Opinion Screen-printed shirts - Quality check on aisle 3

[White Haus]

Just got some company shirts printed from a local company. Response, attentiveness, turnaround time and pricing were all really good.

Washed a couple shirts (inside out) once and already have ink coming off.

My first impression when we received the shirts was that blue ink didn't cover white base very well, but I didn't expect this after one wash. (Had lots of specs of white showing through, registration wasn't perfect etc)

We've had shirts printed before and have never seen anything like this, am I wrong in assuming that the printer didn't do a great job here?

First pic shows a ton of blue ink that came off, second pic just shows some cracks/gap in the ink after one wash as well. This logo is around 4" tall.

I'm going to give the printer the opportunity to address the issue, and I really hope they do, just wondering what other shops think of this.

Thanks.

 

[jochwat]

I've not had an incredibly large number of shirts screen-printed, but I've had enough variety to say that I've never seen that happen before. And I generally order an extra shirt for myself to wear and wash plenty of times just to keep an eye on any quality issues. I'm not a hands-on expert in screen-printing garments, but maybe not enough time (or not enough heat) in the curing / drying phase?

 

[Johnny Best]

Are those heat transfer or screen printed.

 

[White Haus]

Screen printed

 

[Gino]

It doesn't look all that good at all.

So, that's the great pocket. Nothing on the back ??

Did it happen to all the shirts of only some of them ??

Wash all of them before pitching a b!tch. Be sure it wasn't a fluke.

 

[Black Star]

The ink didn't hit the correct temperature to cure(320 degrees) or the white ink got too hot between flashing and didn't allow the blue to stick to the white. The quality of the "good" print is not good at all. The white isn't covering the black shirt. The colors aren't lined up. Sorry to see this. My employees get pissed at me because I'm a perfectionist but this is another good reminder as to why I'm such a hard ass on the quality of our screen printing. I wouldn't allow that kind of quality print to go out of my shop.

 

[White Haus]

It doesn't look all that good at all.

So, that's the great pocket. Nothing on the back ??

Did it happen to all the shirts of only some of them ??

Wash all of them before pitching a b!tch. Be sure it wasn't a fluke.

No pockets, they're t-shirts. Gildan Softstyle G-64000 to be exact.

The ink only came off one shirt out of 4-5 that we've washed so far. I don't plan on washing them all as some of these were going to be for clients, friends etc.

Now that we're looking at them closer, the quality of the print is pretty shitty on all of them. Going to email them now and see how they respond.

 

[Terry01]

Run a hot iron over the prints again. May not have got enough heat to seal them off first time around.

 

[White Haus]

The ink didn't hit the correct temperature to cure(320 degrees) or the white ink got too hot between flashing and didn't allow the blue to stick to the white. The quality of the "good" print is not good at all. The white isn't covering the black shirt. The colors aren't lined up. Sorry to see this. My employees get pissed at me because I'm a perfectionist but this is another good reminder as to why I'm such a hard ass on the quality of our screen printing. I wouldn't allow that kind of quality print to go out of my shop.

Thanks for the feedback, was hoping to hear from someone in the industry. We don't screen-print or deal with garments but I also wouldn't let something like that leave my shop.

 

[StarSign]

 

[White Haus]

Thanks for that, super helpful. We didn't ask for fast or cheap, still think we should've gotten something that isn't good?

 

[Boudica]

I agree that it looks really bad, and they should not have sent them out like this.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Yeah those are crap, send them back

 

[Johnny Best]

Wrong size mesh, sloppy job.

 

[Boudica]

Run a hot iron over the prints again. May not have got enough heat to seal them off first time around.

Read post #4

 

[Terry01]

Read post #4

Even after screen printing, we used to run an iron over the print to seal then off after they were hung to dry..I wasn't talking about heat transfer..

 

[hybriddesign]

The printer should replace them and I can’t imagine that they would argue with you on that. It’s what we would do in that situation.

Apparel is tough. I’m always amazed how hard it is to keep everything consistent and perfect especially when you’ve got a big mix of jobs and differing print methods. Hopefully the printers just didn’t catch it and accidentally let it slip out the door.

 

[Boudica]

Even after screen printing, we used to run an iron over the print to seal then off after they were hung to dry..I wasn't talking about heat transfer..

It's been a very long time since doing any screen prints on garments, I don't remember heat being part of the process. Maybe I just don't recall that part. Still though, the registration of the two colors on the op's shirts is terrible. Heat won't fix that.

 

[VizualVoice]

Exactly what Black Star said. My bet is on the white being over-cured with the flash, resulting in the blue not adhering to it, but it really could go either way. If you stretch the print, does it crack at all?

Also, the white is NOT smooth (it should be), and the blue looks like a ridiculously thick deposit of ink. Basically, this reminds me of my first week of trying to screen print. Give them the chance to do better, but if they can't get your money back and go elsewhere.

This shit wouldn't ever leave my shop either.

 

[DARRELL OAKS]

The white wasn't gelled enough before the blue went down and was peeled off from the blue screen. Then went it went through the dryer, it wasn't cured at 320 degrees long enough. If they are good shop they will replace them. Might have been a new pressman, but they shouldn't have let it go out the door and yes someone saw this when they came off the dryer. Just talk to them and let them make it right.