Okay, we know that we would have called it something else in Canada (we say “zed” and the Americans say “zee”) but just this once let’s indulge them and go with the “EE-ZEE” thing because it really does describe this product which is “easy” to use and “easy” on the budget too. In any case, ”EE-ZED FILM” would just be wrong; like if they had won the hockey gold medal – it would just be wrong.

This film is ideal for mesh counts of 110 to 156. We recommend it for use with standard textile plastisol inks. It is not recommended for water-based inks.

Here’s a quick list of why coating a screen with EZ-FILM is a great alternative to liquid emulsion: it is fast exposing; it dries faster than emulsion; it needs very little training to do; you get perfect stencils every time; you get consistent stencil thickness; you have fewer pinholes; it is convenient; there is no mess or waste; and the trasparent magenta colour allows for easy inspection and registration. So, what can you lose by giving EZ-FILM a test? Call us for a free sample pack of 5 sheets.

 Screenflex stocks EZ-FILM in packs of 50 sheets in two sizes, 15″ x 17″ for only $78.50 (Canadian) per pack or 17″ x 24″ for only $111.50 per pack.   You do the math… it’s an offer you can’t refuse. Just call Screenflex at 1 800 661 7766 or email info@screenflex.ca  And remember that we have free 5-sheet sample packs in the 15″ x 17″ size for testing.

This is a “good news / bad news” story.

Oh yes, we all know that the Canadian textile screen printing industry needs all the help that it can get right now but, unfortunately, some manufacturers have indicated that they still have to put up their prices. Apparently there have been raw material price increases that have to be passed on. The exception is Ulano who have chosen to not pass on an increase – see the next story.

Wilflex (still the manufacturer of the best screen printing ink in the world) has indicated in a letter to its distributors that 2009 was a tough year. They say that as a result of managing costs through their “Lean Six Sigma” initiative they don’t have to increase the prices of their newer environmental range of inks but they do have to increase the prices of their Classic Inks by about 5%. That is the bad news part of this story.

The good news part of this story is that Screenflex is going to absorb the price increase and NOT PASS IT ON to our Canadian Wilflex customers. In addition to the continuing strong support from our customers, there are two reasons that we can do this. After our Western Canadian sale we undertook a reorganization and belt-tightening that resulted in some cost savings, and the stronger Canadian dollar has helped a bit as well.

Our dollar looks good for now and we will continue to manage our costs carefully even as we increase our sales base. Unless anything significant changes, we should be able to hold the prices down for some time yet.   

 If you have any comments about this story specifically, prices in general, or anything else for that matter, I invite you to drop me an email at michael.best@screenflex.ca  or call 1 800 661 7766 and let’s chat.

Finally some good news out of the U.S. for Canadian screen printers! A letter from Ulano to its distributors dated January 18th, 2010 and signed by Gary Gayton is interesting for the fact that it is not a usual manufacturer’s annual sorry-but-we-have-no-choice-but-to-increase-prices whine.

Quoting from the first paragraph…

“As Al Guercio mentions in his column in the January issue of the Ulano Worldwide Distributor Report, our sales – your purchases from us – have been on the rebound for some months now. No one can be sure we’re out of the recessionary woods yet and there are continuing risks of higher energy and chemical costs, inflation, and devaluation of the US Dollar. Nevertheless, we have decided not  to increase prices at this time. We think this is supportive of you and our mutual customers in what is still a difficult, uncertain economy.”

Notice…  Ulano has decided to NOT increase prices.

Screenflex applauds this news. Finally somebody seems to appreciate what the surviving textile screen printers have been enduring lately, particularly those on this side of the border.

We have lost a business associate and a friend. It is with sadness that we report that Nick Kondrats of Tekmar in Santa Barbara passed away last Wednesday the 13 th of January, 2010.

Nick, seen here on the right of the picture, finally succumbed to the cancer  that he had been fighting for some time.

There are some people who, when they die, leave you wishing that you had had the opportunity to spend more time with them. Nick was such a person. I don’t know anyone who knew him who would not say that he was one of the kindest, most gentle, most caring, unselfish people that you could hope to meet.

Even if you had hardly known Nick at all and  had only spoken to him for a few moments at say the Tekmar booth at the Long Beach Show, you would know what I mean. You would have been aware of it immediately. Chances are that if you had bought one of Tekmar’s spray adhesive applicators from him, you would have walked away with a couple of free gallons of adhesive for no other reason than that was just how Nick was. It might have driven his business partners crazy on occasion but that never deterred Nick from being Nick.

It has often been said that how someone relates to animals tells you a lot about their nature. I know of at least a few dogs and even a rescued bird or two who, if they could talk, could give us first hand accounts of Nick’s gentle, caring nature. I could add to their accounts by telling how once we knew that he had cancer, I would call to see how he was doing and he would instead want to know how I was coping with my cold. When he could have been preoccupied with his own health issues, he instead worried and cared about others. And he did so to the end.

