Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce

Special orders won't upset us.

All we ask is that you let us serve it your way.  

OK, that's a blatant ripoff of the old Burger King jingle; however, it is still true. Within the limitations of what The Wits' End is able to screenprint (for example, we are not set up to print 4 color process), we're happy to try to accommodate special orders.  Recently, I received a some orders that required some work, my wife's shop, LaSeraphin Creations also had some orders that required some.  We source our shirts for each order locally.  Onesies (well, actually, Carter's infant bodysuits - onesies would be Gerber), XXXL and women's fitted shirts are usually only available in white in the Corpus Christi area.  The Wits' End had a few orders that required dying, and so did LaSeraphin Creations.  In all, I had to do two blue onesies with white ink, one yellow onesie with brown ink, one blue XXXL, one yellow XXXL, and one pink women's fitted. Time to break out the dying equipment.

I use Dharma Procion Fiber Reactive dyes for all of my dye jobs. For the shade of blue I needed for both the onesies and the unisex XXXL, I needed to mix two of the blue dyes I had.  The ratio I used was 1 Tbsp -1 tsp of Baby Blue, plus 1 tsp of Brilliant Blue. For the yellow onesie and unisex XXXL, the Golden Yellow that I have was a perfect match. Same for the pink women's fitted, the Baby Pink was just what I needed.

Dharma Procion fiber reactive dyes

It's going to be a long night.

Dying the items is a somewhat involved process.  It generally takes about 90 to 120 minutes for each shade (not counting the rinsing and drying time).  Since I only have one sink, I have to do each color separately. That works out to about six hours, plus the rinsing and drying times. However,  for the rinsing and drying, I don't have to stand over the items continuously - when I dye though, I have to be there constantly, stirring/mixing the fabric to make sure things dye evenly. This is the general process for dying:

• Ensure that the garments are freshly laundered, any oils, even from fingerprints, could degrade the quality.
• Gather up all of the items I need. Dyes, lots and lots of salt, urea (if necessary), soda ash, a tub to do the dying in, measuring and stirring utensils, rubber gloves, items to clean up any potential messes, since I'm doing this at the kitchen sink.
• Dissolve salt into the water
• Mash up the dye into a paste, and then add it to the water and make sure that it's thoroughly mixed.
• Wet the fabric and put it into the tub.
• Stir the fabric in the water (by stir, I really mean move it around continuously; hence the rubber gloves) for about 20 minutes.
• Add dissolved soda ash to the water over a 15 minute period.  You have to be careful with this step - soda ash sets the dye into the fabric; however, if you get it directly onto the item, it will leave darker splotches.  So, you hold the fabric out of the way, pour in the dissolved soda ash, stirring it in to the water in a corner away from the fabric and then going back to stirring the items.
• After the soda ash has been added, I'll continue stirring for 30 minutes to an hour, depending upon how deep a shade I need. I'll also add a liquid dye fixative during this stage.
• I'll then have to give a preliminary rinse to the items, until the water runs mostly clear.  I'll then transfer the items to the washing machine for a full rinse and spin cycle. Then of course, to the dryer.
• Clean up the tub to ensure that there isn't any dye left to contaminate the next batch, and clean up any mess around the sink.
• Repeat as necessary for each color needed.

Here are the blue items as they're being dyed.

And here are the yellow.

A look at how they turned out

I ended up not doing the pink, since that order isn't due for a few more days, I'll do it tonight.  I'm in the process of doing up screens sufficient for the XXXL shirts (because, to be totally honest, the ones I have look ludicrously small on such a big shirt), but here is a shot of the onesies after I've screened them.  The white balance in the shot from the phone isn't perfect, the yellow onesie has a nice chocolate brown ink, but it looks black in the photo.

Let us know what you'd like

Remember, we love to try to accommodate any special requests that you might have, so don't hesitate to ask.

The Wits' End online store, or visit The Wits' End on Etsy

LaSeraphin Creations

Breaking up water softener salt pellets

I'm all about saving money whenever possible.

