T-Shirt printing has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Most of us are unaware of the incredible journey that the graphic prints on our t-shirts took. We should first understand the basic idea behind screen printing; it is a method of printing that uses a screened frame with a stencil. Ink then fills the screen and is pushed through the openings left by the stencil to affect what’s underneath.
Screen printing has technically been around for thousands of years in some form or another. It began as a form of basic oily wax printing. It wasn’t until the 1st Century AD when a frame with human hair stretched across it to form a meshed screen was implemented. This was the beginning of the process that we are more familiar with today. The process was popular during the Song Dynasty in China where it was used to make elegant palace clothing. The original paints were nothing like contemporary inks and were very oily and dull. Eventually gelatine was added to the paint creating much more vivid colors. This set the foundation for screen printing to be used in creative arts, communication and clothing.
During the 18th Century, silk was used instead of hair to form the mesh around the wooden frame and the term silk screen printing was coined. It still remains a mainstream term despite most contemporary screens being synthetic. The next important step towards the development of t-shirt printing was with the introduction of the screen printing process from the East to the West. It took many years before the process become popular in the Western world because its value was overlooked for many years. As soon as silk production started to increase on a global scale, the idea of capitalizing on screen-printing grew alongside it printing expensive linens & silk fabrics.
In 1910, there was a breakthrough in the process and the beginning of modern screen printing. It became an instantly popular part of the commercial printing industry; in the coming years it became the main process used to print posters, ceramics, glass, plastics, paper, metals and wood. Tee shirt printing began as the t-shirt became popular in the 1950’s. It was only in the 1960’s that t-shirts graphics really started to resemble what we know them to be today. Andy Warhol gave credibility to the use of screen printing as an art form and pioneered the way for screen printing to become mainstream. As a result, many artists explored shirt graphics as a form of wearable art. It also gave birth to the idea to use t shirts in politics and for protest. Screen printing had one drawback at the time; it really relied on volume to make it work. In the 90’s the idea of using t shirt printing ink through a print head, like an inkjet printer does for paper was tried out. This formed a new industry and the ability for unique t-shirts to become mainstream. Tee shirt printing can be done today without the set up of screens. This means that people can make a custom t shirt with whatever they want with no minimum orders and get it fast. Although for larger quantities the quality and speed of screen printing cannot be surpassed. Some automatic screen printing carousels can print up to 1800 tee shirts an hour each after the screens have been set up.
It is an incredible journey from ‘hair mesh’ wooden frames through to state of the art digital printers that are available today. This has given everyone the ability to wear what they want. It has even become more accessible with the internet as many online t-shirt printing stores provide as little as one shirt at a time.
For those that are in Columbus, OH area and are interested in custom screen printing or digital printing, please give us a call. We will give you a free quote at a fair, competitive price. We also offer custom embroidery.