We will remember Nick fondly. One of Margaret’s memories will always be how she and Nick made a point of  getting together for oysters each year in Long Beach. For me, the above picture of a business meeting with Nick, Jim and Simon in Santa Barbara will always be an example of how business should be conducted – relaxed and casual, just the way Nick lived. If the rest of us are smart, we will let him be a lasting reminder to us that life is too short for it to be lived any other way.

Jim and Simon will carry on running Tekmar in Santa Barbara, Screenflex will continue selling Tekmar products in Canada, we will all continue to meet up at the Long Beach show once a year, oysters will continue to be eaten, and jokes will continue to be exchanged by email. But none of it will be the same without Nick.

Some time ago Simon Clifford, president of Tekmar Technical Marketing of Santa Barbara, told a story about aerosol adhesive residue on the floor around a press in a textile print shop that he was visiting. It was so bad that the shop’s resident Golden Lab lay down to rest under the press and then could not get up because he was stuck to the floor.

We don’t know if Simon developed Tekmar’s TEKBOND line of water-based, non-aerosol pallet adhesives because of the dog-sticks-to-floor experience, but we do know that it is a cost-effective, non-messy, “greener” alternative to aerosol pallet adhesives. And we say that in spite of the fact that, as a supplier, we can make much more money from aerosol adhesives because they cost more and more is needed to do the same job.

Tekmar’s water-based pallet adhesives line has some big fans. For instance, Derry Williams of Best Cap in Calgary says that the Tekmar TB-HV adhesive lasts and lasts on the pallet and makes no mess. That probably has something to do with why Best Cap has one of the cleanest shops that we have ever seen.

Doug of Applied Graphics in Edmonton is just as enthusiastic. He says that he likes the fact that Tekmar’s water-based pallet adhesive is much more economical than aerosol. He also feels that because it is non-hazardous and non-flammable it is healthier to use. Furthermore, he doesn’t care for the airborne  particles of aerosol sprays. Doug likes the way that TEKBOND cleans up off the pallet with water and he doesn’t miss the sticky overspray on the floor that always happens with aerosol adhesives. He is adamant that he will never return to using aerosol adhesives.

Tekmar’s TEKBOND TB-HV is applied sparingly to the pallet with a small supplied squeegee. Derry says that Best Cap recently printed 1200 tee-shirts without re-applying the adhesive once. That is why Tekmar is able to claim that a 1-quart container of TEKBOND TB-HV replaces at least 3 dozen cans of aerosol adhesive. The cost saving in product price alone is significant (85% to 90% saving) but it gets even better when you factor in clean-up time of the pallets, press and floor.

TEKBOND TB 10 works on the same principle but is applied by use of a Target spray system. The difference between that and aerosol spray though is that the Target spray system can be controlled to spray sparingly on the pallet without over-spraying all over the equipment and floor. 

So do something good for your shop, your budget and for the environment and call Screenflex about trying Tekmar’s water-based pallet adhesives. The toll-free number is 1-800-661-7766 or email info@screenflex.ca

As the 2010 Winter Games approach, it is time to resurrect this article first published in 2008…

Kathleen salutes our Beijing Olympians and their 18 medals in her official Canadian Olympic Team t-shirt. She also looks forward to great results from our winter Olympians with her official Vancouver 2010 sun visa.

Canadian gear! Canadian pride! Made in China?

We know that others have been objecting publicly about Canadian Olympic apparel being produced abroad, but we want to take up the cause on behalf of our industry specifically.

Canadian pride is important, but so are Canadian jobs, in this case, screen printing jobs. Why can’t we tie the two together? Why can’t the Canadian Olympic Committees show some of the patriotism that they expect the rest of us to show? Why don’t they insist that all Canadian Olympic licensed gear has to be produced in Canada? We have textile manufacturing and textile screen printing industries decimated by an exodus of work to low-wage destinations abroad. It takes a special kind of gall to ask an unemployed Canadian textile worker or a failed screen shop owner to proudly wear a Maple Leaf sewn and printed in China!

Canadians don’t seem to realize that Canadian jobs and Canadian businesses are being destroyed by their greedy clamour for cheap products made by foreign workers in foreign countries. When that greed overshadows even national pride, it has gone too far. 

How about this for a suggestion to deal with out misplaced priorities problem? Before our athletes get a boost from any of the additional tax payers’ money that they want in order to produce more medals and boost national pride, let’s give the tax payers a boost by stopping the flow of Olympic textile and screen printing jobs to offshore locations. Let’s rethink Canadian national pride a bit and let’s keep more of its economic benefits inside Canada.

And don’t bother pointing out that Kathleen is wearing Canadian pride made in China. She’s a dummy. What’s your excuse?

