You may say to yourself, “I have been screen printing for
years, why would I need to go to a 101 class?” However, to think that way is to
do yourself a disservice. Many of us are more than familiar with being a jack
of all trades, and in screen printing this would include the capability to mess
with all the little tricks, whether it be a puff here and there, a discharge
design, or even sublimation. But we know how the phrase ends, don’t we? “Jack
of All Trades, Master of None.”
When it comes to the basics of screen printing, you do, in
fact, want to be the master. You want to understand not only what customers may
ask for, but how to accomplish any task. Say a customer walks in with a certain
dark colored garment in mind with a bright design. You’re going to need to know
how to create a white underbase at the lowest cost to you. Depending on the
size of the design they want, it’s also good to know the mesh, ink, and fabric
details.
Texsource's new screen printing classroom.
Screen Printing 101 classes allow you to refresh on the fundamentals,
which really comes in handy when you’re out learning the new stuff that
continuously pops up (who was excited when silicone inks came out?). By
consistently keeping yourself up to date on new (and most of the time, easier)
ways of doing the basics, you could save yourself a lot of time to be able to
focus on learning more risky techniques.
Let’s be honest, a lot of us are self-taught screen
printers. We worked through trial and error time and again. We may have even
researched and watched video after video trying to choose the way that we
thought was best. It still may be, but seeing in person different ways and then
being able to ask questions and have an open and honest discussion with other
screen printers is vital to improving our skills.
For instance, we may all clean our screens differently.
Maybe the easiest way for you to clean your screen is to slide on the heavy
duty gloves and scrub it down. It may take a few hours, but it’s the way you’ve
always done it, right? However, there are other options. More and more
companies are coming out with ways to lower cleaning and reclaiming time. There
are products like Easiway Chemicals’ Dip Tanks that use 2-in-1 chemicals to not
only cut down on time but also on the effort you spend bent over your screens.
Tips like that and more are discussed during these classes
and you’re encouraged to ask questions to understand fully instead of being
forced into more trial and error. The point is, when it comes to classes, no
one is working against you. We want you to be as successful as possible because
in the end, it helps out everyone involved. It’s a win-win situation at its
finest.
Not to mention, who doesn’t get frustrated when cure times
are off? Wouldn’t you want to know why it’s happening to your exact machine in
your exact situation instead of having to try all the different ways to fix it
with no promises of the best outcome? That’s why actually talking with experts
is so important. It’s not just how to screen print, it’s how to master screen
printing. Be a master of your art in its most basic form, then mastery of its
counterparts are sure to follow.