I’d like to start a small screen printing business, I’m young and don’t have much money (alas!), could you please give me some advice on how best to start up. The room is below ground level, it’s also small (approximately 3 x 3 m) and has no water supply. I’d like to know if this could be suitable for setting up such a business.
A room measuring 3 x 3 m is sufficient for setting up a small screen printing studio with just one person working, but it’s surely not suitable for a large production output.
The reason being is that in 9 m2 there’s enough space for equipment such as a press, an exposure unit, a small washout booth, a cupboard for chemical products, possibly a heat press for drying, but there wouldn’t be much room left for products waiting to be printed, those being processed or those ready to be delivered to customers.
If your room has no water supply or drainage, I suggest you divide the production process into two distinct parts that can be conducted in two different spaces:
– pre-printing (computer graphics, film printing, frame exposing and frame development)
– the actual screen printing
However, to simplify the production process, it would be very useful if the screen preparation and exposure could be carried out near the washout booth.
Printing on paper and t-shirts makes it possible to avoid using solvent-based inks, i.e. just using Plastisol or water-based inks.
This means it would be less important to have good ventilation in the room.
For paper, in particular, it’s possible to use eco-friendly inks that are non-toxic and therefore don’t pose a safety risk.