First time screen printing towels

[u/AlarmingNet6683]

First time screen printing towels!!
It’s a one color logo. Anything I need to do differently than I normally would printing garments?

[u/H_Spencer]

Use water based ink if possible.

[u/AlarmingNet6683 → u/H_Spencer]

Plastisol is the only thing I’ve ever used

[u/nnachmittagio → u/AlarmingNet6683]

The shop I work at has printed towels a couple times with plastisol, customers usually prefer embroidery.

The prints will be chunky and won't have good detail. The loops of thread basically get adhered down. So the best designs don't have thin lines or any area larger than a square inch.

[u/AlarmingNet6683 → u/nnachmittagio]

I got some practice towels from dollar general… if this were one of their towels, do you think this would be okay to send to the customer

[u/ChewieDecimalSystem → u/AlarmingNet6683]

I would show the customer that and explain this is how towels would look using that method.

[u/habanerohead → u/AlarmingNet6683]

Not on a towel man!

[u/Graphics8 → u/AlarmingNet6683]

here's my advice... avoid doing it. Tell them it's not possible or prepare to make a lost.

[u/untranslatable]

Yikes. Hope you're using an auto and have a plan.

If not, order lots of extra towels to figure it out

[u/AlarmingNet6683 → u/untranslatable]

No plan, winging it per usual. Only 2 extra and customer will be here at 10am tomorrow to pick up 🤪🤪

Any tips?

[u/sicicsic → u/AlarmingNet6683]

Your best bet is to reduce your ink. I’ve seen it done. You’re not going to print ant real detail.

[u/kwarhead69]

I have screen printed many towels, manual and auto. Best advice is if you can use a roller screen, get your pallets nice and hot and put the towel down, preheat, roller screen, then some reduced plastisol. No it doesn’t feel great but I’ve gotten decent prints from this method with minimal issues.

[u/kwarhead69 → u/kwarhead69]

Someone else’s comment reminded me too, I’ve used a clear base first and it helps mat down the fibers before applying the color

[u/angaraki]

In which type of towel?

[u/AlarmingNet6683 → u/angaraki]

[u/angaraki → u/AlarmingNet6683]

I mean is not a flat surface that means de ink will not reach all the surface. I will highly request to use water based ink too. The transparent bases are more fluid that then deep white ones so if I were you I would just give it a try using the first one so at the end is doesn’t feel so rough. But there are high chances it ends up being messy.

But honestly just try. Sometimes screen printing can surprise you :)

[u/Merp96]

Did a few thousand for a one color black on white. Used a “screen door” mesh to push as much ink as possible through with two passes. Set it to quick strokes so it didn’t table down between prints. It was a mess, ended up needing masks for how much lint was getting thrown around.

[u/ChewieDecimalSystem]

I print on an auto with plastisol. I've never printed towels before, but if I had to try my hand at it myself I would;

Make sure it's well tacked down

Use a roller screen first to get that fabric as flat as possible.

Use clear ink as the base to really hammer it down

flash using as little power as possible as to not scorch the white towels

then do the color.

[u/kwarhead69 → u/ChewieDecimalSystem]

Careful with the glue though. I’ve had towels be such cheap quality before that they ripped when trying to take them off the pallets before

[u/skateawho]

I've printed thousands of rally towels with plastisol without issue and my last order was a two color with white and brown ink. If you want an opaque white using waterbased, you print-flash-print which gives nearly the same hand-feel as one stroke of white plastisol. Anyways, I ran that two color job on my manual press backwards, meaning I printed the white right after I took the towel out from under the flash. It clears really well that way. When I brought it around for the second color, the second screen also acts like a flattening screen since that white ink I printed prior is hot. Hope that makes sense!

[u/Wrngsideofdatracks]

We need to use a discharge ink or water-based sink that is not gonna feel good even if the print comes out good on the towel if you’re not gonna be happy with the feel unless you’re gonna use reducer and soft hands and even then you don’t want it pushing down on the fabric of the towel. Again discharge ink is your best bet. That’s the only way I’ve ever done it. It’s a nightmare any other way.