Bulk screen printing for the people who actually order in bulk
Most of the custom screen printing we run falls into a few familiar buckets. Unit PT shirts, usually a couple hundred at a time with a deadline tied to a change of command. Custom battalion shirts and company shirts for organization day. Morale shirts for a platoon that pooled cash and wants something the First Sergeant will tolerate. Deployment shirts printed before the unit leaves or after it gets back. MWR and FRG fundraiser runs, VFW and American Legion chapter gear, and reunion committees trying to get 80 guys from three time zones into matching shirts.
If that sounds like your order, screen printing is the right method. Here is why. Screen printing has a setup cost, because we build a physical screen for every color in your design. Once those screens are on press, each additional shirt costs very little to print. That math is bad at 6 shirts and great at 300, which is why every unit order and fundraiser run we quote lands on this process first.
The prints are also tougher. Plastisol ink, properly cured, bonds to the fabric and holds up through years of PT and field laundry. For custom unit t shirts that get worn three times a week, that durability matters more than anything else on this page.
PRICINGPrice breaks by quantity
This is the part everyone actually wants to see. Prices below are per shirt on a standard 100 percent cotton tee that we supply, and they are typical starting points, not a formal quote. Your exact number depends on the garment, ink colors, and print locations. Request a quote for a firm price in writing.
| Quantity | 1-color print | 2-color print | Full front + back |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 pieces | $11.50 | $13.25 | $16.50 |
| 48 pieces | $9.25 | $10.75 | $13.50 |
| 144 pieces | $7.50 | $8.50 | $10.75 |
| 288 pieces | $6.75 | $7.50 | $9.25 |
| 500+ pieces | $5.95 | $6.50 | $8.25 |
Those figures assume a standard cotton tee in a stock color. Upgraded blanks, performance fabrics, extended sizes, and extra print locations move the number. Treat the table as a planning tool for your budget request, then send us the details for exact pricing. We would rather quote you straight than surprise you at invoice time.
THE PROCESSHow a screen print gets made
Plenty of shops treat the process like a secret. It is not. Here is what happens between your email and the box on your doorstep.
Art and color separation
We take your design and separate it into individual colors, because each color prints from its own screen. A 3-color crest becomes three separations that have to line up on press within a fraction of a millimeter. You get a free digital proof within 24 hours showing exact placement, size, and ink colors. Nothing prints until you approve it.
Screen burning
Each separation gets printed onto film, laid over a mesh screen coated in light-sensitive emulsion, and exposed to UV light. The light hardens the emulsion everywhere except where your design blocks it, and that unhardened area washes out, leaving a stencil. Mesh count matters here. We use coarser mesh around 110 to 156 threads per inch for bold ink deposits on dark shirts, and finer mesh at 200 to 305 for fine lines and halftone detail.
Press setup and registration
Screens get locked into the press and registered so every color lands exactly where the proof says it should. On dark garments we print a white underbase first and hit it with a flash cure unit, a quick blast of heat that gels the ink so your colors sit bright on top instead of sinking into the fabric. Setup is the reason your first shirt looks identical to your three hundredth.
Print and cure
Ink gets pushed through each screen with a squeegee, shirt by shirt, station by station. Then every shirt rides through a conveyor dryer. Plastisol has to reach roughly 320 degrees Fahrenheit through the full thickness of the ink film to cure completely. Undercured ink cracks and washes out. Cured ink stays put for years. We check dryer temps with a probe, not a guess.
Quality control and pack out
Every run gets pulled and inspected against the approved proof for placement, color, and cure. Shirts are counted, folded, and packed by size so whoever is handing them out at formation is not digging through a random pile. If you gave us a size roster, we pack to it.
Plastisol, water-based, and discharge, and when we recommend each
Plastisol is the standard for military screen printing and for good reason. It is a PVC-based ink that sits on top of the fabric, delivers bright, opaque color on any shirt including blacks and navies, and is the most durable option on the wall. For unit PT shirts, custom battalion shirts, and anything that will get worn hard and washed often, plastisol is our default recommendation. The print has a slight hand, meaning you can feel it on the shirt, which most people either do not notice or actively like.
Water-based ink soaks into the fabric instead of sitting on top of it, so the finished print feels like part of the shirt. It gives a soft, vintage look that works beautifully on light-colored garments. The tradeoff is opacity. Water-based ink on a black shirt looks muted unless extra steps are taken. We recommend it for retail-style morale shirts, veteran-owned business merch, and any design where soft hand matters more than maximum punch.
