Screen Printing Open House in Georgia a Success

Posted by Ryan Bolin - Outside Sales on 4/25/2016

Our Open House Event at our Georgia location last week was a big hit with both customers and vendors of screen printing products and equipment.  If you missed it because of scheduling or location, you can catch our NC Open House Event in September.

The first Open House/ Customer Appreciation Day just concluded at our Texsource Georgia location and it was an amazing turn out! We had a couple hundred people to stop by to enjoy this really big event we put on and with this being our 1^st Open House at our Georgia location we were very pleased with the turnout.  Whether you were looking for the latest screen printing ink,presses, dryers, or accessories, Texsource had it all there, with the experts to answer all your questions. 

First of all a big thanks to all our customers who stopped by and spent the day with us! We hope that each of you enjoyed meeting the Texsource staff as well as our industries top leading representatives. There was certainly a lot of screen printing equipment and supplies to be seen!  We know there was a ton of knowledge for you to gain at this event and your responses on the overall show were great!

Secondly, I want to thank our manufactures that came out to support us. You all were a huge part in the success of this Open House and were are pleased that you continue to join us each year that we host these events!

Last and certainly not least, there was lunch! Everyone in the building seemed to love the food that was provided and one thing for sure is that no one left hungry!

                           

Again, thanks to everyone that came out to support us and if we don’t see you this September for our 9^th Annual North Carolina Open House then hopefully will see you in 2017 at our 2^nd Annual Georgia Open House.  If you want to read more about what to expect at the event you can read more here and also register to attend absolutely free.

Upgrading Equipment in your Screen Printing Shop

Posted by Jason Cabaniss - Outside Sales on 4/19/2016

If you are still printing in your shop with your startup equipment, what do you upgrade first?  Here we offer help in choosing your new screen printing equipment so that you can maximize your shop capabilities.   

We have all been there; brand new to screen printing and having only the basic equipment for starting out.  Many start out with an entry level screen printing press (probably only 1 or 2 color capability), an overhead lamp-style exposure unit, a heat gun for a dryer (luckier folks may have started with a dedicated flash unit), a couple of screens, and some basic inks and cleaning chemicals.  Those of us who stick with it and do quality work should easily and quickly outgrow startup equipment such as that, and face the task of trying to decide exactly what screen printing equipment should be upgraded, and in what order.  

Unfortunately there isn't an answer that fits every shop and every situation.  But there are some things to keep in mind when considering the process.  

I would argue that a quality conveyor dryer should be one of your first considerations for a new equipment purchase.  If you have been using a heat gun, a conveyor dryer will likely make the biggest difference in your shop output and overall efficiency.  Where you may have been standing over a shirt for minutes using the heat gun, a quality conveyor dryer will keep an even, consistent, and controlled heat across the shirt for the correct amount of time (belt speed).  Print, pull the shirt, lay it on the dryer, done.

Next (in most cases) will likely be your manual screen printing press.  I have seen some really interesting modifications to existing starter presses to try to repair or give some sort of new functionality, when modest money could be spent on a newer, higher capability screen printing press, and be done with it.  For many screen printers, this may mean going from a tabletop or bench model press, to a full freestanding press.  Obviously there are considerations of the area you have available as well.  Typically this means going from a 1 or 2 color bench type press, to a 4 color 4 station freestanding manual press (and some will upgrade to even more colors).  A quality press such as this will usually have an outstanding warranty and be very durably built.  An investment in a quality manual press will give you new capabilities, faster production, and more flexibility.  

Perhaps lesser on the list but still important are items such as exposure units, screen drying cabinet, washout booth, etc.  Certainly all of these have their place in a well run shop.  Upgrading your exposure unit may be especially important as they can significantly cut exposure time and exposure errors.  Too many shops are trying to scrape by with older outdated units, and it often seems that they are wrestling to get a quality screen burn.  Newer exposure technology, such asLED exposure units will serve your business for many years of trouble free service and quality production.  

In the end, only your production needs and your budget will determine the best upgrade path for your screen printing business.  But when you feel that you are outgrowing your current screen printing equipment, hopefully these general guidelines will stay in the back of your mind and serve as a good base of knowledge.  

Screen Printing with Air-Dry Inks

Air dry screen printing inks are a whole category of specialty inks that work well on substrates and materials that standard plastisol, poly, and silicone inks do not have acceptable performance on.

When selecting the proper screen printing ink for a job, the substrate, or materiel being printed, is your primary guiding factor in your choice of ink type.  Cotton material gets, of course, a cotton ink.   Likewise a poly garment will require a poly ink or perhaps one of our new silicone inks.  There are even additives for standard inks for materials like nylon, that will give excellent adhesion to products such as umbrellas.

But what if you are wanting to print on a plastic (Coroplast) sign, or on certain types of plastic bags?  Such items would almost certainly ruin in a typical screen printing setup, as melting would occur during the curing process of running the material through a conveyor dryer.  Air dry inks are exactly as the name would imply, they are a series of inks that do not require high temperatures to cure like other inks do.  When using these inks there are some considerations to both your screen printing equipment and also to you technique that you need to be aware of.  

