Screen Printing

🎨 Maggie’s Blog: How Screen Printing Works – Ink, Screens & Style at Imaginations USA

Hey everyone, it’s Maggie again—welcome back to another edition of Maggie’s Blog!
We’ve already talked about embroidery and our fun Hat Bar experience, but today I’m diving into one of our most popular services: screen printing.

Whether you’re outfitting your business, your team, or your next big event, screen printing is one of the best ways to get bold, lasting designs on t-shirts, hoodies, tote bags, and more.

So how does it all work?

🖼️ What Is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is the process of pressing ink through a mesh screen to print a design onto fabric. It’s one of the oldest and most reliable methods for decorating apparel—and we’ve got it down to an art here at Imaginations.

🛠️ Step-by-Step: The Screen Printing Process

1. Design Prep
Everything starts with your artwork. Whether it’s a company logo, event graphic, or custom slogan, our team prepares the design by separating each color and setting it up for printing.

2. Screen Creation
Each color in your design requires its own screen. We coat a mesh screen with a light-sensitive emulsion and then “burn” the design onto it using UV light. The areas that were exposed to light harden, while the rest gets washed away—leaving a stencil.

3. Setting Up the Press
Once all screens are ready, we load them onto our screen printing press. The garments are placed on a platen (like a flat table), and the screens are lined up to match the design perfectly.

4. Ink Application
Now for the fun part! We place ink on the screen and pull a squeegee across it, pushing the ink through the mesh and onto the garment below. This step is repeated for each color, one at a time.

5. Curing the Ink
After printing, the garments go through a high-heat conveyor dryer that cures the ink—this makes the design permanent and wash-safe.

6. Quality Check
We inspect every print to make sure it meets our standards before it goes out the door.

💡 Why Screen Printing?

Screen printing is perfect for:

• Bulk orders (10–10,000+ shirts)

• Bold and vibrant prints

• Lasting durability

• Cotton or poly-blend garments

• Team wear, event merch, promo tees

It’s especially cost-effective for larger orders and designs that use fewer colors.

🧼 Pro Tip from Maggie:

Want your custom tees to last? Wash them inside-out in cold water and tumble dry low. Screen prints can stay crisp for years with a little extra care!

🏪 Let’s Print Something Together!

Whether you're printing for a school, company, team, or your own clothing brand, our team at Imaginations USA on Historical Water Street in Henderson is here to help bring your idea to life.

Stop by and see samples, feel the quality for yourself, and let’s create something you’re proud to wear.

Until next time,
Maggie