We're a very small scale operation here at The Wits' End.  We make all of our screens and presses by hand.  I screen the items that people order on the island by the kitchen sink.  I hope to eventually move everything out to the garage, but the plumbing is not there and getting it installed is very expensive. Being on a fixed income, I have to conserve money as much as possible (the sales are not yet really happening for the store).  One of the ways that I do that is to use fifty pound bags of water softener salt pellets for use when I need to hand dye items.  Dyeing requires a lot of salt.  I can get a fifty pound bag for something in the range of $4.00 US.

Those things are hard!

The problem with using the pellets is that they are incredibly hard.  I've tried hammering them, I've tried using a mortar and pestle, I've tried putting them in a burlap bag and slamming them against concrete.  None of those worked.  I've gone through a number of blenders.  They work, but they don't last very long. I get the blenders cheaply when they are on sale, or through thrift stores, but it irks me to be continually spending money on something when I'm trying to save money.

A Ninja to the rescue.

After the last blender died, I decided to look at other options.  I have a Ninja Express Chop that I picked up for less than $20.00 a year or so ago and don't use for food any more.  Knowing how hard the pellets are, I knew that the plastic wouldn't hold up to being knocked around by the blades for very long. I took some Duck tape and put a couple of layers around it. That way, it keeps the plastic from shattering, and if it does develop a crack it won't leak. That's important, since I now make a slurry by adding water, instead of just grinding the pellets up while they're dry.  It's not quite as convenient since I can't really do any up in advance, but it doesn't take long to do two or three cups of salt as needed, so it's not that bad.  I've been doing this for a while now, and the Ninja isn't showing any signs of dying.

30% off sale extended through December 4th.

Good News

Coupon code NOV30 is now valid until midnight, December 5th, 2015

Coupon code NOV30 gave everyone 30% off on their entire order at both the online store and the Etsy shop.  However,  it ended at midnight, December 1st. It occurred to me that many people don't get paid until the first of the month or the Friday following that, and that they might want to get in on these deals in time for gift giving.  Therefore, I've extended the expiration date of the coupon code until midnight on the 5th of December. The coupon can be used as many times as you like up until the expiration; so if you realize that you forgot something, you can stop back in and use it again for another 30% off deal.

Check out what we have available at

http://witsendstore.com

http://thewitsend.etsy.com

Some screens I'll be using today.

Not Exactly High Tech

I'm going to be making a post soon about how I make my screens from artist's stretcher bars.  Here are some of the items that I use in the process.

What you see there is:

1. A rubber mallet. For showing those stretcher bars who is the boss.
2. Wood glue.
3. A canvas stretcher.  Fun to use use the stretcher in one hand and the stapler in the other.
4. A staple gun and light duty staples.
5. A heavy duty staple remover. Mistakes happen, and frames get re-tightened or reused.
6. A thread counter (used to check alignment and the thread count of the screen fabric).

I don't need no steenkin' press!

Actually, I do - but I can't afford it at the moment.  Instead, I use something that I did up myself.

I also have a Yudu machine that I've had from the very beginning.  I use it sometimes, but rarely with the screens that come with it.  Mostly as an elevated platform to pull the prints using screens that I've made, as a light table for drawing, or as an exposure unit. Those little hooks on the sides are used to stretch some large rubber bands across the shirt/platen combo to hold it in place - I just wrap the rubber band around the whole thing on the bottom.

A couple of screens I'm getting ready to use today.

It's an Atheist theme, apparently

These aren't masked off yet.  You'll notice that the alignment with the frame isn't totally perfect on the Invisible Pink Unicorn one.  That's not really significant since the shirt and the homemade platen that I use aren't fixed.  I can adjust them as necessary.

Not super fancy looking, but they get the job done.

Be an Atheist Superhero!

There is a new tee available in the online store, and it's 15% off for a limited time.

Atheist Superhero tee at The WIt's End

This is the Atheist symbol, done up in the style somewhat similar to a famous DC Comics super hero.  Note that the shirt color is going to be a deeper shade of blue, since locally, Royal and Navy are the only dark blues available.

This is a close-up of the design.

You can order the shirt at: http://thewitsend.aliboom.com/Atheist_super_hero_tee/p3224001_14729876.aspx

This blog post is for the filthy rich only.

Hand screened Atheist symbol mouse pad.

