| T-shirt printing traditionally uses a mesh for screen | | | | taking them off for curing. The automatic rotary |
| printing. The textile inks are filtered through the | | | | t-shirt printing machines have special parts that allow |
| screen using a squeegee, which is a piece of rubber | | | | automated application of ink and for rotating the |
| with a wooden handle that is used to push the ink | | | | shirts from one color screen to another. |
| against the mesh. Innovations in t-shirt screen | | | | Types Of T-Shirt Printing Machines Based On |
| printing, however, have made the process easier and | | | | Function |
| faster with new t-shirt printing equipment, especially | | | | These t-shirt printing machines have different types |
| the large drying machines that can cure multiple shirts | | | | also based on function. Belt presses are used to print |
| at the same time at a faster rate. | | | | designs all over the t-shirt by attaching it to a moving |
| Using A Squeegee and A Fine Mesh | | | | belt under the screens. |
| A fine mesh with a high resolution is stretched from | | | | They are quite expensive because the registration |
| end to end in a square wood frame. The size will | | | | and ink deposit are controlled in amounts that are |
| depend on how large the design area is on the t-shirt. | | | | outside of the industry standards. Discharge inks are |
| Print screens with mesh counts of 160 to 280 can | | | | often used to control the thickness, or "hand," of the |
| use multi-print standard opacity ink types while those | | | | design. |
| with mesh counts of 230 to 305 can use process | | | | A second type of t-shirt printing machine is the |
| colors. | | | | all-over press. Similar to the belt press, the all-over |
| The ink is pushed against the mesh using a squeegee. | | | | press can print the design over the entire area of the |
| The firmness of the rubber and the amount of | | | | shirt, including the sleeves. |
| pressure you apply will determine the right flooding of | | | | However, instead of a belt, the all-over press uses |
| ink on the mesh. Too much will bleed the ink out of | | | | one large and two smaller platforms to spread the |
| the design’s boundaries. | | | | shirt under the screens for printing. Although all-over |
| Using A Rotary T-Shirt Printing Machine | | | | presses can provide greater control over the quality |
| There are two types of t-shirt printing machines: | | | | of t-shirt printing, they cannot cover the whole shirt |
| manual and automatic. Manual rotary presses require | | | | from end-to-end because of the edges of the metal |
| human labor to move the different screens for each | | | | plates. |
| color and to apply ink using a squeegee. They also | | | | The rarest of the specialized types of t-shirt printing |
| have different types based on the number of colors | | | | machines is the cylinder press. It creates a continuous |
| they can carry: Four Color, Six Color, and Ten Color. | | | | image of the print around the middle of the t-shirt. It |
| The automatic t-shirt printing presses, on the other | | | | works the same way as those printing presses for |
| hand, only requires human labor for placing the | | | | designing mugs, cups and other cylindrical objects. |
| t-shirts on the platforms under the screens and for | | | | |