SQUEEGEE & INK BLOG

WHEN SHOULD I UPGRADE TO AN AUTOMATIC PRESS?

WHEN SHOULD I UPGRADE TO AN AUTOMATIC PRESS?

ARE YOU READY TO MAKE THE JUMP? While manual screen printing is fun, challenging and rewarding, we still occasionally dream about that big automatic set up. But what do you need to consider before making the jump and how much will all this new kit cost?  Luckily we...

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DOES COLD CURE ADDITIVE WORK?

DOES COLD CURE ADDITIVE WORK?

THE QUICK ANSWER IS YES... BUT... Cold cure additive can be a life saver for small screen printing businesses and home printers. Having the ability to fully cure your garments without heat can save money and space in your studio, but how effective is cold cure...

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DIFFERENT WAYS TO CURE WATER BASED INK

DIFFERENT WAYS TO CURE WATER BASED INK

HOW THE PROS DO IT... The best and most common way to cure water based ink is by using a large, forced air, tunnel dryer... but not all of us have the space, money or ability to use top end, factory grade equipment.  With this in mind, we have tested 3 different ways...

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HOW WE DRAIN & CLEAN OUR EASIWAY DIPTANK

HOW WE DRAIN & CLEAN OUR EASIWAY DIPTANK

WHEN SHOULD I DEEP CLEAN MY SCREEN PRINTING DIP TANK? If you are finding that your dip tank is taking longer and longer to remove the emulsion you may benefit from 'shocking' your tank first.  If you are using the Easiway systems dip tank like us, to 'shock' your...

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PRINTWEAR & PROMOTION LIVE EXPO 2022

PRINTWEAR & PROMOTION LIVE EXPO 2022

THE UNMISSABLE REUNION. That's their tagline, not ours. But seriously, if you have never been to Printwear & Promotion before, can you even call yourself a garment decorator? If you didn't have a chance to make it over to Birmingham this year, don't worry, we have...

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TOP 5 SQUEEGEE’S, TESTED & REVIEWED

TOP 5 SQUEEGEE’S, TESTED & REVIEWED

WHICH SQUEEGEE HANDLE FOR A MANUAL T-SHIRT PRINTER? We have been screen printing t-shirts by hand for nearly a decade now. It's about time we gave you our opinion on some of the most common squeegee handles on the market.  Before we get into the details, I want to...

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REVIEW ON THE M&R KRUZER T-SHIRT CAROUSEL

REVIEW ON THE M&R KRUZER T-SHIRT CAROUSEL

10 REASONS WHY WE LOVE THE M&R KRUZER We have been using the manual M&R Kruzer screen printing carousel for the last 2-3 years and we LOVE IT!.. This piece of kit has 4 rotating platens, 6 heads with micro registration (which means it can easily register up to...

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GETTING STARTED IN EMBROIDERY

GETTING STARTED IN EMBROIDERY

NEW TO EMBROIDERY? We were too! We have been offering an embroidery service to our customers for approximately 3 years now and feel like we are finally ready to share some of our tips that we have learnt along the way. From hooping stations to garment choice,...

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SCREEN PRINTING BASICS, STEP BY STEP

SCREEN PRINTING BASICS, STEP BY STEP

EASY SCREEN PRINTING Lets make this as simple as possible. We have broken down the whole screen printing process into 4 manageable chunks. We will be focusing on t-shirt printing specifically however if you are printing onto paper, card or flat substrates, similar...

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8 TIPS FOR PRINTING OVERSIZE T-SHIRT DESIGNS

8 TIPS FOR PRINTING OVERSIZE T-SHIRT DESIGNS

WHAT IS AN OVERSIZED T-SHIRT PRINT? We class an oversize t-shirt design to be anything that fills the entire platen with printable area. Our studios maximum print area for t-shirts is 50x35cm. Printing this size can be tricky and a little problematic but hopefully, if...

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SIMPLE IMAGE SEPARATION TECHNIQUE

SIMPLE IMAGE SEPARATION TECHNIQUE

BEFORE YOU START This method of image separation is using vector images in Adobe Illustrator. If your image is not currently a vector, you can contact us directly to fix this first! Email your image to chessie@squeegeeandink.co.uk and we will get you on track!   This...

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HOW TO REGISTER A 3 COLOUR SCREEN PRINT

HOW TO REGISTER A 3 COLOUR SCREEN PRINT

FIRST THINGS FIRST There are so many different ways of registering multi-colour images and we don't claim any ideas are better than others. If it works, it works! If it doesn't... well, maybe you need to read on... WHICH METHOD? I'm going to talk you through a step by...

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THE DIP TANK REVOLUTION : TRIED AND TESTED

THE DIP TANK REVOLUTION : TRIED AND TESTED

THE TANK We have been lucky enough to get our hands on the new dip tank by Easiway.... and it is incredible! We have put together some benefits, tips and recommendations to keep you in the know like a pro. Check out our set up video below including a discount code for...

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WHITE INK EXPLAINED, WHICH IS THE BEST?

WHITE INK EXPLAINED, WHICH IS THE BEST?

Which white ink should I use for screen printing? Well it depends on what result you are looking for BUTTTT we have been lucky enough to recieve 6 different types of white ink from Amex (links below) and we have sampled each one to see the results. These are the inks...

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HOW LONG SHOULD I EXPOSE MY SCREEN FOR?

HOW LONG SHOULD I EXPOSE MY SCREEN FOR?

SCREEN EXPOSURE How long should I expose my screen for? This sounds like a simple question but there are so many variables that the answer is a tricky one! Exposure time is dependent on the type of exposure unit you are using, the type of emulsion, the thickness of...

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RECLAIMING SCREENS – MANUAL vs DIP TANK

RECLAIMING SCREENS – MANUAL vs DIP TANK

THE BASICS Reclaiming or de-coating a screen simply means completly cleaning off the old image to allow you to re-use your screen. WHY RECLAIM? Well, quite frankly, its going to cost you a bomb if you are purchasing a new screen everytime you want to change your...

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FLASH DRYERS : THE WHY, WHAT AND HOW

FLASH DRYERS : THE WHY, WHAT AND HOW

INTRO A flash dryer is used to gelcure plastisol ink after an underbase or inbetween colours. You would also use a flash dryer to achieve a perfect white on black print using plastisol ink. We recently upgraded our studio with a brand new flash dryer and this is what...

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3D T-SHIRT INK, AKA:  PUFF ADDITIVE

3D T-SHIRT INK, AKA: PUFF ADDITIVE

WANT TO MAKE YOUR PRINTS POP? RAISE THE BAR IN YOUR PRINT SHOP? YOU'RE IN THE RIGHT PLACE! We have been playing with some screen printable puff additive. This is a professional quality plastisol base used for adding height to your design. Check out our video:...

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8 STEPS TO COATING THE PERFECT SCREEN

8 STEPS TO COATING THE PERFECT SCREEN

STEP 1: USE A GOOD SCREEN PUT DOWN THAT STAPLE GUN! It's not welcome here. If you want to create a beautiful, smooth and silky screen print, then you need a good coat of emulsion. If you want a good coat of emulsion, then you need a good screen. Simple. We consider a...

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SCREEN PRINTING WITH DISCHARGE INK

SCREEN PRINTING WITH DISCHARGE INK

SCREEN PRINTING WITH DISCHARGE INK SUPER SOFT FEEL SHIRTS! Check out todays video of Chessie printing with discharge ink. We will update with lots of information about this soon. Let us know in the comments what you would like to see!

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