# Learning to screen print on poly bags



## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

Hey guys I have a small shirt line but I have never screen printed before. My brand has grown and I think I would like to do some custom poly mailers at the time. I've been getting some quotes and for the cost of making poly mailers I can buy myself a simple cheap press to learn not only to screen print but also do the mailers I need. All I want is a simple black poly mailer with perhaps a silver or gold logo (1 color). 

Now, is starting to screen print on poly bags a bad idea? I this harder than it sounds? I will like your thoughts, thanks.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

There harder to cure. As long as you figure that out you're good to go. 

It's not like you won't have to figure that out down the road anyways.

Question is, do you have the time?


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## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

selanac said:


> There harder to cure. As long as you figure that out you're good to go.
> 
> It's not like you won't have to figure that out down the road anyways.
> 
> Question is, do you have the time?


Is this something you can learn within a few hours or days? I would need some ink that dries on it's own right? Do you need anything extra to cure the ink?


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

You can use ink that dries on it's own, or purchase an additive that makes it dry on it's own. 

If you only have a few days, probably not. Think about it, you have to get the screen making process down (Cleaning, degreasing, reclaiming), the press setup, actual screen printing, and curing. 

If any of that doesn't work you have to figure out what went wrong and where to start over.


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## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

selanac said:


> You can use ink that dries on it's own, or purchase an additive that makes it dry on it's own.
> 
> If you only have a few days, probably not. Think about it, you have to get the screen making process down (Cleaning, degreasing, reclaiming), the press setup, actual screen printing, and curing.
> 
> If any of that doesn't work you have to figure out what went wrong and where to start over.


Yes that makes sense and I can understand. The best quote I have at the moment is like .80 a piece for 500. I just don't know if going through all the trouble of learning etc.. will be worth it in the long run after I go through my first 500 bags.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Are poly bags the plastic/clear gift bags or the Cinchtote type bags you buy from a t-shirt supplier?

If they're the gift bags you can get them from bag companies. Uline sells them but not sure how much. I know a guy in NY that sells them, not sure of the cost or how much. He has really bad broken english so I can't understand him that well. 

There's a company in San Diego that sells them too.


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## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

I'm reviving this thread because I still haven't found a solution to this. I mean, I don't mind learning considering nobody is willing to make me anything below 5000 bags and a few thousand dollars worth of bags. I'm selling around 1000 orders a year more or less, no sense buying and storing bags for years. The investment is way too much up front which I could invest in other things. It doesn't even fix the real problem because I also need stay flat mailers. So I'm back to square one on trying this on my own.

Can I just have someone do the screens for me with my logo and use that for all the mailing products, maybe even do a few different sizes. I figure if I can buy a cheap one color press with some basic stuff and the proper ink for my application I'll do just fine.

What do you all recommend as far as ink needed to print for poly mailing bags and for cardboard stay flat mailers? How would they dry, within a minute etc? Maybe someone can shine some light.


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## aaronc (Apr 19, 2011)

You should be able to find someone to just burn screens for you. When I was very early in this I had a local shop burn my screens for around $20.

Where are you located?

For the poly bags I'd probably use some Nazdar gloss enamel or something, it's not too expensive, solvent based so I'd do it outside or with a respirator but it air dries and is bulletproof.

Why don't you just order some stickers or something? I think you're really going through a lot of trouble for something that won't really have that much of a long term gain. 

Cardboard you could just use water based ink, that would be a snap.

If you're any where near Detroit I can help you out with a screen at least, but again, I might check out just getting some stickers, you could do full color and they'd probably have a bigger impact.

Edit* I use the Uline poly mailers, they're great, a little expensive I think but they work very well for shipping shirts. USPS is my main carrier and they are not nice to a lot of packages.


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## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

That's very nice of you! I have been shipping for a while now using these mailers and they looks fine I just want to take things to another level. Primarily because none of my competitors are willing to do it this way. Although I do have to put some time aside for all this, I think I can print 500 of each in a weekend and have it last me a whole year. Also, I'll been learning screen printing basics which right now I'm outsourcing way too much and can eventually buy my own press and do it all myself. It's true there is some slight extra work involved, but as time goes by I can increase my profits because customers will see I deliver a much better product overall, image is everything and this is something I truly believe. I've considered a sticker, but I don't think it gives the same results that I'm looking for. Plus the application time of stickers might be more than that of screen printing, specially when stickers get caught in the mailer and than you have bubbles etc...

As far as a press, what kind of basic press would your recommend for something like this?



aaronc said:


> You should be able to find someone to just burn screens for you. When I was very early in this I had a local shop burn my screens for around $20.
> 
> Where are you located?
> 
> ...


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## aaronc (Apr 19, 2011)

you could get a very basic setup going with some hinge clamps, depending on the size of the bags you're using you might be able to do a few at a time. Put together one of those basic vacuum table/hinge clamp combos and you'd be ready to go. I know what you mean by having your image with your customers, but honestly I think what's inside is the most important when it comes to mail. 

I know you're concerned about the cost of the bags, but what would you say your labor is worth per hour?

If it takes you an entire weekend's worth of work, say 8 hours a day you're going to be printing 30 per hour and that's full steam non-stop 8 hours.

Factor in the cost of the bag (uline has the plain white 500 10x13 for $110) ($0.22) / unit. $0.62 labor per unit if you figure you're worth $20/hr (this is just a rough estimate)

QUart of some of that nazdar is like $30 (0.06/unit)


I haven't even factored in the cost of the screen, supplies to build a table, and already 500 bags is costing $0.90, you can knock your labor cost off if you want, but your time should be worth money no matter what. What I'm getting at is I think sometimes, it seems like it would be a great idea to just do it yourself, but sometimes, when you break it all down, it might just be cheaper to source it. I'm speaking from personal experience. I tried to literally do everything myself and it took me a while to realize I CAN print a damn fine shirt, but it's not really cost effective/an effective use of time for me to sit there and try to print myself some club flyers for one of my events.

Is the juice worth the squeeze? Probably. You'll save money by using your own labor instead of using someone elses, but you could instead dedicate that time to pushing your brand more, or whatever it may be.

Any way, just screen the bags yourself, you'll end up dumping about 5x as much money as you would if you just sourced it, but it will be fun, seriously, I think that's how screen printing works basically.


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## aaronc (Apr 19, 2011)

And all those costs listed above aren't a "one time" investment, sure you can buy a gallon of ink and save a little, but you'll have to replace your bags frequently, screen eventually, ink pretty frequently (depending on image size, thickness)

the only one-off expense would be the printing table setup


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## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

aaronc said:


> And all those costs listed above aren't a "one time" investment, sure you can buy a gallon of ink and save a little, but you'll have to replace your bags frequently, screen eventually, ink pretty frequently (depending on image size, thickness)
> 
> the only one-off expense would be the printing table setup


I think you may be right and I'm still in the hunt to find someone that could do this for me cost effectively. I'm going to reconsider all this and really think this through.


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## aaronc (Apr 19, 2011)

where are you located?


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## jperez (Feb 25, 2011)

aaronc said:


> where are you located?


South Florida


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