Helpful screen printing advice

We want your final product to be amazing! Some limitations are still inherent in the process of garment decoration. Here are a few things to consider when placing a screen print order with us.

We don’t encourage screen printing over seams or zippers

A flat surface is required to get the best quality print when screen printing. T-shirts are consistently smooth and the same thickness, which allows us to create a perfect print. However, when the screen lays over a seam, pocket, or zipper, it creates an inconsistency because these are thicker portions of the garment. When you print over these portions of the garment it creates a gap in the print where the ink from the screen does not touch the shirt due to the ridge caused by the seam.

We advise against screen printing on ribbed garments

Ribbed garments provide a great fit and form for the wearer, but screen printing these garments can be difficult. Screen printed garments lay on a pallet to be printed, and due to the stretchy characteristics of ribbed garments, can be nearly impossible to keep uniform throughout the process. For example, the fabric can move and the ink may not fill the entire image. We advise against printing on ribbed garments because of the unpredictable nature of the final print.

What colors don’t discharge well

Not every color garment discharges well. We’ve done a lot of testing to see what colors discharge well with other colors. If you’re looking to do something with discharge screen printing, it’s best to contact us first to make sure your chosen colors and garments will work well together.

Some garments don’t de-tag well

Many clothing lines will remove the manufacturer’s neck tags from the garments so a customized logo can be printed in its place. Most manufacturers understand this, and therefore create their garments with removable (tear-away) tags. There are a handful of these garments that still aren’t easy to de-tag, so it’s best to contact us with any questions you may have regarding a particular garment choice.

What shirts don’t work well with jumbo prints

Jumbo printing is typically not a problem on unisex or men’s garments. However, some textiles do have issues:

Tank Tops: Being low cut at both the neckline and the sleeves, printing jumbo prints on these garments can cause print defects because of the seams.
V-Necks: The neck line of the v-neck may cut into the design.
Girls Tees: Jumbo pallets are wider than most girls’ tees.

As usual, we would love to answer any questions or provide job-specific information. Contact us today for help.

What garments don’t show detail well

With advancements in screen printing (including high mesh count screens and specialty presses) we can recreate a level of detail with t-shirts that was previously unattainable just 5-10 years ago. However, due to the way some garments are constructed they will not work well with detail. The reason is that they are not smooth like standard t-shirts. These garments include:

Ribbed Garments
Canvas Material (Aprons, Bags, etc.)
Burnout Tees
Pique Polos

Why isn’t every garment perfect?

Contrary to popular belief, most t-shirts are not made by giant machines, they’re sewn together in facilities by hand. Check out the following video series made by NPR following the creation of a t-shirt:

Due to the human element, not every shirt will be 100% correct. You may have two large shirts that are both the same style but one may have a slightly different cut. Since Wear Haus does not make the shirts, we cannot guarantee that every garment will be made correctly. We do our best to catch these issues before sending the shirts to you, but sometimes these defects can slip through our hands. You may find a hole in your t-shirt or you may see a seam that isn’t sewn up the way it should be. If you find any items with holes or rips in them, please let us know and we will work with you on refunding you for the defective items. However, we cannot give refunds for any shirts due to their fit.

What issues will arise when printing hoodies?

Hoodies are one of the more difficult garments to print on, but they are also one of the best selling items during the winter. The following are a few issues to be aware of when printing hoodies:

Double lined hoodies can only print 1 color ink and no underbase. They slide around on the press so we cannot accurately register multiple colors.
Pockets on hoodies have to be glued down to print over them. Because of this, when you receive your garments, they may still have some of the glue spray in the pockets. This should wash out after one wash.
Prints on the hood itself vary based on what brand of sweatshirt you are printing on. We may have to heat press the design onto the hood if it is double lined. Only single lined sweatshirts work with hood prints.
We don’t advise printing over zippers or seams. When you print over these portions of garments, it creates a gap in the print where the ink in the screen does not hit the shirt due to the ridge caused by the seam.
When you print over the seams, it can throw the registration off. You may see white poking out from under the design.
Hoodies are made with thick fabric and soak up a lot of ink. The color of the sweatshirt will often influence the ink colors. To get the highest quality print when going over zippers &/or pockets, we recommend using a 100% cotton or 80/20 blend hoodie and using all discharge colors without an underbase.
When printing hoodies, we cannot mix them with regular t-shirts on an order because they require a different set of equipment and settings on the printing press. If you would like to order the same design on both t-shirts and hoodies, we will need to set up your order as two separate designs.

What to do differently on tri-blend tees

Flash units on presses burn the tri-blend material, so tri-blend shirts are not underbased. Please take this into account when you order them. Without an underbase, tri-blend tees will have a faded/vintage look, which is what the shirts were intended for. When printing tri-blends we always recommend using either 100% waterbase ink or a waterbase discharge ink to get the softest print possible. If you don’t use waterbase ink, your only real option is plasitsol ink. Wear Haus recommends that you only opt for a tri-blend tee if you are looking for a soft shirt with a soft print.

Why to send extra hem tags or hang tags

We do our absolute best to treat every shirt with the utmost care, including any additional items you send us (like hem tags and hang tags). When providing hem tags and hang tags, we strongly recommend that you send at least 10% extra when you place your order. During the process of sewing in the tags, they can rip on the machine and if we don’t have extras, we cannot ensure that all shirts will be tagged. Wear Haus is not responsible for shirts that are not tagged if extras were not provided. If a tag is misplaced or damaged in the process, Wear Haus will send the shirt untagged but will not refund the cost to sew the tag into the shirt that is missing a tag.