Loading is the practice of placing a garment onto a pallet of a printing press
It is the loader’s responsibility to load the garment onto the printing press pallet in good speed and in a good order
See these videos for example of good loading.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m75HCzMyOTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uWGDMLhc1M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daqrydl8ZDM&t=228s
The requirements of loading include:
The loader must ensure that garments are placed on to the press in the correct position in relation to the visual.
The loader must place the garment onto the press to ensure the noted height spec on the visual is achieved within tolerance. This maybe aided by using a laser light guide or the edge of a pallet as a reference
Care must be taken to load the shirt centrally and evenly across the width of the pallet to ensure the integrity of the design is in relationship to the garment
Extra care should be taken for V-neck or striped garments where it’s easier the spot any unevenness, the loader must use laser guides where appropriate.
Garments must be loaded flat on the pallet to ensure no creases are present. All seams should be avoided where possible unless stated overwise
Garments will always have lumps of fluff or loose cottons randomly scattered about themselves. These need to be removed from the print area because they could create a blockages in the stencil which leads to incomplete prints, this also applies to lumps or cottons stuck to the pallet on which the garment will rest.
Where the loading of a shirt onto the pallet is not to the required standard, presses have a missed pallet button
This enables the operator to inform the machine to ignore the offending pallet when indexing.
If a loader doesn’t load the board in time, they must also use the missed pallet button to prevent printing the pallet.
Occasionally garments are supplied that already have faults on them. These faults present themselves in the form of holes, stains faulty seams etc.
The loader is expected to look out for any garment faults and either use the missed pallet button if you have already loaded or to place the faulty garment to one side and inform your printer who will deal with it.