Silk Tie Printing Process

This article shows the steps involved in printing a piece of raw silk better known as a Greige Good ( See below for definition. ). This needs to be done before a single tie can be made.

The Manufacturing of a necktie is not as simple a process as one thinks. During a trip to China I took a few pictures not of the actual making of the tie but of just of the process of printing a piece of raw silk. I have written a short explanation next to each image.

This is part of the Printing process where a design is printed on raw silk using a series of screens. Each color requires a new screen. This is a very dirty and tedious process. To help with the drying of the ink the temperatures in these printing factories are extremely hot. Roughly about 100+ degrees Fahrenheit.

In this picture is where the dyes which you see in the red containers on the left are put onto a piece of silk to get the color match correct according to the customers color requirements. Workers will lay pieces of raw silk on the table and test different colors to get the right mix for each screen. On the bottom right you will see a few more screens for the particular design resting against the table. Each screen is for a different color. The average printed pattern has about 7-9 colors.

Once the colors are all tested and corrected it's off to the printing table. Raw silk fabric is laid on tables each table being 100ft long. The screen is then laid on the silk and the ink is poured on and spread evenly on the screen. ( Hence the term screen printing. ) The screen is then lifted and moved to the adjacent piece and the process is repeated until the entire length is complete. This process is repeated with each screen which adds another color to the silk until all the colors have been added.

Once the silk has been printed and is completely dry the silk goes to the washing plant where it goes through a washing process to remove all enzymes and particles left on the raw silk. From this image you can see that this is not just a big washing machine but a carefully built washing plant. The silk is fed in on rollers so it is kept flat and straight throughout the washing process.

Once through washing its off to be dried.

Once washed the printed silk goes through a series of dryers on rollers and comes out the other side ready to be sent to the factory where it is made into a necktie, bow tie, Ascot or for that matter any garment that uses a printed silk.

From the above one can see that the simple tie that one wears has gone through transformation from the silkworm it came from to be that elegant tie, or bowtie that you see on BuyYourTies.com.

Definition of Greige Good as referenced above

Textiles that have not received any bleaching, dyeing or finishing treatment after being produced by a textile process (pronounced gray).

Wedding Colors - Fall and Winter 2009

As we come out of the Spring and Summer Wedding season we start to look ahead to the 2009 Fall and Winter wedding season.

It is important to plan ahead and decide on your colors and themes. Suppliers of wedding accessories sell out quickly and one is left having to settle for their second choice. This is your day why settle for second best.

Looking ahead here is a guide of this Fall and Winters Wedding Colors.

Burnt Orange is a very popular Fall color. Orange co-ordinates well with shades of
Red and Burgundy, Green, Blue, Taupe and Plum.

Winter colors for 2009 are shades of Red and Burgandy accented with Silver, Cream and Gold.

Remember not to try and match your groom and groomsmen to the bride and bridesmaids. Co-ordinate the colors. Your wedding planner will be able to advise you on what colors will work best with each other.

Good luck and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: BuyYourties.com are not wedding consultants and everything in our blogs our own opinions based on our research. We suggest if you are looking for expert advice to contact a professional wedding consultant .

BuyYourTies.com - Our Story

Everyone has a story so for those of you interested here is mine:

My great uncle together with his brother ( my grandfather ) started manufacturing neckties in South Africa way back in 1938. Naturally my father went into the business so it seems like I was destined for a life of Neckwear.

While my friends were at college becoming doctors, lawyers and accountants I had the privilege of working as a salesman for the largest neckwear company in America ( if not the world ). For me this was better than any college education. I was taught everything from how a quality necktie is made to how it is merchandised in a store and finally sold to the consumer.

I took this education and in 1997 started a small wholesale neckwear company in my garage and started manufacturing neckties in China.

In 2000 a friend joined me and together we set out travelling to mens stores across America and showing at trade shows. We were relentless. We hardly ever came home and when we did we spent all our time unloading neckties and packing orders. We just figured that we would outwork everybody.

The rest is history. After a couple of tedious trips to China and a huge learning curve we started gaining a significant amount of market share from other more established manufacturers.

We were successful and more importantly very profitable.

In March 2005 after spending the better part of 8 years travelling and reaching my goals I got bored and needed a new challenge. My friend took over the company and I set out to try my luck as an online retailer.

One month later I started BuyYourTies.com. It has now been 3 years and BuyYourTies.com has established itself as one of the largest and most diverse suppliers of Neck Ties and Bow Ties on the web. Besides purchasing neckwear from other suppliers we are also a manufacture all of our own Fashion, X-Longs , Bow ties and Novelty Ties.

It is my belief that by continually providing superior product and service to the consumer we will grow from strength to strength. You can feel confident that any item you order from BuyYourTies.com will be of the highest quality and at a great value.

Regards, Robert

New Website is launched April21, 2009

BuyYourTies.com Launches New Website.

After 3 years of being online and making many mistakes, listening to our customers requests as well as researching the new technologies available for web developers we are proud to announce the launch of our new web-site.

Customers are going to find buyyourties.com easier to navigate and very user friendly.

Image zoom over feature - a customer can view the tie detail as well as being able to also with the click of the mouse have a zoomed in image appear on their screen.

Bookmark this page - Now a customer with a click of a button can add the page or website to their favorites.

Send to a friend feature - Every page now has a box whereby a customer can eneter a frieds e-mail address and have the page or image they are looking at sent directly to the friends e-mail.

An automated shopping cart that will automatically calculate free ties. No more having to enter the free tie style numbers in the message box.

A one page checkout - thias makes for a quicker less frustrating checkout process.

New Blogs updating you on everything from company news to industry news.

A very informative Question and Answer page. 99.9% of your questions will be answered for you right away.

If you have the 0.1% of the questions we haven’t answered you can call our toll free number and let us know and we will gladly add it. We are sure you will enjoy your shopping experience. If you have any suggestions on how we can further improve our website you can call us or e-mail us and we will gladly listen to your suggestion.

Ties for your wedding

Remember to not try and match the color of the tie but to rather co-ordinate the color with the same theme of the color of the dresses. Similar to how you would co-ordinate the colors of the flowers with the overall theme of the wedding.

Remember to shop early so you have time to decide if the ties work for your theme or if you need to change for another color.

If you are unsure then buy 2 or 3 different colors and make a decision. Once you have selected the color you want then order the balance. Most companies offer a 30 day money back guarantee so you can just return the ones that you didn’t like and get a credit or swap out for the color you want. Solid ties are the most popular ties for weddings however more and more people are going the alternate route and buying pattern ties. Your wedding co-ordinator will be able to advise you on the most popular colors for that season.

BuyYourties.com keeps ahead of all the colors for each wedding season so browse our website and we are sure you will find the perfect matching tie for your wedding day.

Disclaimer: BuyYourties.com are not wedding consultants and everything in our blogs our own opinions based on our research. We suggest if you are looking for expert advice to contact a professional wedding consultant .