First, you need to know the limitations of the air dry ink you have selected.  All of the Air Dry inks that Texsource sells online includes exactly what materials the ink will print to, so you should first read that carefully.  Secondly, you should be aware that these inks are far thinner than what you may be used to when dealing with standard plastisol inks.  So much so that it is recommended you start with a very high mesh count screen.  We recommend starting at around a 280 mesh count or higher.  This will keep the ink from running through the screen and ruining your print job.  

Next is the cleanup stage.  As these inks dry without heat curing, you cannot simply leave your screens out as you can with other inks.  The ink will dry and can sometimes make reclaim a real pain, so if you are running a print job, make the extra effort to reclaim your screens immediately after use.  This will save you considerable time, effort, and cleaning chemicals later.  

Printing with Air Dry inks can give your business an added dimension of printing that will give a competitive advantage over shops who refuse such work because they may be unfamiliar with the products or techniques.  With proper foresight the job can be easy, and cleanup a breeze.

Introduction to Screen Printing Inks

If you are new to screen printing, one of the most overwhelming aspects that you may encounter is all the different types of screen printing inks and plastisols that are available from suppliers such as Texsource.  Here we break down some of the differences.

As if you don't have enough things to learn as a newcomer to screen printing, the choice of ink type can make or break a project.  Now, the different series from all the major screen printing ink manufacturers all specialize in various things, and that is beyond the scope of a simple blog article, but I will attempt to give you an overview of ink types and their uses in your shop.  

One of the main things to take away from this writing is that the substrate, or material you are printing to, is going to be the most important factor in choosing ink type.  When you see an ink labeled as a general purpose ink, that ink is typically formulated for use on cotton and/or 50/50 shirts and materials.  Many shops will use this ink about 75% of the time, and most smaller jobs where customers want the best possible price will be printed on normal quality cotton or cotton blend shirts.  These 'plastisol' inks are durable, easy to work with, and also some of the more economical inks that you can have in your shop.  

When a customer wants a job printed on polyester or athletic wear, there are special polyester inks formulated just for that.  The biggest problem with polyester materials is dye migration.  That is, when you heat the garment up in the dryer to cure your ink, the heat will try to release the dye in the actual material.  This can 'mix' or blend in with your ink and cause your ink to have a faded, splotchy look that is typically not desirable.  The solution could be to use special inks formulated for use on polyester garments.  These inks are more resistant to dye migrations issues (although they are not immune to some problems themselves).  You also may find benefit in using an underbase with this material. 

an illustration of dye migration issues.  note the 'faded' appearance of the shirt on the right.  

Silicone inks are a relatively new type of screen printing ink, and are available from us here at ScreenPrintingSupply.com.  Silicone inks have a much shorter shelf life and, in the current state of the technology, each color has to be mixed on site using a base and toner system.  The benefits of silicone inks are numerous, however.  It is an extremely durable ink, especially in athletic garments.  It has tremendous elasticity that cannot be matched by any other current ink type, making it ideal for stretchy garments.  It has a smooth, soft-hand feel that is appealing to the touch.  Lastly, silicone inks cure at a much lower temperature than standard plastisol inks, typically at a lower temperature than most polyester materials will release dye, negating dye migration issues altogether.  Note that this may depend largely on the quality of your polyester garment, as lower quality poly garments may release dye at even lower temperatures.  

Then there are all varieties of 'specialty' inks.  These are inks that are beyond the scope of standard plastisol, poly, or silicone inks in that they normally have some feature that sets them apart visually or to the touch.  These can include glitter inks, puff inks, reflective inks, etc.  There are many additives that can be purchased for plastisol inks to achieve many of the same benefits, but there are inks with these features that are ready to use.  

Air dry inks may be your choice for printing on any material where the heat of curing may cause problems or applying heat is impossible.  Such inks are commonly used for printing signs such as campaign or realty-type signs, plastic bags, and many types of promotional items.  Air dry inks are generally quite a bit thinner than standard screen printing inks, so you should typically start with a much higher mesh-count screen (we recommend starting with a high-200 or low-300 mesh).  As the name implies, these inks will fully cure without applying heat, so care should certainly be taken to reclaim your screens soon after finishing the job to avoid a much harder reclaim later.  Our full line of air dry inks all include a full description of substrates that the ink works well on, so be sure to read carefully before making a decision. 

Lastly, take some time to make yourself aware of many of the different types of ink additives, and they will add flexibility to your printing capabilities.  Products such as Nylobond enable screen printing to nylon-based products such as umbrellas.  There are thinners for use in ink that may be a bit thick, puff additives to add depth and texture to your print, and so forth.  

So there you have it, a very brief overview of some of the major types of screen printing inks.  Again, let your substrate dictate your ink type, but it will benefit your shop if you have experience with all of these types, and it will add capabilities and experience to your shop reputation that competitors may not yet have.  All of these ink types and more are available at Texsource at 888-344-4657, or online at www.ScreenPrintingSupply.com.