How To Screen Print Tee Shirts: Printing Inside The Pocket

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Catspit Productions

The latest educational screen printing video is totally old school. In the newest upload to YouTube I teach you an old technique to printing inside the pocket on a pocket tee shirt. I often refer to this method as the “Helen Keller” method but in no way do I mean disrespect to her or the blind community in general. It’s just a very descriptive way of referring to a method that uses a sense of touch mostly to get the pocket into place for printing on the pallet. With a combination of feel and visuals you can set up to screen print pocket tee shirts without a pocket pallet. This new video will show you how to do that.

The new video is called, “How To Screen Print Tee Shirts: Printing Inside The Pocket.” I think the video came out very well considering I had some technical issues with making it. I have to admit that creating and producing these videos entirely by myself is a challenging task. It is often difficult to remember every detail needed to be attended to before starting to record video. Small things like a light not being on or perhaps a regular room light is turned on which is not good for color. In this video I forgot to turn the autofocus back on after filming a couple of clips. I need to turn it off when working closely with the screen on press. Otherwise when the screen moves up and down it gets very blurry at times. So turning it back on for all the other clips is now becoming another detail to remember. Also I am using a wireless microphone now and making sure it is placed correctly and turned on is another point I can screw up… LOL. As the videos become more complex and I try to make them appear more polished, I am finding more way in which things can go wrong. Of course it doesn’t help that I am somewhat of a perfectionist. I’m sure I’ll find more things I can mess up as time goes on.

Anyway the video is good for teaching you all how to screenprint inside pockets without any special pallets. It’s a rather slow method but if you set it up properly it can be pretty good. Thanks again for stopping by the blog and reading about my screenprinting videos and such. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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DIY Poster Art Inkjet Heat Transfers For Tee Shirts

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Catspit Productions

This week’s educational screen printing video is actually a heat transfer video. I thought it would be cool to share with you all the way in which I make my very own novelty tees with artwork that you can’t buy on a tee shirt anywhere. Anywhere that I know of any way… As some of you may know I very much enjoy sci-fi and fantasy movies or television. I also like classic horror and monster movies when the special effects were done with stop action, animation, and other in front of camera techniques. Well it was that time of the year again when I  need to make a few new tee shirts for myself to wear when I want a unique shirt to sport. That’s what this video is all about.

In the new video called, “DIY Poster Art Inkjet Heat Transfers For Tee Shirts,” you get to follow me along as I make 5 heat transferred tee shirts. I am using the standard inkjet heat transfer for fabrics by Avery on white T shirts. For the artwork I chose some old poster art from sci-fi, fantasy, thriller movies form the late 50’s through the 60’s. I hope YouTube doesn’t remove it…LOL. That would suck because I really like this video. It’s a fun video where you get to see the printing and trimming of the transfers as well as the pressing and peeling. The artwork is fun and the video is casual. I think you can tell I was having fun by my barefoot and carefree attitude in this one. One thing I discovered in the video was that I need a new paper cutter. The one I have is old and it gave me some trouble when I was trimming the heat transfers.

Please remember that I never condone bootlegging commercial copyrighted artwork for resale to customers in a business. The shirts I made in this video were not for sale and I made them for myself to wear. It’s one thing to make a Star Wars shirt for yourself using some Lucas art from the internet and a few heat transfers. It’s an entirely different thing to make them for the purposes of selling them to large numbers of consumers. So don’t do it. Believe me, it is not worth it and eventually the termites will come out of the woodwork and destroy you…LOL.

Thanks for stopping by the blog and reading my nonsense. I really appreciate that. Thanks for your continued support! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Guest Post: RhinoClean Green² – The Perfect Textile Range

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Lessen the impact of screen printing on the environment by introducing the complete family of RhinoClean Green² products into regular business practices. These have proven to be effective and highly efficient in all shop sizes, especially in combination with a highly recommended filtration system that is used to collect solids that are 5 microns and larger. The RhinoClean M10 Filtration System is a compatible choice featuring a woven filter media to collect the solids. This added precaution helps to green-up and protect the environment even more, plumping systems and septic fields.

The perfect combination of RhinoClean Green² textile cleaning products includes:

SPG² 2255 that is used prior to each screen preparation. It offers an abrasive, mesh pretreatment for screen frame virgin mesh that contain microscopic grit. It works gently, rapidly and efficiently to lightly abrade and degrease the screen frame without clogging the mesh openings.  It also acts as a degreasing wetting agent. Use of the product will enable monofilament fabric to be receptive to excellent stencil adhesion when using emulsion and capillary film. This screen prep is an environmentally-sensitive, biodegradable product.

