1 man. 6 head auto. 1 flash. 100% water based shop. Is it possible?

[Cole]

Hey all,

I'm a one man shop that does around $200k gross per year. Only mentioning that so you can get an idea of the volume that I do. As a one man shop, I am the only one operating the press, catching the shirts (when the basket gets too full), looking for pinholes, checking for clogs, making sure there is enough ink in the screens, etc. I'm trying to stick to water based and discharge inks for all of my jobs, but I find that I'm literally running around the press making sure everything is going fine during jobs.

I'm in California where there is barely any humidity and my press is right next to an open roll up door due to limited space (1100 sqft). Once the ink is in the screens, I'm racing to finish the job before the inks starts to gum up. I try to not overshoot how much ink I need so that I don't waste too much at the end, which doesn't help with the drying issue. I only have 6 heads on my Sabre and one flash and I'm finding that I don't have enough heads to properly flash and cool down high color count jobs. From what I know, 100% water based shops have 10-14 color presses so that they can have multiple base plates, multiple cool downs, multiple flashes.

So with all that in mind, my question is: Am I setting myself up for failure by trying to keep things 100% water based in my shop?

With only 6 heads, would it make more sense for me to find a WOW plastisol system to use over a discharge base or Magna Killer Base?

[blue moon]

you might not be setting yourself up for a failure as the waterbased prints might be what sets your business apart from the competition. It would make sense to try some plastisol and see how it goes. My guess is you can produce 20% due to not having to baby the inks and screens. It will also make it easier to pick up the phone, do deliveries, go check on the bucket . . .

pierre

[Nation03]

I have pretty much the same situation as you except I'm a plastisol shop. This year on pace to do about $280k gross. I think 300k is the best I'll be able to do as a 1 man shop. If your clients aren't too particular on what ink you use and you want to stay a one man operation, I would say plastisol will definitely ease some headaches, but that's just me. I know a lot of people prefer the benefits of water based inks and plastisol is more of a burden for those type of shops. I think it's possible with the right work flow but there is so much to do already being just 1 person.

[Cole]

you might not be setting yourself up for a failure as the waterbased prints might be what sets your business apart from the competition. It would make sense to try some plastisol and see how it goes. My guess is you can produce 20% due to not having to baby the inks and screens. It will also make it easier to pick up the phone, do deliveries, go check on the bucket . . .

pierre

I like to think that it sets me apart from some of my competition, but to be honest, I'm not sure that my clients even care about what ink I use. I do a lot of work for bands and most of the time, they are more excited to see their band name on a shirt than they are about it being discharge ink. I use water based mostly for my own pleasure (and sometimes pain). It's the type of ink that I prefer, but like I said, the customer doesn't really notice. If I were to start incorporating plastisol for certain jobs, very few would notice. With hoodie season coming up, I'll need to figure out a new game plan. Hoodies are always a pain for me because every customer wants me to print on Gildan Heavy Blend, which isn't the most optimal hoodie for water based. I feel like if I used plastisol and a roller frame on those, I'd be happy with the results.

[Cole]

I have pretty much the same situation as you except I'm a plastisol shop. This year on pace to do about $280k gross. I think 300k is the best I'll be able to do as a 1 man shop. If your clients aren't too particular on what ink you use and you want to stay a one man operation, I would say plastisol will definitely ease some headaches, but that's just me. I know a lot of people prefer the benefits of water based inks and plastisol is more of a burden for those type of shops. I think it's possible with the right work flow but there is so much to do already being just 1 person.

I know you feel my pain then. It's tough to find the time to really dial in prints, especially with water based where you are fighting the clock. When you have a stack of screens to reclaim, 12 jobs in the queue, and only two weeks to turn it all around, you can only dedicate so much time to each job. I find that with water based, I have to do my best to set everything up for success from the start, set it up on press, and hope for the best. Once the ink is in the screens and everything is registered, it's unlikely that I'll have the time to make any major adjustments to the art or print order. I would assume that you are like me where you are flying by the seat of your pants most days. If I start bringing plastisol into the mix, it might help me slow down a little hopefully. I won't feel quite as rushed to get the job printed and torn down.

Congrats on hitting 280k! That's no easy task for one person.

[blue moon]

I have pretty much the same situation as you except I'm a plastisol shop. This year on pace to do about $280k gross. I think 300k is the best I'll be able to do as a 1 man shop. If your clients aren't too particular on what ink you use and you want to stay a one man operation, I would say plastisol will definitely ease some headaches, but that's just me. I know a lot of people prefer the benefits of water based inks and plastisol is more of a burden for those type of shops. I think it's possible with the right work flow but there is so much to do already being just 1 person.

I know you feel my pain then. It's tough to find the time to really dial in prints, especially with water based where you are fighting the clock. When you have a stack of screens to reclaim, 12 jobs in the queue, and only two weeks to turn it all around, you can only dedicate so much time to each job. I find that with water based, I have to do my best to set everything up for success from the start, set it up on press, and hope for the best. Once the ink is in the screens and everything is registered, it's unlikely that I'll have the time to make any major adjustments to the art or print order. I would assume that you are like me where you are flying by the seat of your pants most days. If I start bringing plastisol into the mix, it might help me slow down a little hopefully. I won't feel quite as rushed to get the job printed and torn down.

