From single pieces to full crew runs, Apple River 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 Apple River, that comes with published pack pricing and door delivery in 5 to 7 business days.
Census numbers put Apple River at a community of 335 on 0.7 square miles of Illinois, all of it covered by the same tracked shipping. If your people are spread out, that is fine: Warren, IL (5 mi), Apple Canyon Lake, IL (6 mi), Gratiot, WI (6 mi) sit close enough that one order can outfit all of them. Rock Island Arsenal, around 76 miles from Apple River, anchors the local military community we print for every week.
No storefront visit required. Send a rough idea or finished art, a real designer builds the proof at no charge, and the finished gear ships straight to Apple River.
Screen Printing demand around Apple River does not stop at the town line. Crews from Warren (5 miles out) order through the same process, which is why coverage is priced by pack, never by zip code.
High-count, budget-tier blanks with a clean one-color print that keeps cost per piece low. If a design will not print well at the size you want, you hear that before money changes hands.
One design across the whole formation, printed at pack pricing that drops as the count climbs. What you approve in writing is what ships. That rule has no exceptions.
Everyday workwear printed to survive the job site, the shop floor, and the industrial washer. Nobody chases an order here. Your contact tells you where it stands before you have to ask.
Runs, festivals, and booster fundraisers with published pricing so the margin math is done before the order form goes out. Bring a rough idea, even a phone photo of a whiteboard, and our designers make it print ready at no charge.
One run covers the team and the bleachers: kid sizes and adult sizes priced together. What you approve in writing is what ships. That rule has no exceptions.
Era-correct designs drawn by our in-house team and printed for every generation of the crew. Mixed sizes and colors in one run are standard here, not a special request.
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 Apple River customers call, a person who owns the order answers.
It also means we say no when we should. If a design will not print well at the size you want, or a date cannot be hit, you hear it before you spend money, not after.
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.
Start from the garment and the rest follows. Among Apple River customers, these three blanks carry most of the orders, each designable online on its real photos.
The default unit shirt: heavy cotton, an 80-color palette, and a fit that survives the wash cycle. Reorders match the first run exactly because we keep your art and specs on file.
The clean-front fleece crew: 8.0oz, no pocket, no hood, maximum canvas for crests and block letters. Start from a napkin sketch if that is what you have. Turning rough into print ready is the job.
Big-run economics start here: light ringspun cotton from $12 at volume, with the front print already in the price. We handle the art, the sizing spread, and the deadline. You handle handing them out.
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 Apple River customers order from, light cotton tee, front print included, no asterisks.
| Quantity | Pack price | Per shirt | Shipping | Add back print |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Three add-ons exist and all are flat per piece: the back print at the table rate ($3 from 25 pieces, $2 from 50), the oversized front at $3 or $2 depending on quantity, and extended sizes at $6 or $4. Nothing else gets added. The Design Lab applies every rule automatically, and the written quote confirms the total before anything is charged.
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.
A real designer, not an algorithm, sends your proof within 24 hours. You change it as many times as it takes to be right.
Production waits for one thing only: your written sign-off on the proof. That signature is the contract for exactly what prints.
Approval to doorstep runs 5 to 7 business days as the default, faster when rush is booked and honestly refused when it cannot be.
Everything about the run gets archived, which turns every future reorder into a one-line email.
Every order ships tracked to Apple River addresses with standard production plus shipping at 5 to 7 business days. Free shipping kicks in at 100 pieces, and pack shipping rates below that are published, not surprises at checkout.
Before sealing, every carton is counted against the size roster, and tracking goes out the same day. Anything short or damaged gets replaced at our cost on an expedited timeline.
Sizes 2XL and up add $6 per piece under 25 total pieces, or $4 per piece at 25 or more. The Design Lab includes it in your estimate automatically.
Finality is the nature of custom work: no returns once it prints. Your protections live earlier in the process, in the free proof and the written approval that nothing skips.
Yes, 10 pieces. That is the smallest run we print, packs for your Apple River crew keep dropping the per piece price from there, and free shipping starts at 100.
Vector files such as AI, SVG, EPS, and PDF are ideal. A 300 DPI PNG with a transparent background also prints clean. If all you have is a screenshot, we redraw it free.
Yes, APO and FPO delivery is standard here, not an exception, and every state in the country ships the same way.
Yes, and without giving up your email: the Design Lab keeps the complete total, packs to shipping, on screen while you design.
More answers on the full FAQ page.
Zoom out to screen printing across Illinois, back to the Apple River hub, or into the screen printing deep dive. Other services in Apple River: Embroidery, DTG and DTF Printing, Sublimation, Banners and Signs, Custom Design.
You will see the proof before you pay and the price before you talk to anyone. That is the whole pitch.