SERVICE: Screen Printing
Screen printing is the “go to” technique for placing a custom image on a garment.
Screen printing is a printing process that involves the use of a squeegee, ink and a screen to transfer the design on to the garment.
The technology is based on making a stencil on a mesh screen. Once you’ve set it up on a product, such as a piece of clothing, you can apply the ink to it. Then pass it through the mesh to create a print on the material below. Through this process, the ink is pressed onto the garment through the screen. A few different things help determine what kind of screen to use when printing such as ink color, halftones, gradients/halftones and what substrate is being printed on. The screen is attached to a press, which rotates and prints the pattern on the garment. Finally, the garment is run through a dryer where the ink is cured onto the shirt and becomes permanent.
Screen printing is ideal for handling high volume orders. If you want to print hundreds or thousands of t-shirts quickly, screen printing is likely the most efficient and economical method.
The crew at LuckyPrints employs a wide range of inks and techniques to accomplish excellent results for our customers’ custom printing projects. Check our Gallery for regular updates of awesome new custom t-shirts and more as they roll off of our dryer and in to the world!
Plastisol
The most common and versatile screen printing ink. Plastisol is extremely durable for a long last through many cycles in most wash / dry conditions. Most likely that favorite tee you’ve still got from that awesome concert you saw in high school was printed with plastisol.
In this method we use Water Based or Discharge as an underbase (which means white primer under your design) and then overprint with plastisol. Since white is the bulkiest ink, this method creates a much softer print after a couple of washes, but still has the vibrancy and pms matching of plastisol.
We’ll always recommend the best ink for your job, unless you specify otherwise. If you want Water Based or Discharge ink, please tell us BEFORE you place your shirt order to guarantee that your ink choice can be printed on the fiber content of the shirts effectively.
Speciality InkS
Using Ink Additives, we’re able to transform regular plastisol inks into something truly unique. Add texture, dimension, shine, and more to a print to create a thoughtfully enhanced image..
Contact us if you’ve got a weird idea or a strange substrate. We’ll diagnose the project and help you figure out how to get it in to production for your next custom screen printing project. This applies to most non-garment items and garments made from unconventional fibers.
BURNOUT INK eliminates any cotton it touches. Since it only eliminates cotton, burnout ink needs to be printed on poly/cotton blends so that there is fabric left once the cotton has been removed. When initially printed, the ink appears to be just a clear ink printed on a shirt. However, once the shirt is washed, the cotton washes away leaving only the poly or synthetic fibers behind.
FOIL PRINTING applies Metallic Foils to a design is a great way to set your print apart from the herd. Using a special adhesive in place of regular ink, we’re able to add leaf foils to accent your print or make a bold full scale print really stand out. This plays especially well with water-based and discharge inks.
DISCHARGE & Water Based
A soft-feel ink option with great results on detailed artwork. This is the ideal option if you don’t want to feel ink on your extra soft t-shirt. This printing method is best suited for light colored garments. For similar results on dark garments check out Discharge and Tinted Discharge printing.
