Screen printing on T-shirts — Spain

Why screen printing is still the default choice on T-shirts

The T-shirt — the most-produced and most-consumed item in Spanish corporate merch — is the substrate where screen printing shows its best cost-to-finish ratio. The flat, stretchy surface of the body accepts screens up to 40 × 50 cm without distortion, which maximises print area per unit of time. The technique amortises from 100-150 units upwards; below that threshold we recommend DTF or DTG for their lower pre-production cost.

Versus DTG and transfer, screen printing lays an ink film integrated into the fibre instead of a film overlaid on top, so the touch stays soft even on higher weights (180-220 g/m²). Wash durability is also superior: with OEKO-TEX water-based inks and curing at 160 °C, T-shirts hold 60-80 domestic wash cycles before the print loses vibrancy, depending on colour and substrate. For programmes that go through industrial laundry (hospitality, catering) screen printing holds perfectly.

We run two screen systems. Manual on M&R Sportsman 6-8 head tables for runs of 100 to 5,000 units, ideal for programmes with 1-4 colours and variable placement. Automatic oval with 12-18 colours for runs of 5,000 to 50,000 units in one or two flat colours — the system most fair, mass-event and team-uniformity programmes use. Inks are always water-based, phthalate-free, formaldehyde-free and APEO-free; OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and REACH SVHC < 0.1 % compliant.

Screen printing technical specifications

The process starts with colour separation of the artwork. We work in Adobe Illustrator with FOGRA39 profiles for offset or, in textile screen printing, with specific profiles from the ink supplier. For typical corporate logos (1-3 flat inks) we use direct water-based inks without halftone; for images with gradients we use halftone AM or FM at 65-85 LPI. Emulsion is diazo-photo-sensitive, aluminium frames screen down to 50 microns and meshes run 43, 61, 77, 100 or 120 threads per inch depending on detail.

Curing runs through an electric tunnel dryer at 150-180 °C for 60-90 seconds per unit, which ensures full ink polymerisation and wash resistance. Quality checks apply every 250 units: deposit measurement with micrometer, tape adhesion test ASTM D3359, Crockmeter rub fastness ISO 105-X12 (grade 4-5 on wool), wash fastness ISO 105-C06 (grade 4 on multifibre). The batch register is filed for 5 years.

The most common print placements are chest-centre (horizontally centred at 60-80 mm from the top edge), left-chest pocket-style (60 mm from the shoulder, 60 mm from centre), full back (large-format pattern or graphic), sleeve (small logo at 80 mm from the shoulder), and nape (small logo centred under the collar). For fair or event programmes the chest + back combination is used to deliver maximum visual impact without penalising the unit cost.

Compliance, certifications and traceability

All inks meet OEKO-TEX Standard 100 class I (safe for skin contact) and REACH SVHC < 0.1 %. Cotton substrates carry OEKO-TEX; GOTS and GRS options ship with verifiable transaction certificate on blockchain or via the certifier's serial number. The electronic invoice is issued with 21 % IVA broken out via FACe/SII (AEAT) in FacturaE-XML format with electronic signature, valid for supported IVA recovery by the B2B client.

Quality controls are documented per batch: optical density with X-Rite spectrophotometer, Crockmeter rub fastness (minimum grade 4 on wool), wash fastness ISO 105-C06 (minimum grade 4 on multifibre), Martindale abrasion resistance (minimum 20,000 cycles), seam tensile strength ASTM D5034 (minimum 200 N). Reports are delivered with the invoice or uploaded to the client's B2B portal. The quality policy covers print defects, colour misalignment, staining and premature breakage; any incident is resolved by replacement, credit note or refund at the client's choice.