Custom printed T-shrits?

Anyone know of a good, fair priced vendor that will do silk screening of custom designs onto t-shirts? Yeah I see there are tons of them but since I've not used any of them before it's just a shot in the dark deciding who to go with. If anyone has used this type of service or even just knows which companies have a good reputation and which don't, then please help me sort them out.

Basically I only need maybe half a dozen or so shirts printed. Possibly will need more in the future. I realize I'll probably pay more for such a small order but I'm fine with that. Mainly I'd like to be sure that I'll be getting a quality product.

Thanks for any input.

Cafepress

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/customize/

Find one in your town.

In my sh*tty 9,000 person town there is one, I'm sure there is one near where you live.

I did a lot of research online for this a couple of years ago, and found the best deal at a local shop where a guy was working out of his basement. He did good work and had the cheapest prices. You will likely have to pay large fees for such a small order though.

Can't you purchase the materials for most printers and do it yourself? Or are those just iron ons?

E

If you really want to do that, you can, E.

If you're a hobbyist, it's a lot of fun. I'm considering buying the equipment, too, now that I have my very own garage!

BUT - there are alot of dangerous chemicals, and quite a bit of startup expenses. You'll need to get used to ruining clothing, smelling like paint thinner, and things like that.

I like Utopian's advice, for starters - cafepress.com

Sublimation is an easy way to do it... That's how those places in the mall do it. You just buy some special ink for your Epson Inkjet printer, and iron it on to the shirt. Or use a heat press. Only works on white shirts though, and the quality is nothing like silk-screening it.

Here's a shirt (front and back view) of a black T-shirt I wore every time I worked (part-time) at a silkscreen shop. I eventually stretched it over a board and started throwing all sorts of colors at it. This is the plastisol stuff, and it had to go through the heat-curing tunnel about 5 times until it completely dried. That sucker weighs about a pound and a half and doesn't breathe at all.

Pollock plastisol T-shirt

[QUOTE=Utopian23]Here's a shirt (front and back view) of a black T-shirt I wore every time I worked (part-time) at a silkscreen shop. I eventually stretched it over a board and started throwing all sorts of colors at it. This is the plastisol stuff, and it had to go through the heat-curing tunnel about 5 times until it completely dried. That sucker weighs about a pound and a half and doesn't breathe at all.

Pollock plastisol T-shirt[/QUOTE]

LOL! My neighbor does silk-screening, he hooks me up with all kinds of deals.

nice shirt!

I had a job in college working for a silk screen shop. I worked for beer, basically. We printed shirts for a brewery and they brought us free growlers at 5 every few days. I wish I kept in touch with the guy - I heard he closed his shop a few years ago, and I probably could've scored some of the equipment.