Learn How To Screen Print Tee Shirts At Home

Hello everyone! I have been very busy with some larger print jobs the past two weeks and I have also had to do some spring cleaning around the shop. I finally broke down and bought a bunch of small tool and supplies that I have been needing to get for sometime now. I am glad I did now that it’s done. It’s nice to have everything you need to work right at your fingertips. It saves a lot of wasted time looking for things or substitutions if you don’t have what you need.

So there is a new video uploaded to YouTube. It was uploaded late last night and this one is an entertainment video about Arizona where Catspit Productions is located. The video features Papago Park right here in Phoenix. This was one of my favorite places to go when I went to college at Arizona State University. The park is actually cutting its summer hours this year due to the failing city budget. I believe Phoenix is actually using borrowed money for tax returns this year. That can’t be any good in the long run. Papago park will now close at 7 p.m rather than the usual 11 p.m. which many residents enjoyed.

Oh, yes and of course today while I was making screens the faucet that the hose is attached to broke and water went all over the place. So I had to turn into Joe plumber this afternoon and fix it all up. Everything is back to normal and the incident didn’t even disturb production that much.

I should have a new video about screen printing next week. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading!

The long wait for the next Catspit video is over. A brand new video about screen printing has been uploaded to the Catspit Productions YouTube channel. This is a 7 minute video covering consumables for textile printing.

This video is called, “How To Screen Print: Chemicals For Screen Making & Ink Solvents”. This video features Saatichem products and discusses some of the most commonly used chemicals in screen printing tee shirts. Please note that this is not a paid endorsement of Saati product. I just happen to use it and I like their product so I figured it would be easiest to talk about the product I use. If you are interested in purchasing Saatichem products, I can connect you with a distributor.

Make sure to check out this great introductory article about screen printing consumables. Thanks for reading!

The entire project first started on YouTube in January 2009. I love to teach so I began with “how to” videos and some shirts on Ebay to give my business a little exposure it otherwise would not enjoy. I quickly realized the need for further explanations of the screen printing process and I added the website to the agenda. The problem was I did not know how to write HTML or create a website in any way. So, I discovered a free service that allows me to build a website visually and I have about pushed it to the limits. Despite the limitations of the venue, the Catspit website is functional and full of free information about screenprinting. The website will continue to grow with more information being added regularly and I believe I will add some kind of forum or message thread page sometime as well. But eventually, if the traffic continues to grow as it is, the entire site will have to be rebuilt to accommodate the potential.

The website is the focus and center of all of the information I create about screen printing. It ties together video tutorials with articles and so much more. There is actually a lot to look at and do on the site. You can learn about printing tee shirts and you can find out more about Catspit Productions. There is even an Arizona page where you can see what it is like to live where I work. You can play western style poker too, free and very fun. The website is very personal to me. In many ways it is like a very advanced blog or social networking page to me. Every piece of information down to each character has been placed there by myself for my audience’s enjoyment.

I would love to get a sponsor for the site so I would have a great place to send my audience for supplies and equipment. But currently I do offer equipment sales. I focus more on equipment alone rather than all inclusive kits. The information on the website about equipment is really there for educational purposes but it is available for purchase as well. I used to get a lot of inquiries about the costs of equipment until I created that page. I also sell an inkjet film that is very good for home use. It works quite well without any RIP software. I made this available due to the amount of people who seem to be having trouble making decent film positives at home. So far the entire screen printing educational project has been nonprofit. I do not make a profit by doing what I am doing online; therefore the desire for a sponsor in the future.

I make most of my money from selling custom shirts here locally where I live. As a result, I don’t get to print for fun as much as I would like but I offer some very simple yet classic screen printed shirts on Ebay. Again, these are mostly for show and I do not sell a lot of them. But it is a great way to support Catspit Productions. You can get a very unique shirt and help keep the project alive. Another easy way to show your support is to visit the website often and look around. You can check for new articles, updates and visit YouTube to watch, rate or subscribe. The activity alone is very gratifying to me. I am always pleased to see that people are taking advantage of all of the hard work I have put into creating an online screenprinting resource. It can be a lot of fun.

