From single pieces to full crew runs, Melcher-Dallas 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 Melcher-Dallas, that comes with published pack pricing and door delivery in 5 to 7 business days.
Census numbers put Melcher-Dallas at about 1,200 people on 1.0 square miles of Iowa, all of it covered by the same tracked shipping. Nearby crews are already in the coverage circle, with Lacona, IA (8 mi), Knoxville, IA (10 mi), Williamson, IA (10 mi) sharing the identical pack rates and timelines. The closest major installation is Camp Dodge, roughly 41 miles out, and unit orders from there run through this same process daily.
The whole process runs remote: rough idea in, free designer-built proof back, written approval, and finished gear delivered to Melcher-Dallas.
Because Lacona sits only 8 miles from Melcher-Dallas, joint orders across town lines are common here: one proof, one pack price, two delivery stops if needed.
Crew tees built for daily abuse: heavy blanks, cured ink, and reorders that match exactly. Reorders match the first run exactly because we keep your art and specs on file.
Fundraiser tees where the committee knows its margin up front, because every pack price is public. The second order takes two minutes because the first one is archived down to the thread color.
Youth smalls through adult 5XL in a single pack at a single rate. Bring a rough idea, even a phone photo of a whiteboard, and our designers make it print ready at no charge.
Reunion gear that gets the year right, drawn in-house and printed for every generation at once. The second order takes two minutes because the first one is archived down to the thread color.
Giveaway runs engineered to a number: budget blank, single color, maximum count. Mixed sizes and colors in one run are standard here, not a special request.
Formation-wide runs are the bread and butter: single design, mixed sizes, pack rates that reward volume. A real designer, not an upload widget, checks every file before it goes near production.
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 Melcher-Dallas 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 Melcher-Dallas customers, these three blanks carry most of the orders, each designable online on its real photos.
The standard. 5.3oz heavy cotton in more than 80 colors including military green, sand, and every heather. Holds shape wash after wash. Deadlines get treated like formation times, not suggestions.
An 8.0oz fleece crew with a clean uninterrupted front, the best canvas we stock for big crests and old school block lettering. The second order takes two minutes because the first one is archived down to the thread color.
When the count is high, this 4.5oz ringspun blank keeps the math friendly: $12 a shirt at volume, front print included. A real designer, not an upload widget, checks every file before it goes near production.
Finished files are welcome but never required. A faded photo, a hand sketch, or three sentences of description all become professional vector art at no charge, proofed back to you within a day. The revision count is unlimited, the approval is in writing, and production does not move an inch until that approval exists.
Hands-on types can skip the wait entirely: the Design Lab puts your art on the actual garment with the price updating live.
Here is what Melcher-Dallas customers actually pay, starting from our light cotton tee. Every price includes a standard front print, and the number only moves down as the pack gets bigger.
| Pieces | Total | Each | Ship | Back print add |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pack of 10 | $180 | $18 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| Pack of 15 | $250 | $16.67 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| Pack of 20 | $320 | $16 ea | $20.99 | $4 ea |
| Pack of 25 | $375 | $15 ea | $20.99 | $3 ea |
| Pack of 50 | $700 | $14 ea | $22.99 | $2 ea |
| Pack of 100 | $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.
Start in the Design Lab on the exact garment we print, or send whatever you have through the quote form. Rough ideas are welcome, that is what the free design service is for.
One day later the proof is in your inbox: your art, your garment, your colors, at true print scale. Revisions never cost a cent.
Your written approval is the gate. Until it exists, nothing prints; once it exists, exactly that design prints.
From approval, count 5 to 7 business days to your door. If the event is sooner, ask about rush and get a straight yes or no.
Everything about the run gets archived, which turns every future reorder into a one-line email.
The timeline to Melcher-Dallas 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.
Order ten, order fifty, order five hundred: 10 pieces is our floor, and for your Melcher-Dallas crew, bigger packs simply pull the per-piece price down.
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.
Deployed addresses are first-class here: APO and FPO ship on the standard timeline, right alongside all 50 states.
That is the point of the Design Lab: the complete number, packs, back prints, size upcharges, shipping, updates live while you design, before any contact form.
Five to seven business days, all in, from approval to arrival. Rush exists for real deadlines and gets an honest yes or no up front.
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.
More answers on the full FAQ page.
See everything we deliver to Melcher-Dallas, browse screen printing across Iowa, or read the full screen printing service page. Other services in Melcher-Dallas: 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.