Availability of this method for your specific garment, quantity and artwork is confirmed on your quotation.
Screen printing is one of the oldest garment decoration methods and is still widely used for bulk uniform and event orders. Once the screens are made, each garment can be printed quickly and consistently, so the setup work is spread across the whole run.
The trade-off is setup: every colour needs its own screen and its own print pass, so designs with many colours or very small quantities are usually better suited to DTF printing. For guidance on choosing between stitched and printed branding on large orders, see screen printing vs embroidery for bulk uniforms.
How it works
- Colour separation: the artwork is separated into one layer per ink colour, each matched to a Pantone reference. Dark garments usually need an additional white underbase layer.
- Screen preparation: each mesh screen is coated with light-sensitive emulsion, exposed to UV light through a film positive of one colour layer, and washed out to leave an open stencil of that colour.
- Press setup and registration: the screens are mounted on a manual or automatic press and aligned so each colour lands in exactly the right position relative to the others.
- Printing: ink is pulled across each screen with a squeegee, one colour at a time. On dark garments the white underbase is often flash-cured before the next colour is printed.
- Curing: printed garments pass through a conveyor dryer so the ink reaches its full cure temperature. Under-cured plastisol prints can crack or wash out, so temperature is checked.
- Quality checks: prints are checked for registration, coverage, colour and cure before folding and packing.
Where it works well — and where it does not
Best for
- Large runs of the same design, such as event, campaign or staff T-shirts
- Logos with one to four solid colours
- Large chest or back prints where embroidery would be impractical
- Cotton and poly-cotton T-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts
- Repeat orders of a fixed design where screens can be re-made from stored films
Typical applications
- Front and back prints on corporate T-shirts for events and campaigns
- Large back logos on hoodies and sweatshirts
- Simple logos on industrial workwear panels after testing
- Branding on cotton aprons
- Bulk volunteer, retail promotion and sports-day T-shirts
Benefits
- Bright, opaque colours with accurate Pantone ink matching.
- Durable prints when correctly cured, including on garments washed frequently.
- Unit cost generally falls as quantity increases, because setup is spread across the run.
- Fast and consistent once the press is set up, which suits large uniform rollouts.
- Wide choice of inks and effects, such as water-based soft-hand or high-density prints.
Limitations
- Setup cost and time rise with each additional colour, so very small runs are usually uneconomical.
- Photographic designs and gradients are less sharp than with DTF or sublimation.
- Each design and each print size normally needs its own set of screens.
- Printing over seams, zips and pockets is difficult and can give uneven results.
Fabric compatibility
| Fabric | Suitability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 100% cotton jersey and fleece | Well suited | Absorbent and stable; gives bright, durable prints with plastisol or water-based inks. |
| Poly-cotton blends | Well suited | Prints well; low-bleed inks may be needed on dark blends with high polyester content. |
| 100% polyester performance knits | Suitable with care | Needs low-cure or low-bleed inks to avoid dye migration and to keep cure temperatures within the fabric's tolerance. |
| Cotton twill and drill (workwear) | Suitable with care | Printable on flat panels; seams, pockets and heavy texture make even coverage harder. |
| Nylon jacket shells | Suitable with care | Requires nylon-specific inks or additives and testing for adhesion. |
| Caps and small curved items | Not recommended | Curved, structured surfaces are difficult to print evenly; embroidery is usually used instead. |
Artwork requirements
- Vector artwork (AI, EPS, PDF or SVG) with text converted to outlines.
- Solid colours with a Pantone reference for each ink; state the total number of colours.
- Gradients and photographic images need halftones, which reduces the sharpness of fine detail; simple solid designs print most cleanly.
- Lines typically need to be at least about 0.5–1 mm thick to hold in the screen and print consistently.
- Final print dimensions for each placement, and whether any print runs over seams or pockets.
- Garment colour for each print, because it affects ink choice and whether a white underbase is needed.
Read the full guide: how to prepare a logo file for uniform branding.
Ink types used for uniform screen printing
| Ink type | Feel and look | Typical uses | Points to consider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastisol | Sits on the fabric surface; bright, opaque colour | Most uniform and event T-shirts, dark garments | Needs full cure; can feel heavier on large solid areas |
| Water-based | Soaks into the fibres; very soft hand | Light-coloured cotton garments, fashion-style staff wear | Less opaque on dark garments unless discharge or underbase is used |
| Discharge | Removes garment dye and replaces it with colour; soft feel | Dark 100% cotton garments | Results vary by garment dye; not suitable for polyester |
| Low-cure / low-bleed | Similar to plastisol | Polyester and high-polyester blends | Reduces dye migration and protects heat-sensitive fabrics |
Caring for screen-printed uniforms
- Wash inside out and follow the garment's care label.
- Avoid ironing directly on the print.
- Avoid bleach and dry cleaning solvents on plastisol prints.
- Line drying or low-heat tumble drying helps preserve the print.
Screen Printing: frequently asked questions
Why does each colour need a separate screen?
Each screen is a stencil that lets through one ink colour only. A three-colour logo therefore needs three screens and three print passes, which is why colour count has a large effect on setup cost.
Is screen printing cheaper than DTF for bulk uniforms?
For large quantities of a design with few colours, screen printing often becomes more economical because the setup is spread across many garments. For small runs or many colours, DTF is often more practical. Pricing is confirmed on each quotation.
Can screen printing match my Pantone colours?
Screen-printing inks can be mixed to Pantone references, so solid brand colours can usually be matched closely. Garment colour still affects the final appearance, which is why a sample or strike-off is useful for colour-critical brands.
Will a screen print crack after washing?
A correctly cured print should not crack under normal washing. Cracking usually results from under-curing, very heavy ink deposits or a mismatch between ink and fabric, which is why curing temperature is checked during production.