Your Stop for Name Brand Screen Printing Equipment
There is a lot of preparation that goes into screen printing. Not many people can set up shop just anywhere without the proper tools or equipment. One of the best ways to organize your shop while avoiding large errors is to find screen printing equipment that fulfills all of your needs.
By choosing equipment specific to one brand, you’ll be able to eliminate compatibility issues during your entire screen printing process.When you go through the process of choosing or upgrading your equipment, you should look for equipment that’s easy to use, easy to integrate with your other machines and especially, durable.
Shop Our Selection of Screen Printing Equipment:
Why Choose Garston for Screen Printing Equipment?
Affordable Prices
After starting strictly as a sign business, we’ve progressed into screen printing, and we still offer the most honest, low prices for all of our screen printing supplies.
Customer Satisfaction
Here at Garston, we take the time and effort to find the screen printing supplies you desperately need for your project or print shop. If we don’t have what you’re looking for, we’ll point you in the right direction.
Name Brand Products
Having a Screen Printing business can be expensive. That’s why we price our products at a low, affordable rate. We also supply most of our products in bulk, saving you more in the long-run. Can’t find what you need? Reach out to us!
Types of Screen Printing Equipment
Automatic Textile Printers
Automatic presses are vital for any textile printer that wants to upgrade from a manual press. They allow printers to have a high level of control over print variables. While Manual Textile Printers are affordable and typically used for one-color printing. For those who turn to automatic presses, it may be good to use a manual press as a sampling press before creating an entire production.
A textile dryer is used for drying textile fabrics. During the process, any liquid will be evaporated from the fabric. A Flash dryer is used for bring freshly laid ink to a cured state. When printing on darker garments, it’s best practice to first put down a layer of white, flash dry it, and then place other desired colors.
Cleaning Equipment
The proper disposal of inks, emulsion by-products as well as other chemicals is critical for screen printing. The properly dispose your material, clean or reclaim your screen, it’s best to use a washout booth. Instead of clogging up a sink or putting waste solids into the environment, you’ll have a spot to do so.
Part washers usually refers to part washer cabinets used for thorough cleaning and removing tough soil. You can also use them to wash squeegees, floodbars, spatulas and other screen printing materials in a faster, more efficient way.
DTG Printers
DTG or Direct to Garment Printers are for printing graphics directly onto textiles and garments with inkjet technology. Instead of printing onto paper, you’re printing directly onto a t-shirt. They include no setup time and have an immediate turn around for printing graphics with specialty water-based inks that absorb the fibers of the garment.
Curing Equipment
After applying an emulsion to your screen, you’ll need to turn your design into a stencil. To complete this task, you’ll need to expose the screen to an ultraviolet (UV) light and solidify it – helping to make any light that touches your screen impermeable to ink. The easiest way to do this and be consistent is to use an exposure unit.
How To Select the Right Screen Printing Equipment
Knowing what piece of equipment that works best for your shop or hobby isn’t always the easiest selection. It’s best to get advice from an experienced screen printer who has tested out a variety of different screens and understand which works for different printing jobs.
Manual Press or Automatic Press?
When it comes to choosing between a manual press or an automatic press, you need to answer the simple question, how many shirts do you need to print?
If you’re just starting your screen printing company or you’re producing a clothing line or it’s just a hobby of yours, a manual screen printing machine could be the machine that fits your situation. Most companies or screen printers begin with a manual screen printing machine. If you’re investing in a more expensive, manual equipment, it’s always good to go for a quality machine that will last. Do your research and find out what others think of the machine you’re considering.It’s always good to start out with the basics, that way, if you feel that you’d like to switch over to an automatic machine later, it won’t be as costly as the other way around.
If you’re looking into creating a large screen printing business where you need to pump out a large number of orders every week, you could start out with an automatic press. An automatic press can be used by a one-man show, but if you start to add to your team, it’ll increase your productivity and consistency if you have an automatic screen printing machine. When you’re looking into machines, look for a brand that is constantly keeping up with the times and always developing new innovations.
How Many Colors Should The Equipment Produce?
When you’re considering the size of your machine, think about how many colors you want to print per design, including a white under-base. How many colors do you use in your designs? 5? 10? That should be the number of print heads that are on your press, plus an extra head for white under-base used for both black or dark garments. The number of heads equals the number of screens you’ll be able to hold, and each screen stands for the stencil for one color at a time.
The best piece of advice we can give you is to invest in a machine that works for what you need and how much work you’ll be doing every day or every week. It’s best to start off choosing the right machine that will last you for years. Things may change in the coming years, so, you’ll need to expand to a bigger press when the production process increases. Remember, it’s always good to start small instead of investing in far more than you need.
Tabletop Press or Free-Standing Press?
Let’s rephrase this question to, How much space is in your shop or work area? Are you running a one-person business out of your house? If you’re limited for space, the best option could be a tabletop press.
Will you be printing for more than 8 hours a day, or a machine that will last you years? If you’ve got a large space to work with, you could also go with a larger screen printing machine. Generally, these larger sized models are more efficient, made to last and are more reliable than a manual screen printing press. It’s worth the investment to purchase a machine that will be more durable in the long-run.
Screen Printing Equipment FAQ
What Are The Major Factors of Purchasing a Press?
When it comes down to it, you’ll need to consider these factors for choosing a press:
- How much room you have
- What type of press you want (manual or automatic)
- How large the door at your shop or facility is
- Power requirements
- How many colors you need for recurring print jobs
Why Does An Automatic Press Have Better Quality?
Declaring an automatic press as producing better quality is usually up to the screen printer. You might believe that a machine is better quality when it produces more in less time
Overall, a print on a garment should feel as good as the original without the print. It should be comfortable to wear. We find that automatic presses have better results because it is always going through the same steps and can result in less errors. For a manual press, a screen printer has to “manually” do everything, which could result in more errors resulting from being distracted or forgetful. A good print is made by a consistent speed, a correct angle and pressure.
How Do I Know If A Manual Press Is Sturdy Enough?
You might not see how sturdy a press is simply by looking at it. You’ll need to get up close and personal with the machine. A good test can include putting your hands on a shirt board and pressing downward. If the shirt board moves side to side, it’s not sturdy, it’s flimsy.
What Else Do I Need Other Than A Press?
Depending on what you’re looking to do at your shop, there are a variety of other equipment you can invest in:
- Exposure Unit
- Washout Booth
- Squeegees
- Flash Cures
- Direct to Garment Printer
- Flash Dryer
- Dry Rack or Cabinet
- Regular Supplies: Emulsions, Ink, Film, Screens, and Frames
What Are The Best Qualities of A DTG Printer?
There are a some factors you need to look out for in a DTG Printer
- Good color representation, density and saturation: These qualities make a print stand out, especially on a dark garment.
- Cracking: Bad quality printers will result in speckles or cracking. This is caused by improper pretreat or heat pressing, and ends up with a less vibrant print.
Honest, Fair Prices On All Screen Printing Equipment
Garton is committed to supplying the highest quality screen printing equipment for your individual projects or screen printing business. With over six decades worth of experience, we understand the struggles and triumphs of screen printers all over the United States.
That’s why we’re dedicated to not only helping you successfully complete your printing jobs with our reliable equipment, but assisting you with whatever questions you need answered.
Have questions? We’ve got the answers! To talk with us today, call us at 860-289-3040.