Oops, sorry, wrong Endurance. That featured image is the ship The Endurance which was stranded in Antarctic ice leading to one of the most amazing stories of survival, that of Ernest Shackleton. Although… maybe successfully printing on bleeding dye migrating fabrics is nearly the challenge that Shackleton faced. The story today is actually about Endurance ink, which…
So you have a bad bleeding shirt on your hands, now what? Yesterday I went over silicone inks as a possible solution and the pluses and the minuses of that approach. Most often in our shops we reach for Barrier Grey Ink. We use the Rutland version but I believe there are similar products out…
The previous two posts were about how to test for dye migration, the scourge of screenprinters everywhere. There is a quick test using a heat press and some plasticizer, and then a medium length test of putting a printed shirt on your dryer, and then there is the real world test of letting the shirt…
Dye migration is one of the biggest issues in screenprinting these days. I get more calls to help with this problem than with any other. It can be really insidious, as you can sometimes print and it doesn’t show up for weeks. I”ll cover a few topics this week, starting with testing the fabric. We…
This American Life is a weekly public radio show which tells stories ranging from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Episode #561 is particularly captivating for a variety of reasons and no, nothing in the episode ties directly to decorated apparel. That said, their is so much to be learned from the story of New United Motor Manufacturing,…
Many of us have for many years utilized lasers to aid in accurate print positioning on press. I’ve seen many home-spun setups (including the cheap Radio Shack laser levels which were once mounted onto our presses) as well as some commercial systems. Most worked just “OK” and with serious limitations. Enter Lase-It, a truly legit laser positioning system. With a solid…
This time of year in the US of A it gets scorching hot. One of the hottest places in the country yesterday was South Carolina, a scorching 100 degrees in Columbia. Though that is mild compared to the world high of 118 F. in Kuwait yesterday. It was a low is the lower 48 US…
Last week I posted a new promo video that was shot at my shop. Minutes after I posted the video it was taken down by Vimeo’s super smart copyright infringement detecting algorithm. Well, it’s back up now. I win. Hope you enjoy this artsy view of textile screen-printing.
If you met Tom or I at any shows, we are wearing our nice Hanes Nano hoodies that have “KNOW-IT-ALL” emblazoned across the chest. i·ro·ny1 ˈīrənē/ noun noun: irony 1. the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effects 2. state of affairs or an…
Pricing is an area where we as screen printers are typically ignorant, afraid, or just plain stupid. In no way would I say that I have all of the answers on screen print pricing but I can say that I have, and continue to, put a lot of thought into the subject, and make adjustments accordingly…
