Greater>Than Clothing

When I first became obsessed with the idea of Greater>Than screen-printing its own shirts, I knew that there was some significant equipment involved. I had an idea of what was needed but perhaps not the specifics of each piece of equipment.

Research was required…off to the Internet! I first came across some start-up packages of screen-printing equipment and I was getting pretty excited about some of the prices. It looked like there were some pretty good deals out there. I thought for sure we would find a great package solution.
 
Then I seemed to hit a wall. My searches started to yield the same results and I felt like I wasn’t getting what I needed (I think screen printing equipment manufacturers need a lesson in SEO ). I knew there was so much more out there that I hadn’t tapped into yet.

I had been sharing bits and pieces of info as I gathered them with Joey and he mentioned a great online forum I should check out called T-Shirt Forums (how obvious ). Upon checking out the site, I quickly searched the “Screen Printing” section to see if others had opinions on printing equipment. Sure enough, there was a plethora of great insight on multiple aspects of many types of printing equipment.

Most of the questions I had (and many that I didn’t) were already discussed and I eagerly read post after post absorbing all kinds of nuggets. Perhaps the best bit of info was some reviews of the exact equipment from the previously mentioned online start-up packages. Low and behold the deals were too good to be true.

Although it would have been great to hear glowing reviews for the seemingly discounted start-up packages, I was glad that I heard of the troubles some were having rather than having to go through it myself. Don’t get me wrong, some of the best knowledge you can obtain is from your own mistakes. However, I want Greater>Than to be in a position to succeed from the get-go. I have targeted specific equipment that should get Greater>Than off to a great start.

Screen-printing requires (at the minimum) the following equipment (in terms of machinery):

• Printing Press
• Flash Cure Unit
• Curing Unit
• Exposure Unit
• Pressure Washer
• High-quality printer

Besides the machinery, there are many other pieces of equipment needed to get the job done. Here are just a few:

• Screens
• Emulsion
• Ink
• Squeegees
• Curing table
• Screen drying rack
• Digital scale
• Cleaning chemicals
• Dark-room lighting

Now, some of these can be replicated with “home-brew” solutions and others cannot be easily substituted. What we have been working on is determining the right combination of purchased and home-made/modified equipment which will enable us to produce the best prints possible. Look for my future posts where I will explain which equipment we are looking at purchasing and which pieces we will be making ourselves. I’m thinking of doing a single post for each piece of equipment so I can go into more detail. I hope to include some sweet pictures and drawings. Thanks for checking in!