How can you tell if your custom screen-printed T-Shirt design is high quality?
Are you about to purchase some custom screen-printed shirts, hoodies, or other apparel? Do you want to ensure your design will look good wash after wash? How can you tell whether a print is quality or not? Here’s the scoop.
• Your custom screen print should be vibrant with crisp edges, and even colors. There shouldn’t be any faded (too thin) or bulky (too thick) inked areas.
• The colors should be set. If you rub your fingers over the design, no color should come off the shirt.
• How was the ink was cured? A properly cured design will stretch with the shirt fabric. If the ink has cured too little, the ink will peel off when you wash and dry the item. If the ink has cured too much, the design will start to crack.
• Your front and back print should be perfectly centered between the sleeves. A sleeve print should be centered on the outside of the sleeve.
The fabric and the quality of the apparel matters.
Some fabrics are not suitable for screen printing because they are loosely knitted, have a lot of stray fibers, or feature a slick finish, which will either mess up the clarity of the design or prevent it from adhering properly.
• One of the best fabrics for screen printing is 100% cotton. Cotton is soft, hypo-allergenic, and holds ink well. Cotton blends, which includes poly-cotton blends and tri-blends, are also good fabric choices. Poly-cotton is a blend of cotton and polyester fibers. The fabric holds its shape, resists wrinkles, and is long lasting. Tri-blend fabric, which is a combination of cotton, polyester, and rayon, is very soft and lends a vintage look to your design.
• Even if your design is perfectly printed, it’s not going to last if the apparel isn’t well made.
To check garment durability, examine the construction of the shirt. Turn the apparel inside out to check that the stitches are flat, even, and straight. If there are missing or uneven stitches, the seams might not hold, or the hem might come undone.
Choose the best of the best.
Do you want more help choosing a quality screen printer? Here are the Top 10 Custom T-Shirt Printing Companies.
Which T-shirt brand is best for your screen-printing needs? We’ve listed the Top 10 T-Shirts for Screen Printing here.