In this industry, there’s no such thing as perfect. Everyone makes mistakes! That being said, our misprints don’t get the same treatment as many other shops.
Instead of sending our misprinted garments into the landfill, we reuse every single misprinted tee until there are absolutely no other ways to put it to use. From re-utilizing these misprints for test-prints, donating the misprinted garments to artists/schools for their own projects, cutting these garments up and using them as cleaning rags, or even taking them home and making rugs! Ultimately, we ensure that nothing goes into a trash can unless it’s entirely un-repurposable. This not only minimizes our waste, but it also saves us money on cleaning rags and test-print sheets.
A T-shirt rug made by yours truly using TBPH misprints and other scrap fabrics
One issue printers/embroiderers may encounter with this method is that some customers would prefer that their logos don’t end up being used in ways that contradict their company values. This is entirely understandable! For this reason, we make sure that we cover these logos with black ink (or cut them out of the fabric) before sending the missprint to other groups/artists for repurposing.
Cool, Artsy Projects for Misprints and Scrap Fabric:
Make a Rug out of Fabric Scraps
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