When choosing the right plastic for pad printing there a couple of tips that can help make the decision easier for you.

Plastics vary in terms of texture and surface tension. If the surface tension is lower that the ink, the ink won’t stick. If it is higher than the ink will bond properly to the surface which will make it possible to be designed however you want.

One tip to help you determine if the plastic you are using will work is to drip some water on the surface. If the water beads up then it is not a wise surface to choose. If the water sheets the surface, the ink will adhere properly to the material.

Make sure that whatever mold you are using does not create an adhesion problem and keep the plastic free of any kind of contamination like oils, greases, or condensation. The biggest problems come from unknown surfactants that repel ink, and unidentified additives that make the plastic’s surface hydrophobic and unable to accept ink.

Sometimes when heat is applied to a component the additives migrate to the surface, changing the surface tension and the product’s ability to be printed

Advertising is usually a fairly large part of your budget for your business and when it comes to larger items, that you may purchase for advertising purposes, the more you know about your options the better off you are.

If your company purchases a number of posters for various events, trade shows or possibly job sites, you can stretch your dollar further and use the appropriate materials. This is great reason for you to become familiar with the possible options for mounting large items like posters.

Posters can be mounted on a variety of different materials. Coroplast is an economical corrugated plastic material that works well for outdoor signs and will last about two years. Foam core is an almost weightless board made of a polystyrene foam core laminated on both sides with a white coated-paper stock but is not very sturdy. Gator board is much stronger board and sturdier for longer use of the product.

Other options like plexiglass, lexan, masonite, magnetic materials, styrene and sintra offer various flexibility and strengths so you can find the best material for your project.

The Flammable Fabrics Act of 1953 was created due to several deaths due to clothing in the 1940’s and early 1950’s. It states that all printed banners, wall coverings, display booth fabrics, table skirts, tents, awnings, carpeting, window treatments, interior furnishing and vinyl-coated fabrics are required to meet flame-retardant standards for homes, offices or other assembly places.

It is becoming more difficult to comply with these standards in recent years, due to the use of more and more synthetic fabrics rather than natural fibers.

If you are in the screen printing industry this could mean a lot to your business. Whether you are making t-shirts, signs, banners, posters or whatever else you are making for your clients, they will assume that you know and will create products that comply with all the regulations and codes that the National Fire Protection Association, the American Society for Testing Materials and regional agencies in your area have in place.

Banners have gotten bigger and better! Previously, in the screen printing industry, the word banners usually meant some type of large advertisement that was being used to hang in front of a building or at a corporate event. These banners were usually special ordered for the specific event or time that they were needed and then may never be used again. Unfortunately, that is not a tiny expense for something that will only be used at one trade show or convention.

Banners have evolved. Digital wrapping technology creates large banners made out of vinyl mesh that allows them to be see through and extremely durable to the weather. These are being used now to wrap buildings, walls and even cars.

This creates convenient, mobile advertising for your business that can even be removed and it will not cause any damage to your building or car. In fact, it is a beneficial addition to your vehicle, as it will protect your paint from the sun and from little dings and nicks.

Those in the screen printing industry may have been thrown for a loop, when the concept of wide format digital printing began to grow in popularity. However, a few in the industry that looked at the big picture may now be reaping the rewards of giving it a chance.

Many were concerned that digital printing would take too much business away from the screen printers but if you combine the digital printing service into your existing screen printing services, you become a one stop shop for your existing and future clients with the ability to produce short run jobs in addition to the larger jobs that are more appropriate for screen printing.

Many screen printers have lost jobs or had to turn clients away because there was no way for it to be cost efficient for them to do the smaller jobs. With the advances in digital printing and the low set up costs, it is easy to begin using digital printing to enhance your business quite quickly. In addition, with digital printing there is less manpower needed to run the system, less toxins and provides a quick, easy way to provide proofs on your larger jobs.