We offer great bulk rates at The Wits's End.  For example; did you know that if you are silly rich, you could buy 40 of these hand screened mouse pads for under $200?  That's an awesome deal, right?  I know.

Once you have them, you can use them to:

• Level that wobbly dining room table in time for the holiday feast.
• Ease your staff's attempts to open recalcitrant jars in the kitchen.
• Keep your Tibetan Mastiff's water bowl from sliding.
• Patch the hole in the west wing guest room bathroom arising from the unfortunate attempt to launch your own party network satellite.
• Use it as a template to draw an Atheist symbol in the GIMP.
• Wallpaper the Lotus Exige garage room.

The possibilities are endless! Why not buy 8,000 now and line your driveway!

The 'Future' of my screens?

Using acrylic floor finish on my screens

OK, Ok, that title was a horrible pun.  However; I did want to talk about something I've been experimenting with for the last couple of days.  The usage of acrylic floor finish (similar to Future (which I suppose is now a Pledge floor finish that includes Future)) on my screens.

It goes on the frames

I make my own screens.  I generally do this with 'stretcher bars' which are made to stretch canvas.  I like them because I can get the bars in various sizes so I can make a variety of different sized screens.  One problem with them is that unless I do something to make them water resistant, they will warp as I wash the screens following the application of emulsion or ink.  I've tried various ways of making them water resistant.  Thompson's Water Seal spray, spray acrylic fixative, duck tape (or duct, if you prefer that), Mod Podge.  Nothing really struck me as exceptionally useful/easy/cost effective.

I have some off-brand acrylic floor finish that I use to protect and add gloss to some of my polymer clay items.  It occurred to me that it might work really well in making the stretcher bars water resistant.  Turns out that it's excellent.  Exceptionally easy to apply, and not very expensive.  So far, it seems to be working very well; however, I'm going to have to stress test some of the frames over the coming weeks to see how long it holds up.

It goes on the screens themselves

I've also been using it to fill in the borders of the screen printing fabric that do not have emulsion. That has to be done to keep the ink from getting through to the material.  I generally use tape on both sides of the screen, mostly the blue painters tape (which sticks surprisingly well, considering how easy it is to get off when I want it off), although sometimes I'll use clear packing tape. I have also tried Mod Podge, because it helps to be able to see though to the shirt/item beneath the screen to get the position right - something that's not possible with the painters tape. However, I've never really been too satisfied with the Mod Podge for this.  It's slow to apply, and it's more translucent than transparent.

So I've been using the acrylic floor finish for this too.  So far I'm mostly satisfied.  It's very clear, and it's doing a great job of keeping the ink from getting through.  On the downside, with the fabric store fabric that I use (haven't tried it on actual screen print fabric yet), I have to use at least two coats to fill everything in.  Being much easier to apply than the Mod Podge, this isn't really a big deal though.

Now it's just a matter of stress testing the fabric too.  I'll have to see how well it stands up to the repeated washings and scrubbing with soft-bristled nylon brushes when I'm cleaning the screen.

Lots of activity at The Wits' End

http://witsendstore.com

There is, and will be, a lot of activity taking place at the online store. I am currently in the process of ensuring that everything that is carried in the Etsy shop is also available from the online store. In addition, there are eighteen to twenty new items that will be going up soon.

I'm trying to shift more of the action away from the Etsy shop and to the online store. So far, that is not going very well. While sales at the Etsy shop are nothing to brag about, it still outperforms the online store by a very wide margin.

Once everything has been made to be available here (at the online store) I'm hoping to cull the list of items available on Etsy. I'm looking to make the Etsy shop blander, removing most of the more in-your-face items from it so that our neighbors feel more comfortable doing there. This is Corpus Christi, Texas, after all.

Visit us at: http://witsendstore.com

The Making of an LGBTQ Rainbow 'geek.' tee

Making an LGBTQ Rainbow 'geek.' tee

The plan

What I want to do is take a colored tee and put a screened 'geek.' on it, filled with the colors of the rainbow. I want to do this using a discharge process, so I don't have to put a base layer of white ink and compromise the feel (hand) of the tee. Discharge allows me to remove the colors that are already dyed in to the tee.

