Printing Methods for Custom Sweatshirts

People have been dyeing and printing designs on garments for thousands of years. The process remains incredibly popular with small businesses in America. Whether we're talking about custom sweatshirts or T-shirts for college or high school students or a sports jersey of a famous athlete, they all rely on custom printing.

There are more than a half dozen accepted methods of transferring designs onto a piece of clothing. Most of them are easy to learn and quite affordable, which is why tens of thousands of small business owners open custom T-shirt shops each year. Where to begin?

If you are interested in opening your own shop and printing custom sweatshirts and T-shirts, you will need the right printing equipment. But before you buy anything you must select a printing method. Let us take a moment to review a few of the most popular methods.

Screen Printing

Screen printing has been around for over two thousand years. It consists of using a large screen with a design and applying the paint directly to it and then stamping the design on custom sweatshirts. Screen printing is fast and affordable and it can be used to create large quantities of custom garments. The only real disadvantage is that it works better with single colors. If you have a design that requires several colors, screen printing is not for you.

Heat Printing

Designs can be printed on either special paper or on vinyl and they are then transferred to a garment using the direct application of heat. The method is popular with small businesses that create colorful designs in limited quantities. It is not nearly as fast or as affordable as screen printing, but it is more versatile with regard to color and it can be used to create more intricate designs.

Direct to Garment

This method entails printing the inks directly onto the custom sweatshirts. Again, this process is ideal for small businesses, since it takes more time and gives the printer more to work with. Many of the top T-shirt designers who charge hundreds for their garments rely on this method. The disadvantages are that it takes longer to complete these custom sweatshirts and the cost of materials is much higher than with screen printing.

Dye Sublimation

Because it is more expensive than most of the other methods, dye is rarely used by large custom T-shirt printers. However, it is popular with printers who create custom non-textile products, like mugs, puzzles, coasters, key chains, and mouse pads. The process can be used to make remarkably intricate and colorful designs and logos.

T-Shirt Printing Methods

Tens of thousands of small businesses in the United States print custom T-shirts. It remains one of the most attractive business opportunities for young people who want to work for themselves. There are several reasons for this. For one thing, it does not require any special skills. A hardworking individual can learn everything he needs to know about T-shirt printing in a short time. Startup costs are also quite low. All that is needed is some basic equipment, clients, and a few helpers.

There are several different methods of T-shirt printing, some are ancient and others are comparably new. In this article we will review the two most popular methods of T-shirt printing.

Screen Printing

Screen printing is the oldest method of transferring a design onto a piece of clothing, a poster, a billboard, or a flyer. It originated in China and has been around for over two thousand years. When used for T-shirt printing, the paint is placed directly on the screen and the design is pressed against the T-shirt.

This method is quick, cost effective, and it produces high-quality prints. The disadvantages are that each color needs a separate screen, so it's not nearly as fast when printing multi-color T-shirts. Screen printing is also quite messy and it takes a lot of time to clean printing screens at the end of the day.

Heat Press

The heat press method was ubiquitous in the 1970s when most kids were running around in T-shirts with a heat press patch. The method now relies on computers instead of patches to print out a special piece of paper with transparent ink that can then be transferred to the T-shirt using heat. It's sort of like a stick-on tattoo, but instead of using water it relies on heat and steam

The advantages of this T-shirt printing method are that it is better with multiple colors and that it can be used to produce more intricate designs. The disadvantages are that it is more expensive than screen printing, the patch can feel heavy, and that the colors will fade and crack over time.

Which is better?

Well, it really does depend on the size of your business and the kind of shirts you are planning on printing. If the design is basic, monochromatic, and you need a lot of them, there is no doubt that screen printing is the T-shirt printing method you should choose. However, if you have a multi-colored design that is intricate and you are fulfilling small order, heat press might be a better fit.