From single pieces to full crew runs, Ames gets screen printed gear with honest pricing and a 5 to 7 day door-to-door timeline.
The workhorse method: vibrant plastisol or water-based ink pressed through mesh, one color at a time. Best price per shirt at volume and prints that survive hundreds of washes. For Ames, that comes with published pack pricing and door delivery in 5 to 7 business days.
Census numbers put Ames at about 66,000 people on 28.2 square miles of Iowa, all of it covered by the same tracked shipping. If your people are spread out, that is fine: Gilbert, IA (6 mi), Kelley, IA (6 mi), Nevada, IA (8 mi) sit close enough that one order can outfit all of them. For the military community, Camp Dodge sits about 24 miles away, well inside our normal unit-order routes.
Nothing here needs a storefront. Art goes in by phone or upload, a designer proofs it free, and the shipment lands in Ames counted against your roster.
Screen Printing demand around Ames does not stop at the town line. Crews from Gilbert (6 miles out) order through the same process, which is why coverage is priced by pack, never by zip code.
One design across the whole formation, printed at pack pricing that drops as the count climbs. Youth and adult cuts run side by side in the same pack at the same price structure.
Uniform shirts that still look issued after a season of job-site laundry cycles. Youth and adult cuts run side by side in the same pack at the same price structure.
Runs, festivals, and booster fundraisers with published pricing so the margin math is done before the order form goes out. The proof comes first and it is free, so what arrives is exactly what you signed off on.
One run covers the team and the bleachers: kid sizes and adult sizes priced together. One point of contact owns your order from first proof to delivery confirmation.
Era-correct designs drawn by our in-house team and printed for every generation of the crew. Deadlines get treated like formation times, not suggestions.
High-count, budget-tier blanks with a clean one-color print that keeps cost per piece low. The proof comes first and it is free, so what arrives is exactly what you signed off on.
This shop exists for the military community, and it shows in how orders run. Deadlines are treated like formation times, proofs are honest instead of optimistic, and when Ames customers call, a person who owns the order answers.
Part of the job is refusing bad orders. When the art, the garment, or the date is wrong, saying so before you pay is the service.
Upload art or add text in the Design Lab, set sizes and quantities, and the full estimate, shipping included, is on screen before you give anyone your email.
The right blank depends on budget, season, and how hard the gear will be worn. For Ames customers, these three earn their keep.
Big-run economics start here: light ringspun cotton from $12 at volume, with the front print already in the price. Rush timelines get quoted honestly. If we cannot hit the date, we say so before you pay a cent.
The standard. 5.3oz heavy cotton in more than 80 colors including military green, sand, and every heather. Holds shape wash after wash. Every price is published before you talk to a person, so the budget math happens on your terms.
For big front art, nothing beats this 8.0oz crew with its uninterrupted printing field. Packs mix garment colors freely, so squads, shifts, or grade levels can each get their own.
Half the orders we take begin as a phone photo of a sketch, an old shirt, or a sentence describing the idea. A designer turns that into print-ready vector art at no charge, sends the proof inside 24 hours, and revises it until you sign off in writing. Nothing is produced before that signature, which is why what shows up matches what you expected.
Prefer hands-on? Build the design yourself in the Design Lab on real product photos, with the running price on screen while you work.
The table below is the actual price list Ames customers order from, light cotton tee, front print included, no asterisks.
| Order size | Pack total | Cost per piece | Freight | Back side |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 pieces | $180 | $18 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 15 pieces | $250 | $16.67 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 20 pieces | $320 | $16 ea | $20.99 | $4 ea |
| 25 pieces | $375 | $15 ea | $20.99 | $3 ea |
| 50 pieces | $700 | $14 ea | $22.99 | $2 ea |
| 100 pieces | $1200 | $12 ea | FREE | $2 ea |
Add-on pricing is deliberately boring: back print per the table (later $3, then $2), oversize front $3 or $2 by volume, extended sizes $6 or $4 by volume. That is the complete list, and the Design Lab computes it live before any quote is written.
Two doors in: the quote form if you want a person on it immediately, or the Design Lab if you want to see it on the garment first. Either way, unfinished ideas are the expected input.
The proof arrives inside a day, drawn at print size on your chosen garment and color. Change anything, as often as needed, at no cost.
Your written approval is the gate. Until it exists, nothing prints; once it exists, exactly that design prints.
Standard turnaround is 5 to 7 business days from approval to doorstep, with rush available when the calendar demands it.
Everything about the run gets archived, which turns every future reorder into a one-line email.
The timeline to Ames addresses is fixed and published: 5 to 7 business days door to door, production included. Shipping rates are flat, visible in the table, and free from 100 pieces.
Every box leaves counted, tracked, and matched to your roster. Shortages and shipping damage are on us to fix, fast, because delivery day is the only day the customer remembers.
Design help is included free. Whatever you have, a napkin sketch, a faded shirt photo, a sentence, becomes a print-ready proof from a real designer within 24 hours.
Large runs are the core business: hundreds of pieces, mixed sizes, multiple colors, one named contact who owns it from first proof to the delivery scan.
The extended-size rule fits in one line: add $6 per piece below 25 total, $4 per piece at 25 or more. The Design Lab applies it automatically.
Due to custom orders, all work is finalized and no returns are accepted. Double check sizing and artwork before submitting your order. Every order gets a free proof first, and nothing prints until you approve it in writing.
The minimum order is 10 pieces. Your ames crew can order ten today and a hundred next month; the packs just make each piece cheaper as the count grows.
Send whatever exists. Vectors print perfectly, high resolution PNGs print clean, and anything below that gets redrawn free by the design team before it goes near a press.
Yes, APO and FPO delivery is standard here, not an exception, and every state in the country ships the same way.
More answers on the full FAQ page.
Zoom out to screen printing across Iowa, back to the Ames hub, or into the screen printing deep dive. Other services in Ames: Embroidery, DTG and DTF Printing, Sublimation, Banners and Signs, Custom Design.
A designer proofs your art free within 24 hours, and production waits for your written approval. Every pack price is already published.