Congrats on hitting 280k! That's no easy task for one person.

if you have more work than you can handle or can relatively easily get more work, maybe think about getting some help. Maybe one of the band members would not mind helping here and there or couple of days a week for some extra income. This only works if you can get more sales though (or you are sick and tired of working long hours).

pierre

[Cole]

I have pretty much the same situation as you except I'm a plastisol shop. This year on pace to do about $280k gross. I think 300k is the best I'll be able to do as a 1 man shop. If your clients aren't too particular on what ink you use and you want to stay a one man operation, I would say plastisol will definitely ease some headaches, but that's just me. I know a lot of people prefer the benefits of water based inks and plastisol is more of a burden for those type of shops. I think it's possible with the right work flow but there is so much to do already being just 1 person.

I know you feel my pain then. It's tough to find the time to really dial in prints, especially with water based where you are fighting the clock. When you have a stack of screens to reclaim, 12 jobs in the queue, and only two weeks to turn it all around, you can only dedicate so much time to each job. I find that with water based, I have to do my best to set everything up for success from the start, set it up on press, and hope for the best. Once the ink is in the screens and everything is registered, it's unlikely that I'll have the time to make any major adjustments to the art or print order. I would assume that you are like me where you are flying by the seat of your pants most days. If I start bringing plastisol into the mix, it might help me slow down a little hopefully. I won't feel quite as rushed to get the job printed and torn down.

Congrats on hitting 280k! That's no easy task for one person.

if you have more work than you can handle or can relatively easily get more work, maybe think about getting some help. Maybe one of the band members would not mind helping here and there or couple of days a week for some extra income. This only works if you can get more sales though (or you are sick and tired of working long hours).

pierre

I do have someone that will come and help out when they have time, but even when they are here, it only saves me a few hours of work. I mostly have them reclaiming screens, counting in shirts, boxing completed products. The dilemma that I'm in is this: If I were to find someone with experience, they'd most likely want to work full time, which I just can't afford. If I find someone with no experience, they can do simple tasks, but they aren't helpful enough to the point where it allows me to take on a whole lot more work. I'm also making it really difficult on myself because I'm really picky about who comes to work with me. Since it's someone who will be working directly next to me for 8 hours a day, it's gotta be someone that I can click with. I guess flying solo for so long has made me hesitant to bring just anybody in.

[Nation03]

Yeah I totally get it. I'm pretty introverted and the idea of managing one other person seems daunting (managing myself is difficult enough). Screens are my biggest bottleneck right now. I figured if I can find someone to reclaim a ton of screens 2-3 days a week I can break through that 300k threshold or I just need to figure out a better system.

[mimosatexas]

i was a one man shop for a while.  I love discharge, but it was not efficient for me running solo.  Everything had to be prepped and cleaned up right before and after printing, so i couldnt batch together those parts of the process well across multiple jobs.  It seriously limits your offerings, and you end up running into far more issues on press and after compared to plastisol.  There are a dozen other complications and hurdles that arent there with plastisol.  My two cents...

[Cole]

i was a one man shop for a while.  I love discharge, but it was not efficient for me running solo.  Everything had to be prepped and cleaned up right before and after printing, so i couldnt batch together those parts of the process well across multiple jobs.  It seriously limits your offerings, and you end up running into far more issues on press and after compared to plastisol.  There are a dozen other complications and hurdles that arent there with plastisol.  My two cents...

I appreciate your insight! It's nice to hear from someone who has been though some of the same challenges. I've been really hesitant to do more plastisol, but it's sounding like it might be necessary at this point. You're right, I'm limiting myself pretty heavily by using discharge for all of my dark garments. I always dread when someone asks for a 50/50 blend or a Comfort Colors shirt. If I add plastisol in to the mix, it will be a tool that I can use when I need it.

[T Shirt Farmer]

 I tried locking down waterbase in our shop and in the end 3 things became very clear

1. You need a prime person to understand the ink and on press process completely.
2. Your business and staff really have to commit to a process, IMO there is a far higher learning curve vs. plastisol and far more spoilage of ink and garments.
3. My clients really could give a crap about the hand of the ink and most certainly do not want to pay a premium.

From my perspective all the really knowledgeable/successful WB printers here treat it like science, you really have to want to be a Great WB printer to run a shop as efficiently as plastisol shop.

[3Deep]

3. My clients really could give a crap about the hand of the ink and most certainly do not want to pay a premium.

This is the main reason we are not all in with WB/DC inks here, not that we can't do it, our customers just want ink on a shirt at a good price.  I use show samples of the different prints and the hand of the ink and very few care plus some of these inks take a different type of shirt and our custy's are all over the place with tees.

[Crazy Mike]

Have you tried One Stroke Watercolor Series plastisol?

[Cole]

Have you tried One Stroke Watercolor Series plastisol?

I've never heard of that series from One Stroke. I looked it up, but there isn't much info. Is it an RFU system? Or pigments and bases?

[Crazy Mike]

It's supposed to be a plastisol that acts like a water base. Give them a call.