Screen Printing

Screen printing pushes ink through a fine mesh screen onto the garment, one colour at a time, before the print is cured with heat. It lays down the thickest ink deposit of any method we run, which is why screen prints stay opaque on dark garments and hold their colour through wash after wash. For volume apparel it remains the best value method there is, and for bold graphic work nothing else looks quite like it.

We screen print from our own factory in Leicester, and we have been doing it for over 30 years. Tour runs, retail drops, own-label ranges, workwear, uniform, charity and campaign apparel and promotional work all come off the same presses. You can print on garments we source for you or on stock you send in.

Everything sits on one site: the design studio, colour separation, the screens, the presses, the dyehouse and finishing. A job does not get handed between suppliers at any point, which is why problems get caught while they are still cheap to fix.

What We Can Screen Print

Up to 24 Colours

Our presses run up to 24 colours, with each additional colour adding a setup. Most jobs never need anywhere near that, and part of our job at quoting stage is telling you where the sensible ceiling sits for your design and your quantity. A four colour print at 200 pieces and a fourteen colour print at 200 pieces are very different propositions.

Metallic, Puff and Foil Finishes

Screen printing is the only method that produces these, and they are worth knowing about because they are what makes a garment feel like a considered product instead of a printed blank. Metallic inks catch the light. Puff rises off the fabric and gives the print a physical texture you can feel under your hand. Foil gives a genuine reflective finish. None of them can be replicated digitally, and they are a large part of why premium brands still specify screen.

Solid Spot Colour and Bold Graphics

This is where screen printing works hardest for the money. Flat areas of solid colour, strong shapes, heavy type and logos come out with an opacity and an edge that no other method matches, and the cost per unit falls sharply as the run gets longer. If your design is bold and your quantity is decent, screen is almost always the right answer.

Detailed and Photographic Artwork

Fine detail and photographic images can be screen printed through simulated process or index separations, and we do it regularly. Where a design is extremely detailed or the run is short, hybrid printing often gives a better result, combining a screen-printed underbase with digital detail on top. We will say which we would use when we look at the artwork.

How Screen Printing Works

Your artwork is split into one layer per colour at colour separation stage. Each layer is output to film and used to expose a mesh screen coated in light-sensitive emulsion, so that the areas of the design wash out and the rest stays blocked. The screens are mounted on the press and registered to each other, so every colour lands exactly where it should on top of the last one.

Ink is then pulled across each screen with a squeegee, one colour per pass, and the garment moves round the press until every layer is down. Finally the print is cured with heat so the ink bonds properly to the fabric. Cure is the step nobody thinks about and the one that decides whether a print is still there after ten washes.

Screen Printing Minimum Order and Turnaround

Our screen printing minimum is 25 pieces per design, which is roughly the point where the setup starts to justify itself. Every job needs separations, films, screens and registration whether you order 25 or 2,500, so below that number you are paying mostly for setup. If your quantity is genuinely small, digital printing and Print On Demand® carry no minimum and will serve you better.

Standard turnaround is 5 to 10 working days from approval of artwork and payment. Two things sit in front of that clock: getting the artwork right, and getting it approved. If you have a hard date, an event, a tour, a store launch or a season, tell us at enquiry stage and we will be straight with you about whether it works.

Garments We Screen Print

T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, polo shirts, workwear and uniform make up most of what goes through the presses, alongside own-label ranges for retail. We can source the garments for you through our sourcing solutions and apparel supply service, which is usually the easier route, or you can send in your own stock.

If you are printing on supplied stock, tell us what the fabric is before you send it. Fabric composition changes how ink behaves, how it cures and how a colour reads, and it is better established in advance than discovered on the first pull.

Screen Printing, Digital, Transfer or Hybrid

Screen printing is not the answer to every job, and we would rather point you at the right method than sell you the wrong one. Screen wins on volume, on opacity, on dark garments and on specialty finishes. Digital printing wins on short runs, unlimited colour and photographic detail with no minimum. Transfer printing suits small placements, names and numbers and mixed batches. Hybrid printing puts a screen-printed underbase under digital detail and covers the ground in between. Embroidery is the route for corporate and workwear where a stitched finish is expected.

Screen Printing in Leicester and Across the UK

Leicester has been a textile town for a very long time and we are part of that. Being local matters more than it might sound: you can come and look at the operation, see a strike-off in person and sign off a colour with the garment in your hand instead of on a screenshot. Plenty of our Leicester customers do exactly that.

We work with clients across the UK too, and the process runs the same way at distance. What does not change is that the printing, the separation, the finishing and the packing all happen in one building, so nothing is waiting on a courier between stages.

From Press to Packed and Ready to Sell

Printing is one stage. What arrives at the other end is a finished product, and that depends on what happens after the ink is cured. Our garment finishing line presses, folds, tags, labels and bags to retail standard on the same site, so orders can go straight onto a shop floor.

Beyond that, we can hold the stock through stock inventory management, ship single orders to your customers through dropshipping and fulfilment, or deliver bulk into accounts through retail supply and own-brand production. Take as much or as little of that as you need.

Who We Screen Print For

Bands, promoters and tour managers, through our band and tour merch printing. Clothing brands and own-label retailers running repeat lines. Businesses printing workwear, uniform and corporate apparel. Charities, clubs, schools and campaign groups. Promotional suppliers and agencies working to a client deadline. If your run is over 25 pieces and you want it to last, this is the method.