If you look hard enough, you can always find a cheaper option for your screen printed t-shirts. But you may not want to, and here’s why:
Not all screen printers are equal.
There is a cost associated with good quality screen printed shirts. Those quality shirts can last for many years. By going with the “cheap guys,” you will pay in the end due to shirts that are quickly discarded. This completely defeats the purpose of buying t-shirts printed with your logo.
Just because two seemingly similar businesses offer the same “service” doesn’t mean the quality is the same. Yes, we know in your mind, you thought you were doing yourself a solid by “saving money.” However, in the long run, you are costing yourself much more.
Below are only a few of the areas you will likely be sacrificing if you choose to go with those “cheap” screen printing quotes you received.
- We’ve all received those screen printed shirts that look great at first glance….until you wash them that first time. After that, the ink immediately starts peeling and cracking. So what do you do? You throw it away. This happens because cheap, low quality ink was used or the shirts were not dried at the right temperature.
- Blurry print on the t-shirts. Screen printers should understand the garbage in-garbage out rule. If the artwork used to print isn’t a good quality, the outcome will not be good. It’s as simple as that. Preparing the artwork properly not only takes time, but it takes skill. Most of the “cheap” screen printers have no talent for dealing with artwork, therefore, they use the art that is supplied to them because they don’t have the ability to manipulate it. The fact is most artwork given to screen printers for printing has to be redrawn or manipulated in some way to print properly.
- Color registration is off. If printing multiple colors on a shirt, a separate screen for each color must be used for printing. Lining up each screen is a time-consuming process. Part of the process includes a test print (or 2 or 3 until the screen are to make sure the print is right. If the screens are off by a fraction of a centimeter, the colors will be misaligned on the shirt. Experienced screen printers can register these colors to perfection. Without investing this time for each job, subpar screen printers are able to price lower than competitors because machine setup is faster, however, the outcome will be ugly and everyone will notice.
- Inconsistent ink coverage. This most often happens from small-time screen printers who use a manual press. The beginning of your batch looks great, but their arms tire out quickly causing them to not use the right amount of pressure to squeeze the ink through the screen onto the shirt. Automatic presses (like we have at Anchor), on the other hand, offer a consistent pressure so all of the shirts have a similar ink coverage.
- Crooked prints on your shirt. Inexperienced screen printers haven’t mastered the art of centering a t-shirt on the printing plate. And it shows with the final products with crooked prints on your shirts.
Is saving a few cents per shirt really worth forgoing quality? Our answer is a firm NO. That’s why we strive for high quality screen printing at a fair price. The screen printed t-shirts you buy from us will continue to advertise for your business for a long time.
The Benefits of Direct to Garment (DTG) Printing