Stanley’s Calgary office will continue to serve printers in Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Territories with exactly the same range of products and services that Screenflex provided as well as products and equipment that Screenflex did not carry. Wendy Wenzel has moved over to Stanley’s to manage the business acquired from Screenflex. Printers will therefore be assured of a relatively seamless transition and will still have access to Wendy’s friendly and knowledgeable assistance. Stanley’s Calgary office can be called toll free at 1 800 661 1553 or at 403 243 7722. Wendy can be emailed at wendy@stanleyssignsupply.com

Screenflex will now focus on Central and Eastern Canada (from Manitoba east) from our office and warehouse in Cambridge, Ontario. All contact information for Screenflex remains unchanged. The toll-free number is still 1 800 661 7766 and the email contact is info@screenflex.ca

The Bests want to thank Western Canadian printers for not only their business over the past 21 years but also for the many memories, the laughs and the friendships. At the same time though we remember with fondness the staff and customers who, for one reason or another, passed away during the past two decades.

So, after 21 years in Calgary, Screenflex has left the building…

Now your kid is ready to dive fully protected from the possibility of being poisoned by any lead in the little screen-printed logo on the suit. So strap on the 20 lb lead weight diving belt on your child and let’s go!

Whaaat?!!

Exactly!

One has to ask. Has this legislation been thought through properly?

Thanks to the customer who brought this example to our attention today. His company manufactures wet suits in three places around the globe. It seems that he now has to go to a lot of trouble and expense to switch to lead-free and phthalate-free ink and to have the prints on children’s wet suits certified by an independent accredited laboratory. He quite rightly wonders by what reasoning the 20 lb lead weight belt is exempt. If you have any similar examples, email me at michael.best@screenflex.ca  We might as well get a bit of a laugh out of this, even as we are being forced to comply.

At the moment this is a U.S. issue that only affects Canadian producers of imprinted childrens’ garments destined for the U.S. But as we all know, sooner or later, what happens in the U.S. in our industry will cross the border and happen in Canada as well. Therefore, all Canadian textile screen printers need to pay attention to this issue.

Our industry sources in the U.S. tell us that as of February 10th 2009, printers of childrens’ apparel for the U.S. market are going to have to produce certification that the ink used in every delivery contains less than 100 PPM (parts per million) of lead.

One might assume that users of Wilflex ink could merely point out that it has been free of lead for about 30 years…  so what’s the problem? But apparently, in terms of the new legislation in the U.S., that is not good enough. Certification of the print has to be done by an accredited laboratory, of which there are apparently only 4 or 5 in the entire country. We understand that the cost of certifying a print “lead free” is about $300.00. This is bound to cause irritation. We have already heard of a case where a fist fight almost developed because a printer refused to certify a print on the grounds that the deadline of 10th February had not yet arrived, and the customer refused to take delivery because he would be selling the garments after the deadline at which the law would come into effect.

And furthermore, lead is not the only sticking point in the pursuit of “safe” imprinted garments. Phthalate (pronounced “thalate”) is also black listed now as bad for the health of American children. Phthalate is the component of regular plastisol and some water-based inks that gives them flexibility. Ironically, I.V. pouches and blood storage pouches as well as a multitude of other medical supplies are made flexible with Phthalates.

The Europeans were the first to focus on making textile products Phthalate-free. The U.S.A. followed suit by setting February 2009 as the deadline, however, we have just been told that that deadline might be pushed out quite a bit. Apparently, among other issues, it has been realized that strict enforcement will put most, if not all, of the used clothing retailers and charities out of business.

Regardless of whether there is going to be a deferment of the deadline or not, certain large sporting goods and childrens’ wear suppliers are requiring certification from printers as if the legislation were already in place. There are also have a number of Canadian printers who are protecting their global childrens’ wear business by not waiting to be forced into compliance. They are preparing to switch to Wilflex’s Phthalate-free Epic line of inks.

Wilflex’s Epic Phthalate-free colours have been available for about 5 years. More recently a full range of bases, pigments, and specialty inks like Fashion Soft Base, gels, metallics and High Density Clear have been added as well.

As with all new and far-reaching developments and legislation there can be confusion, misunderstanding and misinformation in the beginning. We will keep an eye on this issue and produce updates and clarifications right here in this newsletter as they become available. In the meantime, if you need more information or technical assistance, call Screenflex toll-free at 1-800-661-7766 or email info@screenflex.ca

If you are going to attend the upcoming Long Beach Show, be sure to visit the Wilflex booth and quiz the experts about this topic.

You probably don’t need reminding by this photograph recently taken at Lake Louise in the Rockies, what time of the year it is again in Canada. But let us remind you that it is now when you have to be careful to not allow emulsion (or any other water-based products) to freeze.

Freezing does not take long in the cold temperatures that we have been having across the country. In some places like Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba it has been down in the minus 20’s and minus 30’s for extended periods this winter already. When you receive a delivery of emulsion from us in winter, and even though we ship all emulsion by heated service, we suggest that you immediately check to ensure that it is not frozen. Cold but flowing is okay; frozen and solid is not okay.

Screenflex has many freezing horror stories such as the frozen 55 gallon drums of emulsion a few Decembers ago and the skid of product on a “heated” truck that broke down in the middle of nowhere 500 kilometers south of Yellowknife. Once emulsion freezes it is useless, wasted, finito, toast. So, keep your emulsion in a cool but not freezing place.