DGG² 2200 Degreaser that is a ready-to-use, highly effective grease cutting product. It is specially formulated for screen cleaning prior to applying emulsion to the screen before each stencil preparation. The product allows for non-abrasive fabric treatment, acting like a wetting agent for use on all synthetic and wire screen mesh. It offers an even sheeting of water for complete uniform stencil adhesion to improve film lamination and bonding of direct photo emulsions. The end result is the removal of dust, dirt, finger prints, oil and other foreign elements. This degreaser is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive.

APG² 1000 that is a high performance, all purpose, water-soluble concentrated Plastisol Ink and Emulsion Remover. It is designed to be used after completion of the print run with the screen frame immersed in a dip tank. Here’s how it works: after completion of print run, the excess ink is removed from the screen and the screen is immersed into dip tank filled with APG² 1000. The product then dissolves the ink and emulsion in under 10 minutes. At this point, the screen is removed from the tank and rinsed with a high pressure cleaner to remove residue ink and emulsion. If a residue stain remains, we recommend cleaning with either SWG 210 or HRG² 2400 (see below). APG² 1000 has a higher flash point than lacquer thinner, alcohols, ketones, etc. For use, dilute with water at a 1:15 ratio. It is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive.

PWG² 122 Press Wash that is a textile press wash designed to work rapidly and efficiently on Plastisol Inks.  It evaporates quickly and leaves no solvent residue on the screen. It is especially ideal for cleaning smeared or dried-in ink off the screen during a press run. It is also the perfect product to use for color changes on press. PWG² 122 has a higher flash point than lacquer thinner, alcohols, ketones, etc. and, most importantly, is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive.

PWG² 125 Press Wash that is a multipurpose, biodegradable press wash. It has proven to work quickly and efficiently on U.V., Solvent and Plastisol Inks to open dried or clogged screen images during and after the production run. It is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive.

SWG² 145C Screen Wash that is a pleasant smelling, citrus-scented, water-soluble screen wash designed to work rapidly on Plastisol and UV Inks. It has proven ideal for efficient and expedient screen washing after the press run. It affords a higher flash point than lacquer thinner, alcohols, ketones, etc. and is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive.

SWG² 305 that is a water soluble, Soy Based Screen Wash designed to remove Plastisol and UV ink from the screen frame after the press run. It has proven to be ideal due to very little odor and efficient and expedient screen washing characteristics. It has a very high flash point of over 425 F. Again, this product is biodegradable, environmentally-sensitive and meets the new VOC Regulations, Rule 1171.

SWG² 305 is a multi-tasking that can also be used to help remove minor haze/ghost images.

SWG² 197C Screen Wash that is a water-soluble, multi-purpose Screen Wash Degradent with very little odor. It works rapidly on U.V. and many other solvent-based inks when washing the screen frame after the press run. It has a higher flash point than lacquer thinner, alcohols, ketones, etc. and evaporates slowly for maximum yield, while leaving no residue on the screen. Most importantly, it is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive.

SWG² 210 Screen Wash that is a water-soluble, multi-purpose screen wash ideal for expediting screen washing after the press run. It has proven to work rapidly to remove Plastisol, U.V. and many other solvent-based inks from the screen frame. It evaporates slowly for maximum yield while cleaning screen frames without leaving residue behind. The product has a higher flash point than lacquer thinner, alcohols, ketones, etc. As an environmentally-sensitive RhinoClean Green² product, it is biodegradable and has a very minimal odor.

As a multi-tasking product, SWG² 210 will also help remove minor haze/ghost images.

ERG² 8550L Emulsion Remover that is a highly efficient ready-to-use product. This Emulsion Reclaiming Solution rapidly removes emulsion and capillary films from screens. It offers excellent freeze/thaw characteristics and is ideal for use in all climates. And it never separates out active ingredients. The product is biodegradable, however, environmental, economic, plumping system and septic field protections are assured when a filtration system is used to collect solids that are 5 microns and larger. This can be accomplished by using RhinoClean M10 Filtration System that has a woven filter media to collect those particles.

