Hello,
I’m Melton Charles. Started as a passion for making things from scratch to now being a screen-printing business, this blog is created to help you learn everything about the industry.
But first, let me tell you a little bit about some of my memorable highlights.
How it all began
Since 2006, I’ve succeeded in some self-screenprinting projects, which led to my decision of building a forum for everyone with the same passion to share ideas.
Now as the printing world develops, I also want to contribute to a bigger cause that is to help both businesses and customers understand how this field works.
Started from a small first mistake
This was my first time to try printing on sweatshirts, which were thicker than what I had printed before. And I was printing white on to a dark shirt.
The first time I tried, the logo was only partially printed on the shirt. So I carefully laid the screen back down on to the shirt and tried again. But now the design looked kind of blurred. I didn’t particularly want to go buy another one for $6 or $7 or $8 bucks, or whatever I paid.
I wanted to try to save this one. The ink hadn’t been heated set yet. In fact, it hadn’t even dried yet.
So I quickly took the shirt down to my rinse tub where I have a hose attached, with a spray nozzle. I sprayed the not yet dried design with a strong jet of warm water. The design seemed to be washed away. I threw the sweatshirt into the washing machine, and afterward the dryer. There was no sign of the misprinted design.
I took a couple more tried to get the design printed properly on the sweatshirt. Fortunately, I didn’t have to go buy a new shirt.
Always head for creativity
In 2006, one of the problems I had with cheap wooden frames is the screens sometimes come loose. They were only held in by a pressed-in cord. The cord could be pressed back in, but the screen would still be loose.
The solution I came up with was to remove the cord altogether. I positioned the screen over the wooden frame, and with a staple gun, I stapled the screen to the frame in the middle of one edge.
Then I went to the opposite edge, pulled the screen taut, and stapled the screen to the frame in the center of that edge. I moved to one of the sides that hadn’t been stapled yet, pulled the screen half-taut, and stapled in the middle.
Now I had staples in the center of all four sides of the frame. After the screen was stapled to the frame, I went around and tapped the staples down with a hammer, so they wouldn’t stick up.
And done, I have repaired my loose screens just like that!
On today’s blog
Less about home techniques, more about the latest printing industry information, specifically, you’ll discover:
- How screen printing works comparing to other printing techniques
- Valuable insights into the printing industry
- Cool fashion tips and ideas
That’s about it. Hope you’ll have a great time on my site!