Screen printing, as opposed to alternatives such as iron-on transfers and fabric paints, enjoys a wide range of applications. In addition to shirts and other types of clothing, the process can be applied to balloons, medical devices, film, and even computer circuitry. The cost of screen printing equipment differs based on the types of products that are used.
Compared to other methods of printing on fabric, screen printing is a quick, hassle-free process. Once the equipment is set up, shirts and other forms of clothing can be produced immediately. The various types of dyes and inks used in the screen printing process dry quickly. Furthermore, a single inexpensive stencil, once produced, can be used to create thousands of shirts via a production line.
When producing many garments in bulk to be sold retail, there is no more economical route to take than screen printing. The same simple components can be used again and again with few repair costs. In fact, screen printing has been around for hundreds of years, and has historically been carried out using components no more expensive or sophisticated than wooden frames and fabric meshes. Sophistication and size of your screen-printing operation should scale with the size of your business, making initial costs low.
Unlike other methods of printing on fabric, the size of the resultant graphic is determined by a stencil. This stencil is created to produce one type of image only, and can be made to accommodate any size. This means that large designs can be created with ease, and they can be created over and over.
Graphics produced in this way last. The inks are crisp and bold, and are resistant to damage from the sun and washing. The dyes used in screen printing are formulated to produce a semi-permanent bond to fabric. In practical terms, a graphic should remain crisp for several years.