ERG² 8500L Emulsion Remover that is that is a highly efficient, ready-to-use product. This Emulsion Reclaiming Solution rapidly removes emulsion and capillary films from screens. It offers excellent freeze/thaw characteristics and is ideal for use in all climates. It never separates out active ingredients and can be used straight or mixed in a 1:15 ratio with water. The product is biodegradable, however, environmental, economic, plumping system and septic field protections are assured when a filtration system is used to collect solids that are 5 microns and larger. This can be accomplished by using RhinoClean M10 Filtration System that has a woven filter media to collect those particles.

HRG² 2400 Haze Remover that is a specially formulated liquid to remove imbedded U.V., conventional and plastisol inks that remain on the screen following emulsion removal (haze/ghost images). It effectively lifts the haze and imbedded ink from the mesh, then emulsifies and dissolves the ink resins, binders, pigments, plasticizers, etc. The solution suspends resins, so reattachment to the mesh surface is prohibited allowing for water-rinse removal. It also can be used an excellent degreaser, is biodegradable and environmentally-sensitive!

HCPG² 100 Hand Cleaner that enables the screen printer the benefit of a hand cleaner that effectively leaves hands free of ink stains and feeling smooth to the touch. This product is environmentally-sensitive and biodegradable.

And check out the RhinoClean Cross Reference sheet; click on Chemicals tab @rhinotechinc.com to view.

More information:

Thank you very much to Shelley Markus of RhinoTech for this information packed guest blog post about RhinoTech’s environmentally friendly chemical line. You can find RhinoTech’s complete line of RhinoClean Green² chemicals and the heat transfer dry stencil system on the Catspit Productions website where you can purchase these products with a 5% discount off list pricing and free shipping on orders over $50. Just visit the Print Supplies for RhinoTech. Thanks much to Shelley and Greg at RhinoTech for bringing these offers to the Catspit Productions audience.

Thanks for dropping by the blog and having a read! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC and RhinoTech!

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How To Screenprint Air Dry Ink: Plastic & Poster Board Signs

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Here it is. Finally. The long awaited… yes, I said long awaited, video about printing air dry inks on poster board. That’s right. I was finally able to make the video I have promised many people I would make. I had a project that I wanted to do that suited making the video well. So I decided to combine the project by printing not only poster boards but also corrugated plastic signs. So you get a hybrid screen printing video which will be valuable if you want to print paper or plastics. This video actually features a very cool ink which can be printed on both of these substrates and more.

The video is called, “How To Screen Print Air Dry Ink: Plastic & Poster Board Signs.” This is a hardcore, raw look at printing signs and posters in a textile shop on a tee shirt press. It’s not something I do every day but I can easily print signs on poster board or corrugated plastic. As you can see in the video my shop isn’t really set up for this type of printing but once in a while If I need some signs or such, I’ll do it myself. I have no place to put flat work to dry really but I managed. I printed these Catspit signs on a large pallet with my 6 color manual rotary textile press. Most flat work would be printed on a graphic press but in this case for a small job such as printing some signs for my company, it works out just fine. I think you can see in the video how I basically flew by the seat of my pants to get the job done. I relied on my experience and screen printing skills to feel my way through a type of printing I don’t do very often. In the end, I liked the results and was very happy with my signs.

The video really didn’t turn out as I envisioned it but I think it is very effective as an educational screenprinting video. I hope it answered and satisfied a lot of your questions or queries about he matter. I know many of you have been waiting a long time for this. Remember there is more information about screen printing tee shirts on the website. Thanks for your patience and continued support. Thanks for reading! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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New Screen Printing Articles Added to The Catspit Website!

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Catspit Productions

I finally had some time over the past few months to add two new screen printing articles to the website. I have been so busy I was unable to write any articles for the website in some time. Granted these new articles are pretty simple but I think they were a welcome and needed addition to the screen printing Article Archive. I have found that even the simplest and most basic information when presented correctly can be useful over an over again. And presenting it in certain ways can help people who may have difficulty understanding basic concepts. I know when it comes to math I like my tutorial information to be organized and presented in an easy to understand fashion.

You can find the new articles on the Article Archive page of the Catspit website. The first one is called, “Guide To Choosing And Caring For Your Squeegees.” Its an article about how to go about choosing your squeegee for your particular screenprinting job and how to care for them once you have them. This is probably one of the most overlooked factors in setting up to screen print for beginners. This will help you understand the importance of squeegee choice. The second article is called, “How To Mix Screen Printing Inks By Weight And Volume.” Here you can get a basic rundown of how to mix inks for color or for when you need to add additives for performance. In it you learn about basic units of measurements used and how the mixing ratios are presented in text. It explains how to mix inks by parts, percentages and weight. Again some very basic information but when I first started mixing inks I would have loved to have access to an article like this. Well, the entire Catspit website would have been helpful to me when I started printing for sure.  

