No, I don’t mean Kelly Green or Pine or Dill. Although those are delicious tee shirt color choices for fall, they don’t meet the “green” criteria I’m talking about. As you know, we’ve been focusing on earth-friendly marketing options this month at Dux D’Lux with “green” specials and kudos to clients and organizations who are promoting good stewardship of our natural resources. But, if you’ve looked through the view window on our office stair landing, you’ve seen how messy and sometimes complicated tee shirt screen printing can be. Is it possible to “green” up the process?
I asked Deb Shafer, the Queen of Dux D’Lux (and queen of all screen printing answers) that question, and the answer was a resounding yes. In fact, we’ve done it for a few clients recently who were interested in a more environmentally sensitive marketing option. Here are a few tips for making your screen printing projects more earth-friendly. Give us a call or a cyber buzz to find out more.
1. Hand-printing. This “green” asset comes standard with all the tee shirts screen printed by Dux D’Lux. We don’t use any automatic presses in our operation. We like the attention to detail and the personal touch available through using actual man-power rather than electric power for laying ink on our shirts. So, when you stop at the stair landing, you’ll see our production team manually working one (or both) of our screen printing “carousels.” In addition to the quality this method offers, it drastically reduces our consumption of energy resources on every project. We think you can’t go wrong investing in human resources!
2. Design Economy. Economy is one of the hallmarks of good design, and we are happy to advise our screen printing clients on how to save money on tee shirt costs by reducing the number of inks required for printed. With a top-notch art staff, we can offer design solutions to make your screen printed project “wow” with only a few colors. Not only will limiting your ink colors save you money, but it also cuts back on the time required and the manufactured materials needed to produce your project. Good for your design, good for your earth home.
3. Non-Pthalate Inks. Most standard screen printing inks contain some variation of plastic or PVC technology, usually in the form of pthalates–the same technology used in many children’s toys. For the more environmentally-conscious, however, Dux D’Lux also carries a non-pthalate line of inks that is more eco-friendly while maintaining its pliability for quality printing projects. These types of ink can be mixed in virtually any color and are quite durable on fabric.
4. Organic or Recycled Garments. One of the easiest ways to make your screen printing projects more “green” is to choose one of the many different wearable options available for custom screen printing that are also easy on the environment. From organic cotton shirts produced without the use of pesticides or chemical dyes to fabrics in partially recycled poly blends for longevity and earth-friendly wear, tee shirts were never more responsible. In addition to long- and short-sleeved tee shirts, our team can also find polos, hoodies, baby wear and even canvas tote bags that are “green” conscious.
If you’re ready to “go green” with your next screen printing project, just give us a call. We’ll show you how!
