Union Ink Prices

5. Hi-Square Plastisol  -  This is the most exciting new product offered by Union Ink, and the ink that probably can add more to your profitability than any other product.  Here are some reasons: (1) With traditional screen printing the ink follows the texture of the garment.  Images on pique, tote bags and more have ragged edges.  As a result, embroidery has become very popular.  However, embroidery is expensive, slow to produce, and results in ragged edges also.  Hi-Square produces, by contrast, photographic quality, sharp, hard edge images when printed through a very tight screen with capillary film. 

Details smaller than ¼” can be printed with high resolution using Hi-Square ink.  Embroidery cannot match this performance.  Printed images are soft and flexible rather than leaving a hard patch inside the shirt that irritates a person like a bug bite that won’t go away.

All PMS® colors can be matched with ink, but not thread.

Now you are able to sell a better product than embroidery at embroidery prices.  You should be able to increase your profit margins and attract new customers with pique, herringbone and other textured shirts, tote bags, aprons, etc.  For most applications, use a 61 or 110 mesh with a 100 micron capillary film.

(2) Hi-Square can be used to produce 3-D images that stand off the garment.  The dimension is controlled by the thickness of the capillary film.  The thickness can be built up by laminating sheets of capillary film.  For instructions, contact roger@rjennings.com.  Even screen printers with poor light sources can print high density ink by using the laminating process.  Customers will be impressed with this new look, and be sure to charge extra for this fashion statement.

(3) Hi-Square can be used to eliminate flash curing.  If you print, flash, print white ink on a black shirt, you should be able to produce 30-40 shirts per hour.  If you can print the same shirts without flash curing, then production should be 100-120 per hour using a conveyor dryer to keep up with your rate of printing.  This productivity gain can be achieved by either using 100% Hi-Square, or by mixing 50% Hi-Square with another ink, and printing through a tight screen using 50 micron capillary film.  The edges will be sharp, and your customer will notice the quality difference.

(4) Hi-Square allows printing all the “new graphics” never possible before by any method.  Examples are bumps on a basketball, and textured prints by layering Hi-Square upon Hi-Square to create whiskers on a tiger’s face or sockets for eyes.  The leather patch on the back of jeans can be imitated.  Lenticular prints look like holograms, and 3-D kinetic prints change color as your angle of view changes.  There is so much more that was never possible before, and you should charge a superior profit margin for these “new graphics.”

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