I hope you all enjoy these new screen printing articles on the Catspit website. I hope to continue adding new articles, videos and information for you all to learn from. You can help me do this by using the Catspit promo codes on the Print Supplies page when you buy screenprinting products. Make sure to stop by and have a look at the offers from some screen print suppliers you already know:

http://catspitproductionsllc.com/screenprintingsupplies.aspx

You can buy my very own inkjet film there too! Thanks for stopping by the blog and having a read. I appreciate all your continued support! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Silk Screen Printing: Exposing & Washing Out The Stencil

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Catspit Productions

I don’t know how I do it but I managed to upload another educational screen printing video to YouTube today. I have been so busy lately and it’s not so much that I have too much business to deal with rather I am only one person. I feel like I have so many things to do and I can never get to everything I want to get done in a single day. I think many of you can relate to this but being self employed and working from home, I can’t stop myself from working too. It’s a disease that consumes me day and night. I dream of candy coated screens and chocolate squeegees. But it also gets to be too much sometimes to where I wake up in a cold sweat mumbling, “make video, print shirts, post to Facebook…mmmmm”. Like some kind of screen printing zombie.

On the other hand I do have a lot of fun making the videos and now I am exerting more creative power in the making of all my new videos. That could be considered good or bad depending on your perspective and opinion of my work…LOL. But in general I think I have raised the entertainment value of the videos at the very least. Perhaps I even improved the production value as well. This new one is a cool sequence or montage type video where it takes you through exposing a screen and washing out the stencil. This video is different because it teaches through the video alone. There is no narration or talking of any kind from myself. All you can hear are sounds of a screenprinting shop in action. Sometimes it gets a little noisy in the house! I enjoyed making this video and at first I wasn’t sure if what I was doing would work. I shot it on two different days and there is a minor continuity issue but it’s no big deal… LOL. Anyway, it’s a video story type thing…. Check it out. I think you’ll like it. It may even help out.

Thanks again for stopping by the blog and having a read. I appreciate all the love and support I get online. Without you all there would be no point. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Heat Transfers: DIY “Iron On” Artwork Patches

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Catspit Productions

The latest screen printing video has been uploaded to YouTube once again. I have been very busy in the shop and office this week as things pick up for Catspit Productions. A few rush print jobs, new videos to make and plenty of internet work to finish. I have a new article to add to the website and I haven’t even blogged about the last new article yet. I guess it will be a double post when I get to it. I have even more videos to make this weekend as pressure mounts for the long awaited plastic sign and poster board printing video. I am trying very hard to make that one all it should be as it seems like it will have to live up to a lot of people’s expectations.

So this video is called, “Heat Transfers: DIY “Iron On” Artwork Patches”. It is a very cool video about a heat transfer method that you can do at home using a heat press and get great results every time. Yes, you can make awesome decorated garments with ease and perfect repeatable results. The process uses an embroidered or stitched patch that has an adhesive onto he back. Rather than being stitched onto the garment it is heat pressed to embed the adhesive into the fabric. It’s sort of like hot glue for fabric which will adhere the embroidered patch to the garment very well. This technique can really make some killer products that look custom and very professional.

I think you will like this video very much. Make sure to stop by the YouTube channel and have a look today. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Super Halloween Screen Printing Special

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you all enjoy this holiday as much as I do. It’s my favorite time of the year. Don’t worry; it has nothing to do with strange occult worshiping reasons…LOL. In fact if you want to learn more about why I like this holiday so much and even why I collect skulls and such, check out this new YouTube video. It has to be the single most complex video I have made so far. I really went all out to try to entertain you all while informing you a bit about your personal screen printing tutor yours truly. Make sure to have a look over the spooky Halloween weekend.

