Can you suggest some approaches to building a darkroom for a screen-printing shop that has a limited floor space? This was a question posed by a Printwear reader, and here is Kieth Stevens’ response:

A booth can often be constructed of black plastic sheeting, which is relatively cheap to purchase. Choose a location close to the washout area to minimize exposure to light. Simply construct a 1′ x 3′ wooden frame and determine where to place the entry to the dark room. Staple the plastic to the frame and overlap some plastic to create the “door.” By overlapping the plastic sheets, it will minimize the light coming through during entry and exit. Also, be sure that the plastic cover reaches to the floor to block out light completely.

New article from Marshall Atkinson & atkinsontshirt.com. What is one of the number one growth area in the decorated apparel industry?  Performance and Athleisure wear.  The good news is that your shop can benefit directly from this boom by decorating on these trendier tech apparel blanks.  Maybe you already are, and that’s great.  There is better margin in them too; as they prove to be more difficult for some lesser educated or experienced shops to handle.  I’ve talked to plenty of new customers over the years that left their previous decorator because the white ink turned pink on some red polyesters shirts (see the picture above – does this look like your handiwork?), and the printer didn’t take responsibility for the challenge. 

Let's stop for a minute and think about all the moments our presses have come to a halt in production. I’ve been in the T-shirt business some 30 years, and the list of reasons hasn’t changed much. You’ve got pinholes, ghost images, ink buildup, ink hangup, mis-registration, uneven ink coverage, poor color balance, and dot gain – to name a few. Now take it a step further and estimate the amount of downtime these disruptions cost you. Better yet, ask your staff to start recording this information, because real data is far more revealing than a casual estimate. What you’re going to find is that you have downtime that can be avoided and it’s costing you money.

Is it important to really know the cost-per-screen for your business?  This was a question posed by a Printwear reader, and here is Kieth’s response:

If you've recently expanded your operation, you're probably aware of the many recent high-tech advances in screen printing: faster, more sophisticated presses at lower prices; direct-to-garment printing; LED exposure systems; advances in preregistration systems; and more. Even if you haven't added any new equipment in the last decade, it would be hard not to notice the headlong drive to automate. 

Popular, profitable, and often a pain in the neck to print, the latest fashion fabrics can present quite a challenge to shops accustomed to printing standard plastisols on all-cotton garments

Tips for obtaining additional sales using your current customer base.

If your business is anything like mine, you’ve been assailed with orders for stockings since before Halloween. Even so, as we enter the headlong slide into the biggest gift-giving season of the year, you’ll probably be stuck taking up the slack for the poor souls who didn’t spend their first fall days planning for Yuletide festivities. Luckily, I have a veritable sleigh-load of tips for how to handle customers, keep production on track, and handle those specialty holiday items and last minute requests that will make the end of the year not only productive but profitable.