Thanks for reading!

I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy St. Patty’s Day. I never did understand why people find it necessary to drink green beer but what the hey, my website is full of green and I don’t mean money. Like that isn’t obvious… LOL.

Why is the Catspit website green anyway? I don’t know if I can answer that for sure. Green is not my favorite color but when I designed the original skull and crossbones logo I felt a radioactive green would be cool for the swirls which represent the two electron orbits of Helium, the number two element on the periodic table. Thus, the two swirly things behind the skull and crossbones. Do you want to read more about the Catspit name and logo? Then visit the About Us page on the website.

The official Catspit colors are black, gray and radioactive green. But the website is full of radioactive green so come on by and have a look around on St. Patty’s day and get your fill of GREEN!

Thanks for reading!

I have a new video for the YouTube channel in the works. This video will be about the chemicals or consumables that are used in screen printing on a daily basis. The video will help explain what is what in a brief show and tell with some Saati product. I happen to use Saatichem products and I like them. They seem to be very good quality and always perform well. Plus I can always find someone at Saatichem to talk to about the chemicals if I need to.

The video will be uploaded to YouTube on Monday, March 22nd. I have been very busy with some other projects and I hope to be making some great new videos very soon. I may even have some good news to announce soon. So stay tuned to How2screenprint on Twitter and get the latest minute by minute updates about what’s going on and more!

Thanks for reading!

A new article has been added the the Article Archive page of the Catspit Productions website. This is a fun article that serves as an introduction to specialty inks used in screen printing for special effects. It begins to explain some of the different inks and effects that can be used to screen print tee shirts.

Flocking, foiling, glitter, puff & metallic inks are briefly discussed in order to educate beginners and intermediates about using specialty inks for effects. This article may help you determine whether or not you want to attempt to use any specialty inks in your printing endeavors. The article also contains a general, quick guide for mesh counts and ink usages.

The article is called, “Plastisol Specialty Inks: Foiling, Metallic, Glitters, Puff & More”. As I continue to write more articles for the website, I will go into further detail in every subject. For now, I am trying to write as many introductory articles as possible to help out those who have never screen printed before.

Thanks for visiting the website and reading the blog!

O.K. it’s time for a little rant… I remember when the book Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell was very popular and everyone was talking about how the government was going to become this oversized, technological spy machine that would control our behavior through monitoring it. Of course the book has bigger concepts and ideas other than the surveillance of citizens by their government, but that is the general idea that most remember from this novel.

So where are we today with “Big Brother”? Well, you might think that after 9/11 and the Homeland Security Act that the government is fulfilling the role of “Big Brother” and gaining control over surveillance laws in the name of justice and peace. Oh, yea, and in the name of the fight against terrorism around the world, as if that is our job to do. But while our eyes are turned away from the obvious, the real controllers of America are gaining ground.

If it hasn’t become obvious by now then I’ll just explain it as I see it. Corporations control the government through monetary donations. It is in the end money that controls what our leaders do in our government, not democracy. But is that “Big Brother”? No, not really. Or we could say not without one major and self proclaimed “most successful company in the world” in the picture: Google.

Obviously, I do not know what ties Google has with he government but I can tell you this. Google is “Big Brother”. Did you know that your Google search queries are stored for 16 months with the ability to track the search back to your IP address and you as a person? Did you know that the government can subpoena Google for their search records and information they collect about you through your Google accounts or related and linked accounts? Because of the way the law works, Google cannot withhold this information form the government.

This makes me wonder what relationship Google has with our government and if they work together on any regular basis. I wonder what kind of money Google gives to the government in any form. The problem is that Google is huge and even the government uses Google so I wonder what kind of power this gives Google over certain individuals or organizations who may be being investigated by our government through Google. Of course Google claims that an abuse of their collected information would cause mistrust among users and ultimately topple the giant; therefore they won’t do it.