One of the reasons I love this time of year so much is the movies I get to watch. I just love classic monster movies, stop action and in camera special effect movies. I really enjoy the stop action and special effects that are done in front of the camera rather than after filming in any way. To me computer rendered graphics can be either very good or really bad. Most of the time it’s the latter and I find no interest in those movies. But bad effects from a time when it took a lot of effort to achieve those bad effects entertains me greatly. And in all honesty some of the effects from the classic monster movies and such are very good and hold up to today’s imaginations. Here are some of the old monster movies I love to watch during the fall season and most especially during the Halloween month of October. But this list is by no ,means complete:

The Frankenstein Trilogy, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Dracula, The Blob, Pharaohs Curse, 1954 Godzilla, Mothra, Mothra Vs., Godzilla!, Gamera: Destroy All Planets, Ghidrah, The Three Headed Monster, Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidora: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Gamera vs. Monster X, Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster, Destroy All Monsters, Dinosaurus!, Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young, King Kong (original), Fiend Without a Face, 20 Million Miles to Earth, Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, It, Came from Beneath the Sea, The Giant Behemoth aka Behemoth the Sea Monster, Mysterious Island, Clash of the Titans, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Jack the Giant Killer, The Valley of Gwangi, First Men in the Moon, One Million Years B.C., Jason & the Argonauts, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, The Crater Lake Monster, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Sinbad & the Eye of the Tiger, The Beast of Hollow Mountain , The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, Planet of the Apes movies

I could go on and on and on and on…. But here are the sci fi television series I love as well:

Lost In Space, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, Land of the Lost, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek TOS, Twilight Zone TOS, The Outer Limits TOS, Battlestar Galactica TOS, The Invaders, Sliders, The Prisoner, Batman TOS, Planet of the Apes TV series, Buck Rogers in the 20th Century TOS

Yes, I could still go on and on here as well… Any of the Irwin Allen productions and any Ray Harryhausen movies will do just fine for me this time of year. Check out this great website dedicated to Ray’s work. This is a list of his films:

http://www.rayharryhausen.com/filmography.php

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new video. I know it really doesn’t cover any screenprinting but you do get to learn about the screen printer. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Screen Printing: Preventing & Fixing Pinholes

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Catspit Productions

I have to tell you I was very busy yesterday with printing and planning for the next video. I was unable to do much online. But I was still able to upload a second screen printing video this week. I think we will have one more next week before I leave for the show in New Orleans. Another when I return the following week and then a Halloween special, sort to speak, and that will wrap up October. I have been having a lot of fun making videos lately. And here’s why.

I’ve always promised to step up the video production and make the video more fun to watch. So I am trying to keep good on that promise. I thought the pinhole video would be the first of a more fun Catspit video but it seems some people just considered my video creativity to be an extension of an intro. I guess it made the whole beginning feel too long. I apologize but I am new to video stuff. I worked as a photographer in Manhattan for about 6 years or so and I am wanting to figure out how to bring those skills to the video editing. Therefore the beginning of this new screenprinting video has a little photo and audio creativity by yours truly. I made up a little background psychedelic guitar sounds to go with a very green Catspit video hallucination.

The new screen printing video uploaded to YouTube is called, “Screen Printing: Preventing & Fixing Pinholes.” This video talks about how to prevent and repair pinholes in the finished stencil. It’s just some pretty basic information that can help you eliminate pinhole if you heed the advice. As always please make sure to read the annotations. There is a lot of great additional information in those for you to take advantage of. That’s the stuff I forgot to say when I made the video. And if you like the video, please rate thumbs up and subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Thanks a lot for stopping by the blog and having a read! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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Screen Printing: 2 Colors With Artwork & Press Set Up

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Catspit Productions

Have you seen this weeks first of two new screen printing tutorial videos? Today I was able to upload a new video in which I made a sincere attempt to add to the entertainment value. I am trying to spend more time with each video and do a little with the editing and video cuts. In this new video I actually was experimenting with a new microphone but as it turns out the Dolby recording microphone built into the camera is much, much better. But unfortunately I did not realize this until it was too late. And being as though this was an actual print job I was unable to take the time to re shoot the parts I would have if I didn’t have other work to do. But in the end this video came out great and offers a lot to viewers. The new screenprinting video uploaded to YouTube today is called, “Screen Printing: 2 Colors With Art & Press Set Up.” This video is one of the more complex videos I have done. It includes several cuts including artwork, setting up on press and printing the test print. Here I show you how I made some really cool and original art work all with clip art. I took like 5 or 6 different pieces of clip art and created this design that I show you in Illustrator. I show you how I set it up in layers to help with film output and then we go to press. There you will see the actual set up and the first test print for this real print job. I am very proud of the way this video came out with the exception of the minor audio issues. I had a lot of fun making and editing this one. Maybe more than usual. This video represents me making good on past promises of improving production value and quality. Wait until you see the next video, and the one after that!

So make sure to stop by the YouTube channel today and watch all of the latest screen printing videos. If you have not been by in a spell, I think you will be pleased. Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

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