Many people want to begin a creative business, like screen printing. In different businesses, you have to buy the necessary equipment to kickstart your new venture. It is crucial to prepare a list of necessary things for the setup. You cannot forget things through a list, and you can also calculate your total setup expenses.
All the materials you purchase should be of good quality to avoid repairs, unnecessary maintenance, and poor printing. In the following write-up, we will discuss the materials that are necessary to buy for doing the work of screen printing.
You must add these things to the list. After making a list, you must write down the estimate of every item you will buy. This way, you will get a rough idea of the total money you have to spend on setting up the screen-printing shop. Let us see what things are quite important for your shop.
1. Printing Press Machine
Many brands are available in the market that manufactures high-quality printing press machines with different features. The first thing you have to do is find a reputable brand that also offers an extended warranty period. After that, you have to check out the features offered by the brand on a specific machine.
You need to shortlist all the machines you like the most per your budget. Now, you have to pick anyone that wins the race. If you cannot afford a new one, you can go for second-hand machines. You have to contact dealers who can give you a second-hand press machine at a reasonable price. If you are looking for a good-quality printing machine for silk screens, you must visit holdensscreen.com.
2. Gel Ink
It is crucial to buy gel ink for printing multicolored designs because it requires ink flashing. You can go for the heat gun but you must keep consistent heat for better results. But it is hard to maintain for many people.
Therefore, it is better to go for a flash dryer. While printing the whole design, you can spread heat consistently by operating a high-end flash dryer. If you want to know the best thing about gel ink, it is quite easy to spread, and one can print any design effortlessly.
3. Curing Equipment
If you need to cure the garments by not washing the prints, it is necessary to invest in special equipment. Many individuals prefer using the high-end flash dryer. But it is usually done by people who are still learning the printing skill, and they want to save some money.
You must maintain the temperature of the room while curing the garments. At the same time, you need to take care of ink and fabric temperature. With the help of a heating press, you can also cure the fabric. You can also buy a good-quality conveyor dryer to speed up the manufacturing process of many garments.
4. Unit of Exposure
Sometimes, you must burn different images on the available screens. The thing that matters is the quality of the exposure. Many people prefer using bulbs, but several individuals have switched to LEDs now.
As compared to traditional bulbs, LEDs help in saving electricity and are long-lasting. You can get enough wavelength to create the stencil prints sharper and more accurately. Whenever you burn your screens, you must ensure that the things are safe from lights.
5. Space for Cleaning the Screens
After screen burning, you require a proper space to rinse them and reclaim the old ones. You require a booth for washing all the stuff. If you are looking for an affordable option, you can also prefer a laundry sink or a normal tub.
But you must take care of it while draining because you should not drain emulsion or inks as it can clog the pipes. Do not forget to place a trap to collect all the waste and prevent it from draining. Some chemicals are also harmful if you drain them. Therefore, you should operate on eco-friendly chemicals.
6. Software
For creating designs and printing settings, you need applications. The common and popular software used for printing designs is Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. If you need to work on the background of graphic design, then it is better to operate Procreate and switch to Illustrator. Apart from these applications, you can choose any software that is quite easy to use and provide versatile features.
7. Screens
It is an important piece of equipment while doing screen printing. There are several mesh counts that you can use for various applications. You can measure the mesh count by knowing the polyester threads that can cross the screen per square inch.
The more the mesh counts, the more the holes will be finer in the screen. You can use different types of inks on different screens. Therefore, you must take care of your client’s requirements before investing your money in the printing screen and compatible inks.
8. Ink Along with Emulsion
Generally, you can get two ink types, water-like and plastisol. When choosing the easy printing ink, you can prefer the plastisol. It can be used by beginners who do not know much about screen printing. There is no risk of drying this ink over the screen, and it can also be cured. The outcome you will get will be opaque as well as vibrant.
If you need to get a soft printing feel, you must go for the water-like ink. It is risky to handle because it can dry easily on the screen. You may face difficulty while curing it. Emulsions are used for coating screens and are available in two types. The sensitive type of emulsion is long-lasting and highlights the details elegantly. Beginners cannot handle it, but they can choose Diazo. It takes time to expose and makes large window errors.
Final Thoughts
While creating the material list you must begin an effective screen-printing business, you must do everything mentioned. You can easily estimate your expenses while setting up the shop. The investment is expensive but worth it. Make sure that you invest in good-quality materials to avoid loss in the future.
