Knoxville, TN

T-Shirt Printing Knoxville, TN

T-Shirt Printing Knoxville, TN. Are you anticipating a special occassion? Either way, having a custom t-shirt printed is a great idea! T-shirt printing is used to accomplish a variety of goals. Are you tasked with bringing a work or sports team together in Knoxville, TN? Are you hoping to mark a special life event with a lasting memento? Do you want to raise money or awareness for a cause or market a business? ALl these very different goals can be accomplished with the right t-shirt printing services. When you do need t-shirt printing services, it’s important to find a screen printing company that is skilled at printing, can help you with your design, and can have your order ready when you need it. When you order shirts from STL Shirt. Co, you get all those things and more.

Shirt.Co is one of the top t-shirt printing companies serving individuals, families, and businesses in the Knoxville, TN area. People in Knoxville, TN and all across the country trust us for their complete screen printing and embroidery needs, as they have for more than 45 years. We are commited to making the t-shirt printing process an enjoyable one for each and every customer we serve. We are sure you have more questions about our capabilities and services, how we do it, or how to place your order. Have your questions answered or start your order by calling us at 636-926-2777 or sending us a message at 636-299-0162 today.

How it Works

Custom t-shirt printing orders can seem a bit mysterous. You give your order to your favorite t-shirt printing screen print shop and, a few days later, you have fresh-pressed, neatly boxed t-shirts on your doorstep or waiting for you at the shop. If you want to describe it as magic, we won’t object. For those who have never experienced the process, t-shirt printing is a mysterious endeavor. Many of our t-shirt printing customers come to us for special occasions and events, so we understand the excitement that surrounds these shirts. Have you ever wondered about the journey that plain cotton tee has gone through to become the beauty you see hanging in your closet or reflected in the mirror today?

The T-Shirt Printing Process

STEP ONE – Make your order.

You’ve decided you want some t-shirt printing done for some upcoming event, school group in Knoxville, TN, athletic team, or some other use. You contact your shop to place the order and the t-shirt printing process is set into motion. When you order your shirts, you will have to determine the:

• What color, brand, style, and material the shirts will be
• Ink type and color(s)
• Design to be printed

If this already feels overwhelming, don’t fret! Shirt.Co will offer counsel and support during the entire t-shirt printing process. Our professional screen printers and designers are available to help you. If you need help coming up with a killer logo or shirt design, work with our professional design team. If you want to know which shirt or colors will work best for your needs, we can help with that too.

STEP TWO – We create the screen

After you determine your design, we get to work on preparing the screen that allows us to print the design on your shirts. The design is first printed on a transparent sheet of film. Based on your unique parameters, our t-shirt printing team will select the best mesh screen to use in printing your shirts. The screen is coated with a photo-sensitive substance called emulsion. That film we printed your design on is placed on the screen and the screen is exposed to light. The design on the film blocks the light from reaching the coated screen in the shape of your design, and the rest of the emulsion hardens in the light. This produces the stencil.

For designs with more than one color ink, we repeat the process above, making a screen for each color in the design.

STEP THREE – We print.

Then, it is time to add the ink. Screen printing such as t-shirt printing usually uses a special ink called plastisol. Have you ever noticed how, on a printed shirt, you can feel the texture of the design, but it is still soft and flexible? What you are feeling is the plastisol ink. Plastisol is ideal for screen printing due to its ability to withstand p washes, move with the flexibility of the fabric, and display vibrantly on any color t-shirt.

Next, we mount the prepared screens to a printing press, and each shirt is placed on a plate below. We work deliberately to line everything up exactly so we know that your design will end up in the right place on your t-shirt. We apply ink onto the screen and use a squeegee across the entire screen to smooth and press the ink onto the shirt. This process is repeated for every single t-shirt we print, and if your design has more than one color, we repeat it for each color on every shirt. It takes skill to get the ink just right so it stays vibrant and retains the sharp lines in the original design. Lucky for you, our t-shirt printing team has mad skills.

STEP FOUR – The ink cures.

The ink is now on your shirts! But they aren’t ready to go yet. After the ink is applied, the ink has to cure. In other words, we have to turn the ink from a liquid into a solid that will stay in place on your t-shirts. In order to do this we introduce the ink to heat. It takes research and trial and error to perfect the curing process. It is possible to damage the shirt or the print when you don’t use the correct temperature or amount of time. You can rest assured that we have the curing process figured out, so you know your prints will turn out great.

STEP FIVE – You get your shirts!

After the ink is cured, it means that your t-shirts are officially printed! Next, we fold the shirts up nicely and pass the finished product off to you. We can have your shirts or other items printed and packaged within just a few days. If you need it, ask us about shipping your order to you. For those last-minute situations when you need your t-shirts ready in a week or less, check out our rush printing services.