:46 -0800

Amateur screenprinters! I am considering building my own exposure unit (for fine art screens -- i'm not trying to start a shirt business). I could use your advice on this matter and anything else related to screenprinting (i'm not completely new to this, but all input is valuable) {mi}.

Is there a cheap, high-quality screenprinting kit for T-shirts?

armoured-ant — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 04:55:17 -0800

For a while now, my ex-fashion student Kaffrin, and writing student Me have been wanting to hop aboard the t-shirt printing bandwagon. Is there a cheap, high-quality screenprinting kit out there? Or any better suggestions than inkjet iron-ons to get images and text from a computer screen onto fabric?