I know this is a lot of speculation and wondering on my part but the amount of information Google has accumulated about its users is tremendous and valuable for marketing and general sociological studies of human behaviors. Be careful what you admit to your search engines. “Big Brother” is always watching you, even when the government is asleep.

Thanks for reading!

Another spectacular video about screen printing was uploaded to YouTube yesterday morning. This video features Riley Hopkins in which he gives a great interview including a demonstration on blend printing. Riley did a wonderful job narrating this video and he explains a lot about his presses.

The video is called, “Screen Printing: Micro Reg & Blend Printing By Riley Hopkins”. It is pretty amazing how Riley narrated this video perfectly within the 10 minute YouTube time allowance. This has to be one of my favorite show videos that I made this year at the ISS in Long Beach. It’s just a wonderful educational video packed with visual aides and information!

Make sure to check it out today! Thanks for watching! Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC!

So by now most of you have seen the Yudu on YouTube or even on late night television infomercials. This is a table top machine that is designed to be used in the kitchen at home to screen print a huge variety of items. It incorporates the exposure system into the base of the unit which also serves as a drying cabinet.

This is a very cool idea which in many ways reminds me of the way Kodak introduced the Brownie camera to the masses back in the 1900’s. This was Kodak’s way of providing photography for the masses. The Brownie was a complete system of photography which included processing, reloading and postage to the consumer. With the Brownie, the consumer just took the photographs and Kodak did the rest. The Yudu in many ways is screen printing for the masses as well. But in this case the entire process is done in the home by the consumer and it is the machine itself combined with a system or method that enables the completion of the technique.

I have never used a Yudu, nor have I even seen one first hand. However, I have seen many YouTube videos and blog articles related to the Yudu. And I have also watched the infomercial on television. Now keep in mind that I am a professional screen printer with a bit of experience so what I say about the Yudu is my professional opinion based on my experience.

That being said, I must say that the Yudu infomercial concerns me in that it displays so many different items you can print with it. Like a sneaker or some other oddly shaped three dimensional object. That claim to me is exaggerated. I can’t screen print the side of a sneaker with a tee shirt press. I might be able to wing it and get off a good print but no way would the results be guaranteed. Don’t get me wrong, there are ways to screen print three dimensional objects after they have been assembled. But the infomercial for the Yudu seems to make it look like you could print just about anything with ease and get professional results. I can tell you that is not the case.

I’m not saying you can’t print cool stuff with the Yudu and make nice prints. I’m just a little surprised and suspicious of the claims made by this product in the infomercial. There are many places on the internet now that are gearing up or are already dedicated to the Yudu, discussing its limitations, drawbacks and fixes as well as “hacks”. You Can Screen Print is a blog focusing on the Yudu. But you can also Google search “Yudu blogs” or something to that effect and find a load of information to help you work with your Yudu or even assist you with ideas to push the limits of your Yudu machine.

Overall I think the Yudu is probably good for some fun at home for the hobbyist and soccer mom. But it is definitely not well suited for high volume, multi color printing where time is money. For commercial screen printing the idea is to print the highest quality shirt in the least amount of time with the least effort. The faster you can do this, the more money you make per hour. That is the bottom line.

The Yudu website.

Learn how to screen print with Catspit Productions, LLC! Thanks for reading!

A new video was uploaded to YouTube yesterday afternoon. This video is about setting up and printing a sleeve print. The video demonstrates a short sleeve print but the set up will be the same for a long sleeve because of the way I load the shirt. Want to know why? Make sure to check out the video, “How To Screen Print: Sleeve Print Demo – Grey on Black”.

A new article was also added to the website this week. Check out the Article, “Introduction To Ink; Water Based & Plastisol Screen Printing Inks”. This is a very cool introductory article about water based and plastisol inks for screen printing textiles. The article explains a bit about water based inks in general and talks about the biggest draw back for the use of plastisol inks in the home print shop. This is a great article for beginners who are trying to decide which ink to use for printing tee shirts at home.

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