How to Organize Your Ink Room

For many shops, taking time away from getting goods printed and out the door is a challenge. Unfortunately, during the lockdowns we are experiencing with the COVID-19 pandemic, time is much more available for many. Getting a grip on some shop organization will serve you when things start to get back to normal. The ink room is a great place to start.

We all know that this area in a shop can easily seem messy because of spilled pigments and inks. Consider these quick tips for keeping your space clean and organized:

1. Smooth stainless steel benchtops are perfect for easily cleaning up those drips and spills, but any smooth laminate surface is better than a wood one.
2. Cleaning up the outside of your containers can help you avoid contamination of other color formulas and smudging on shirts as you multitask.
3. Organizing your inks by most-used can make your ink prep operations leaner. Laminating and posting a formula guide for those most-used colors or additives required for printing on different substrates like nylon can help improve accuracy and reduce waste.
4. Building out your ink storage units to hold two containers for FIFO (First In First Out) rotation can help you ensure you are using your oldest stock first.
5. Carefully cleaning your scales is essential in weighing errors that can be caused by a buildup of ink on the sides and stage area of the scale.
6. Lastly, can you combine some of those dark inks to make a black, to use up old stock?  Make sure you use the same chemistries and test that ink before you roll.

Remember, this is a great time to prepare for a transition back to normal business operations.