Choosing Screen Printing for Your Apparel – Advantages & Disadvantages

For a long time, screen printing has been known as traditional printing technology. A mesh is used to change a spot of ink into the result here. The aperture in the stencil creates the space through which the ink will flow to make the design. The ink is then pushed across the mesh using a fill blade or squeegee. The ink is forced through the mesh onto the fabric when the blade is pulled. And this ink will last for years on t-shirts or any other type of clothing. Instead of printing one or two things, we may utilize this technology for mass production.

There are must-known screen printing types and their advantages. However, it has drawbacks when compared to other printing processes. So, what are the benefits and drawbacks of it on clothing? What is the screen-printing process? Is it still effective today? In this article, we are aiming to clear all the confusion regarding these questions.

What Is the Screen-Printing Process?

It transfers a stenciled design onto a smooth surface using a mesh screen, ink, and a squeegee. Fabric and paper are the most regularly screen-printed surfaces, but with the right inks, you can also print on wood, metal, plastic, and even glass. The fundamental procedure is producing a stencil on a fine mesh screen and then forcing ink through to make an imprint of your design on the surface underneath.

While the actual printing procedure is typically identical, the manner the stencil is formed might vary depending on the materials utilized. Stenciling methods include:

• Cover the appropriate portions of the screen with masking tape or vinyl.
• Using screen blockers such as glue or lacquer, paint the stencil onto the mesh.
• Creating a stencil using a light-sensitive emulsion, which is subsequently processed similarly to a photograph.

Screen printing designs might employ a single color of ink or many colors. There are many ways to use screen printing to promote your brand. Colors must be applied in different layers to multi-colored things, using separate stencils for each ink.

What Are the Advantages of Screen Printing?

The benefits of it hold a considerable position. Even though it is an antique printing technique, it offers several advantages. As a result, there is a high need for it.

Let's look at some of its major advantages:

Durable:

The most notable feature is its durability. Many entrepreneur clients choose digital apparel printing when employees want long-lasting polo shirts or tees, such as complicated clothing. Their principal function is to keep garments from becoming faded or drab when people wash and use them. Because the thickness and structure of the inks used in printing are more robust, they can withstand more stress without compromising the printed quality.

Suitable For All Ink Types:

It enables more eye-catching and daring designs. This is yet another significant advantage of silkscreen printing. Thicker inks provide a wider range of textures, allowing for more aggressive and vibrant graphics to be displayed from a distance. Customers that are concerned about brand exposure tend to lean toward the vast range of finishes offered by thicker inks.

Excellent Printing Quality:

Not only that but there are other benefits of screen printing. Its key advantages include producing a great finish with a variety of vivid hues. As we all know, nothing is more spectacular than seeing a logo or design that looks fantastic on your computer fall short of your expectations when you see it in an article of finished high-quality clothing. It is not easy to create such high-fidelity results screens. Other screen-printing processes can produce bright colors. Aside from that, it enables much cleaner and sharper lines, as well as much more well-defined information. T shirt screen printing is widely done all over the world just because of this advantage.

Convenient, Inexpensive, And Simple to Learn Technology:

Another important characteristic and benefit are simplicity. As we all know, the simplest answers are frequently the best. Even though silkscreen printing is mechanized, it follows a rather typical and basic technique that adheres to one main guideline. The method is straightforward. The approaches and processes are very simple to change and long-lasting. As a result, we are confident that no matter what technical improvements we see in our operation, the Silkscreen Printing technique will remain relatively stable.

It demonstrates a significant quantity of money. Finally, silkscreen printed garments are among the most in-demand monetary items. This is because the printing process is quick and simple. As a result, they save labor costs, which they pass on to their clients.

Simpler To Print on Customized Clothing:

It is difficult to find a printing technology that is as versatile as screen printing. It may be done on practically any flat surface, including cloth, wood, plastic, or even metal, among numerous others.

What Are the Disadvantages of Screen Printing?

Screen printing drawbacks include the following considerations when compared to its benefits:

Pattern Registration Is Poor:

This is caused by incorrect screen positioning or fabric movement, the fabric sliding on the blanket due to inadequate adherence, or the squeegee dragging on the screen mesh. The frame crushing the paste under it while the printing glue is still damp causes marks on previously printed regions. This is a bigger issue with fully automated screen printing, as colors are printed in rapid succession with little time for the deposited paste to cure. As a result, huge swaths of color are normally printed last.

More Money If You Want Several Colours:

Only one color may be added at a time due to the screen-printing procedure. As a result, the number of colors on a t-shirt is restricted, and each layer necessitates more time, another screen, and stencil, which will be considered fresh apparel printing costing more money than before.

Not Feasible for Small Orders:

Before entering production, it requires more preparation than other approaches. This precludes it from being ideal for "on-demand" printing, which involves creating a garment as soon as it is ordered.

Print Repetition Size:

Larger print repetition sizes are feasible with huge screens than with etched copper rollers or rotary screens. Forcing the paste through the screen apertures requires significantly lower applied pressures than roller printing, resulting in less paste penetration into the cloth. Consequently, color strength is increased, and any cloth texture is less crushed. However, it is quite slow and is presently exclusively utilized for high-quality furnishings and fashion textiles.

Not Eco-Friendly:

While attempts have been made to develop environmentally friendly inks and screens, the fact remains that it consumes a lot of water. Water is required to mix inks and wipe screens, which may not all seem like much at first, but factories create hundreds of outfits every day, and the total may be frightening.

Is Screen Printing Still Effective Today?

When opposed to digital printing, screen printing can produce a distinct aesthetic result. Its ink is often applied thicker, resulting in colors that remain longer, are brighter, and are more brilliant, especially on darker backgrounds. It is still the greatest solution for garment design which demands a high level of vibrancy when printing on dark grounds. It is still significantly more cost-effective on big print runs since marginal production runs are substantially faster. While it is one of the oldest printing methods, it is still widely used today due to its ability to print on a variety of substrates. While certain screen-printing processes are only suitable for a restricted number of substrates, it is suitable for a wide range of tasks. It provides a wide range of ink colors and makes a thick ink film for custom apparel makers.

Although some practitioners of alternative printing processes predict it will disappear or become considerably less frequent in the future, it is likely to flourish as an important manufacturing process. Nonetheless, the benefits of screen printings continue to be significant. As little more than a result, silkscreen printing firms may provide such large volume savings on large orders. There is also additional printing. Many of their clients keep their businesses, and whatever can be done to keep running costs under control must be implemented.