Expensive is not the Only Way!
Screen printing equipment can get expensive. From a $20,000 screen printing press to $4,000 exposure units, it adds up! Don’t get me wrong, it would be nice to have a few of these machines kicking around and they would definitely save you time. But all of this extra cost isn’t necessary.
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- Check out my new Cheap Screen Printing How To DVD on how to make rad tees and start a home Screen Printing Business
- Or consider my e-book How to Screen Print from Home Cheaply and Make Money Too!
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On this page, I’ll go over all the necessary screen printing equipment you need, why you need it and give you the alternative cheaper option if there is one. Sound good? Ok, let’s get started.
Your home setup only needs FOUR essential items:
1. Tee Shirt Screen Printing Press [Free Plans]
The most important piece of the whole puzzle and the most expensive. Without it, you’d just have a bunch of blank t-shirts. I’ve done all the research and called a few major screen printing companies and they do not have an entry-level printing press. Fortunately, I found a Web site that has plans for making your own four-color screen printing press and it works perfect. Best part… you can make it for less than $99!
2. Tee Shirt Exposure Unit [Free Plans]
Another piece of expensive screen printing equipment. It allows you to make your t-shirt designs on the actual screen. Instead of shelling out $4,000 for one, I made one for under $60.
3. Screen Printing Dryer or Heat Gun
Without these, your ink would stay wet and create a huge mess on your t-shirts! While the big flash dryers would be nice, they start out at $237 and go up to $3,000. I started out with a $29 heat gun, but it crapped out in a week. I upgraded to a commercial grade heat gun like this one you can get at Home Depot for $97. Or search Amazon for a 16×16 flashdryer. Runs about $400 – $600 and it’s so worth it!
4. Ultra Violet (UV) Safe Work Light
Your work area needs to be UV-free because UV light cures emulsion to your screen. And… you guessed it, I found a cheap way around this too. Although buying the alternative – UV protected sleeves – is not that expensive at $16 a piece, purchasing UV light safe yellow bulbs for $5 and sticking them in your light outlet is way better! And it works perfect. Besides, I’m not sure most of us have big long shop lights!
Really, that’s all you need as far as screen printing equipment in your workroom.