Discharge ink is water-based ink with an activator that removes the shirt's dye and replaces it with pigment, so you get soft prints with strong color even on dark cotton garments. It only works on 100 percent cotton dyed with dischargeable dyes, so garment selection matters. When a customer wants a black shirt that does not feel like it is wearing body armor, discharge is usually the answer.
Not sure which fits your job? Tell us how the shirts will be used and we will pick for you.
GARMENTSThe blanks we print on
A great print on a lousy shirt is still a lousy shirt, so we are picky about blanks. For budget-conscious unit orders and fundraiser shirts, the standard cotton tees from Gildan are hard to beat on price and consistency. When the order calls for a softer, retail-fit shirt, we reach for BELLA+CANVAS. And for the full range of performance tees, moisture-wicking fabrics, safety colors, and just about everything else, we pull from the SanMar catalog. Feel free to browse those sites and send us style numbers, or just describe what you want and we will match you to a blank that fits the budget.
For Army PT shirts and similar jobs, we stock the appropriate colors and can talk through fabric options that hold up to daily PT. We follow industry-standard practices for garment decoration as promoted by the PRINTING United Alliance, which is the trade association our end of the industry looks to for technical standards. Screen printed company shirts for veteran-owned businesses get the same treatment, whether that is 24 polos worth of staff or 500 tees for a grand opening.
STRAIGHT TALK"I ordered 300 PT shirts for the battalion two weeks before a change of command. Proof came back the next morning, shirts showed up in six days, packed by company and by size. Formation looked squared away and I did not have to chase anybody. That is all I ask."
First Sergeant M. Delgado, U.S. Army
When screen printing is not the right call
We would rather steer you to the right process than sell you the wrong one. If you need fewer than 24 pieces, or your art is a photorealistic full-color image with gradients and tiny detail, the screen setup costs stop making sense and the separations get ugly. That work belongs on our DTG and DTF printing side, which handles small runs and full-color art without screens.
Hats, polos, and anything where you want a stitched, dimensional logo should go to embroidery. Thread on a structured cap or a left-chest polo logo simply reads more professional than ink, and it is what most retirement gifts and staff polos call for.
And if all you have is an idea sketched on a sticky note during a safety brief, start with our design services. We will turn the concept into print-ready art, then bring it back to this page when it is time to put ink on shirts.
FAQQuestions we get every week
What is your minimum order for screen printing?
24 pieces per design. That is the point where the cost of burning screens and setting up the press spreads thin enough to make sense for you. Under 24 pieces, ask us about DTG or DTF printing instead, which has no real minimum.
How fast can you turn an order around?
Standard production is 5 to 7 business days after you approve the proof, plus shipping. Larger runs or specialty garments can add time, and we will tell you up front if they do. The clock starts at proof approval, so the fastest thing you can do for your deadline is respond to the proof quickly.
Can you print our unit insignia or official military emblems?
Official insignia, branch seals, and certain unit marks are protected by trademark, and each branch runs a licensing program for their use on merchandise. We reproduce protected marks only where applicable licensing allows, and we will tell you honestly if a specific emblem cannot go on a commercial run. Unit-created designs, mascots, and original art are usually no problem, and our design team can build something distinctive that avoids licensing issues entirely.
Do you ship to APO and FPO addresses?
Yes. We ship to APO and FPO addresses through USPS, which is the carrier that serves the military mail system. Overseas military mail takes longer than domestic shipping and transit times vary by location, so for deployment shirts, build extra lead time into your order and tell us the deadline when you request a quote.
Can we provide our own shirts?
We prefer to supply the blanks, because we can stand behind garments we sourced and replace any damaged in production. If you already have shirts, talk to us first. We will check the fabric content and let you know if we can run them, with the understanding that customer-supplied garments print at your risk.
We are in a time crunch. Do you do rush orders?
Often, yes. Rush availability depends on the press schedule the week you call, and rush fees apply because we are moving your job ahead of the line. Call or send the quote form with your drop-dead date and we will give you a straight yes or no. What we will not do is take a rush job we cannot deliver.
Ready to move? Request a quote with your quantity, art, and deadline for real numbers and a free proof within 24 hours. Not ready yet? Shop our ready-made gear and see the print quality for yourself.