# Screenprinting Pillows?



## mrbard (May 6, 2008)

Hi!
I realize this is a t-shirt forum, but it seems the best of the best are on here, so I figured i would try my luck. Basically I am interested in screen-printing on pillow covers, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this and whether any screenprinting shops do that specifically? 

To get a double-sided print, I can imagine this would require sewing after printing? I realize it would be simple to get prints on one side of a pillow cover, but even for that situation, does anyone have any tips on where to look for suppliers of blank pillow covers? 

Any help would be highly appreciated


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## fdsales (Jul 1, 2007)

You'll need a really "soft hand" ink such as water base, or Direct To Garment (DTG) printing.
Will these pillow cases be actually used for sleeping purposes, where someone may rub their face across or into the printed area, or just decoration?
Also, when you say double-sided, do you mean the inside area of the pillow case?


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## mrbard (May 6, 2008)

fdsales said:


> You'll need a really "soft hand" ink such as water base, or Direct To Garment (DTG) printing.
> Will these pillow cases be actually used for sleeping purposes, where someone may rub their face across or into the printed area, or just decoration?
> Also, when you say double-sided, do you mean the inside area of the pillow case?


Thanks for the reply!

Yes, I am thinking this would be used for typical wear and tear of a house / couch. So the durability would have to be quite good, that of a typical screen print on normal fabric. Is DTG a sort of inkjet based-printing?

In terms of double-sided I mean the front and back of the pillow, not the insides, no.


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## fdsales (Jul 1, 2007)

There's 2 methods that would work. First is traditional screen-printing using water based inks. This method is best only for lite/white colored items. The cost is high, as it involves art separations & screen setups per color, and would be best for higher quantities of the same print design. If done correctly, washability is very good.
The other method would be the DTG, which is an ink jet method using water based inks. Once again, lite/white cases would be best. Dark items can be printed, but a separate "pretreatment" spray would have to be applied in order to make the inks print brighter. Also this method 100% cotton is preferred, if a blend of poly & cotton, then the ink colors are not as bright. The advantage is that there is no screens involved. and # of colors is basically unlimited. Also, some DTG printers will print as large as 16" by 30" image. Smaller quantities are not a problem, as these printers print 1 garment at a time, so different designs could be printed on the front & rear. It's just a matter of uploading the art file to the printer. If done properly, washability is very good.
As far as the opposite side, that's no problem, just like printing the "front" & "back" of a t/shirt.
If this sounds like a good plan, I would check the classified section of the forums for a contract DTG printer. You could send them the pillow cases, and your art files, and they'll do the rest. It's much, much less expensive then trying to do it your self.


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## mrbard (May 6, 2008)

Excellent answer, just what i needed, thank you very much!!


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