First, I need a screen

Why I have to make one

We're not a big operation, with 4-color or 6-color presses and flash driers. I literally do all of my screening on the island by the kitchen sink (hopefully, I'll be moving it out to the garage, once I work out some drainage). I register everything by hand, and air dry with the help of fans.  After I've pulled a screen, and it has dried, I heat set it with a household iron.

The fabric

I've decided to experiment with some chiffon that I bought at a hobby store recently. I was out of screen print fabric and it would take a while for any new fabric to arrive.  In addition, I'm all for saving money; if the chiffon works, then I'll be saving about twelve dollars per yard and shipping.  Of course, if it doesn't, then I'm out the money I spent for this, because I won't use it if it doesn't make high quality screens.

The frame

In this case, I decided to use an old metal frame that has been laying around for a while, rather than making a permanent one from stretcher bars like I normally do.  I grabbed some carpet tape and put it on both sides of the frame (very sticky affair).  I then hand stretched the chiffon as tightly as I could and pressed it firmly to the carpet tape on both sides. It will still eventually loosen this way, so if I wanted to make it permanent, I'd add a couple of dabs of super glue in various places (not on the tape, because that would just pull up the adhesive.  I'd then cover the fabric on the tape with aluminum vent tape.

Prepping the screen

Now I get to see if my photo emulsion will work on the chiffon.  I apply a nice even layer on both sides of the screen, and put it in a dark area with a fan - to allow it to dry for five or six hours (Corpus Christi is pretty humid, it takes a while sometimes). 

Checking it after it has dried, it seems to be adhering to the chiffon quite well.

I need a design of course

Sometimes, this is the most time consuming part of the process.  In this case, it's just a matter of firing up GIMP and printing out 'geek.' in a Courier 10pt Bold font at a size that will fit landscape on a piece of letter sized transparent vellum; that would be approximately 278pt in this case.

Burning the screen

This part went pretty well.  It turned out that my standard exposure was a little long.  I had to scrub quite a bit and use a high pressure (let's not banter semantics - it wasn't really 'high pressure', but the stream was narrowed considerably in one of those jet things) nozzle to try to get the unexposed emulsion out and have a nice clear design on the screen.

On to the shirt

A discharge tee

I actually did three shirts, just to test how well the chiffon would work. The first one I did was a discharge tee.  In a discharge tee, I'm basically bleaching the color out of a tee.  That gives the impression that it bleaches all of the color out, and leaves white; however, that is almost never the case. It's generally some shade of tan or red that remains.

To make one of these, I have to do a bleach paste up.  I have some Pyrex measuring cups (more like small tumblers). In this case, I decided that I wanted a really distinct discharge, so I did a 1/1 mix of bleach and water, and then I stirred in a small amount of sodium alginate.  Sodium alginate is extracted from brown seaweed and is used for many things, but for my purposes, as a thickener; which allows me to create a paste which I can screen and won't spread all over the place. 

After the mixture has tickened, I screen it on to the shirt, and let it sit for about fifteen minutes.  I then take the shirt and dunk it into a bucket with a mixture of vinegar and water, which counteracts the bleach.  I follow this up with a rinse and spin cycle in the washing machine.

After drying, the discharge tee looks like this (a quick smartphone shot, not color corrected):

A tee with opaque blue ink

This is the standard way that I screen shirts. Many times, I have to use a white base coat so that the colors will stand out.  However; my opaque blue covers pretty well.

This is what the shirt looks like with ink (again, a quick smartphone shot, not color corrected):

And finally, the rainbow tee

For the rainbow tee I have to take a few steps.

1. Screen a discharge tee
2. Wash and dry it
3. Make a rainbow of colors and screen them over the area where I had discharged the ink.

For the colors, I have these convenient tubes made up, where I just squirt approximately equal amounts of color to cover the whole area with a rainbow, and then pull the colors with a single swipe of the squeegee.  Due to the nature of this process, each rainbow is unique.

I'm not going to show a photo of the finished shirt in this post at this time (I might add it later), but here's a photo of the screen and the inks that I used:

Check out what we available atThe Wits' End, visit http://witsendstore.com.