Skip to main content

polyester

Polyester Maybe Isn’t the Greatest Thing: Polyester Microfiber Legislation

There is a bill currently in the CA legislature on the topic of polyester microfibers. They have proposed legislation mandating by 2020 that garments with 50% or more polyester or other synthetic fiber warn you to wash them by hand and not wash them by machine. This is on the heels of studies indicating that…

Hanes with an Innovative Approach

Hanes and Champion have a new site at hanesink.com for ordering a shirt, focused on all high schools and colleges. I guess it might cut into the businesses of a few people, but mostly it seems like it might lead to less aggravation and more business for most of us. If somebody wants a single shirt for…

SGIA Expo Atlanta 2015 – San Mar and Garments You Can Decorate, What a Concept!

My mind is boggled by companies that don’t even test their products before selling them to screenprinters and embroiderers. If you can’t hoop the left chest, or a material scorches your fancy lightweight fabric at any temperature, what good is it to us? On the other hand, San Mar has a great guy Mark Bailey…

Dye Migration, the Screenprinter’s Nemesis. Part 6. Poly White as a Partial Solution

Another tool in fighting dye migration is “Poly white.” We use Rutland’s “Super Poly White” but other companies have similar formulations. In some ways the game has been upped. Once you could sometimes use cotton white on 50/50’s and a white for 50/50’s would always work. Now sometimes we can’t even count on the dye…

Dye Migration, the Screenprinter’s Nemesis. Part 4. Barrier Grey as a Partial Solution

So you have a bad bleeding shirt on your hands, now what? Yesterday I went over silicone inks as a possible solution and the pluses and the minuses of that approach. Most often in our shops we reach for Barrier Grey Ink. We use the Rutland version but I believe there are similar products out…

Dye Migration, the Screenprinter’s Nemesis. Part 1

Dye migration is one of the biggest issues in screenprinting these days. I get more calls to help with this problem than with any other. It can be really insidious, as you can sometimes print and it doesn’t show up for weeks. I”ll cover a few topics this week, starting with testing the fabric. We…

Scrub Down, Chow Down, Bottoms Up

We had a cool time with some fellow printers and a few chill vendors this week. A good time was had by all at our Ink Kitchen “East Coast Scrubdown and BBQ.” Three customers of mine hooked us up big time. Best Q around from Blue Ribbon BBQ, best brews around with Summer Ale and…

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2015

The annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is not only a celebration of the many many types of music that mix here in the Crescent City, it also celebrates Louisiana culture from photography to blacksmiths to of course, the t-shirt. They always sell a wide range of styles and designs and it is interesting to…

Fashion Trends – Part 5

And this ends our dip into the world of fashion that we covered over the past week. Of course no discussion of fashion trends in the t-shirt world would be complete without a mention of American Apparel. Echoing some of what we heard from other brands and of course taking a bit further, here is…

Fashion Trends – Part 4

San Mar has emails you can sign up for to get a head up on style developments, they call it “The Style Network.” You can view it here. Among trends they identify are new uses of neon color accents, pockets, “sporty” casual athletic looks, further advance in polyester technical pieces, and use of mesh. They…

No more pages to load