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•For an instant quote on screen printing - click here.
•To submit your artwork and contact information - click here.
•For tips on what kind of artwork files work best - click here.
What is screen printing?
- Screen printing is the most common & economical method for T-shirt printing. In this method we make a different screen for each color of your design and lay each color down on the shirt one at a time. The design will have long lasting durability and color and can be placed anywhere on the shirt or garment. The drawback is that we can only do 6 colors per design. Typically this is more than enough for most designs. Note that often we can "create" new colors by using what are called "half tones". These are small dots of color laid down in various sizes and spacing over other colors to make a whole new color. (i.e. blue dots are placed over a yellow space - creating a green area).
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What inks do we use?
- All inks used by Monkey in a Dryer are all environmentally friendly.
- Plastisol: The most common ink used in garment decoration. Good color opacity onto dark garments and clear graphic detail with, as the name suggests, a more plasticized texture. This print can be made softer with special additives or heavier by adding extra layers of ink. Most plastisol inks require heat (approx. 300 degrees Fahrenheit for many inks) to cure the print.
- Water-Based: These penetrate the fabric more than the plastisol inks and create a much softer feel. Ideal for printing darker inks onto lighter colored garments. Also useful for larger area prints where texture is important.
- PVC/ Phalate Free: A relatively new breed of ink and printing with the benefits of plastisol but without the two main toxic components - soft feeling print.
- One of the latest innovations in inks that we like to use is GenIV by International Coatings. This water-based screen printing ink provides an alternative to other PVC-free plastisol ink products, GEN IV Series™ consists of PVC-free, Phthalate-free. It is a high solids inks that performs well on both light and dark colored tees. They also require no harsh solvents or chemicals for clean-up.
- We use Polyone Wilflex Quantum One inks which are acrylic based - (not petroleum based) and can be easily cleaned up with water with no harsh chemicals.
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What special effects can we do?
Other Special Effects:
- Glitter/Shimmer:
- Silver flakes are suspended in a plastisol ink to create this sparkle effect. Usually available in gold or silver but can be mixed to make most colors.
- Metallic:
- Similar to glitter, but smaller particles suspended in the ink.
- Expanding ink (puff):
- An additive to plastisol inks which raises the print off the garment, creating a 3D feel.
- Caviar beads:
- Again an adhesive is printed in the shape of the design, to which small plastic beads are then applied – works well with solid block areas creating an interesting tactile surface.
- Four color process:
- Artwork is created using dots (CMYK) which combine to create the full spectrum of colors needed for photographic prints – this means a large number of colors can be printed using only 4 screens, making the set-up costs viable. The inks are required to blend and are more translucent, meaning a compromise with vibrancy of color.
- Gloss:
- A clear base laid over plastisol inks to create a shiny finish.
- Suede Ink:
- Suede is another great ink that is easy to print and gives the image a textured leather, simulated suede look and feel. With suede additive you can make any color of plastisol have a suede feel.
- Glow-in-the-dark:
- A very transparent ink that glows brightly in the dark.
- Flocking:
- A fuzzy, plush like application.
- More techniques are available
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Digital Printing:
- We now offer direct-to-garment digital printing. This is a fairly new and exciting technique that has gone through a lot of advancements over the years. We feel that it is finally at a quality level that we are comfortable enough in offering it to our customers. The process is similar in how your desktop inkjet printer works. The shirt is placed into the printer and a print head goes over the shirt, laying the colors down as it passes. The quality of the inks used are very advanced, bright and durable. The minimum for this option is 24 shirts, but the color count in your design is unlimited. For an instant quote on digital printing - click here.
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Water Based printing inks are very popular right now for having a soft feel and if used properly are more environmentally friendly. They are concentrated pigment based dyes that penetrate the fabric with a thin layer of ink producing a soft feel with brilliant colors. The printed image also softens after washing and if cured properly, they will last just as long as t shirts printed with regular plastisol inks.
Foil Printing is a two part process of "printing" an adhesive onto the fabric and then a sheet of foil is applied to those areas. This gives a bright, mirror-like finish. Foil can be used in combination with regular inks to created a high fashion look.
Discharge Printing is a process used to print lighter colors onto dark background fabrics. It works by removing the dye in the garment and replacing it with ink. This means they leave a much softer texture. They are less graphic in nature than plastisol inks, and exact colors are difficult to control, but especially good for distressed and vintage prints.
