You Can Do Better Than Yudu

A review of the Yudu Screen Printing Machine

(A new screen printing product that is emerging on the hobby scene: The Yudu Personal Screen Printer.)

What is the Yudu Personal Screen Printer?

Yudu is a somewhat self-contained screen printing system that allows a handy novice to decorate a T-shirt using waterbased ink. With Yudu you can screen print a design on a T-shirt, and make a custom decorated garment with several hours work. There are quite a few steps in the process, and they all can be performed in your kitchen using your sink and the Yudu Personal Screen Printer. The cost per garment produced is relatively high compared to hiring out to a local screen print shop if you are trying to produce around 24 T-shirts. The Yudu system may be for you if you just want one or two T-shirts customized to your liking every now and then. Another case where Yudu may be right for you is if you want to explore screen printing a little, but aren't interested in selling your T-shirts for a profit. However, if you want to make money screen printing, I do not recommend it. If you want to make more than 2 or 3 T-shirts at a time, I also don't recommend it. If you want T-shirts you can make for less than $100 a piece (if you count your time as worth anything and the cost of the machine), this one is not for you.

The Cost of Consumables

One big problem I have with Yudu is that the cost of the consumables is right through the roof. I've never liked a consumables-based business model from a consumer point-of-view. I don't know anyone who doesn't feel ripped-off when they need to replace the ink cartridges in their ink-jet printers, for example. But at least in the case of ink-jet printers, you get the basic system for a very low cost, so it's kind of like a buy now and pay later situation. That is not the case with the $300 Yudu machine. And the raid on your wallet doesn't end there. The cost of the emulsion sheets (used for making your stencil on the screen) is a whopping $9.5 each, and you get a shocking 9 ounces of ink for another $22. That doesn't get you a whole lot of T-shirts printed. You are probably looking at a few bucks a pop just to put a little ink on your shirt, and that doesn't take into account any of your other consumables and supplies.

Can You Make T-shirts for Your Band or Club Using Yudu?

I'd have to say it's not likely. Yudu is not designed for production oriented screen printing. If you've ever done any screen printing, you might find that statement a little ironic. You see, the screen printing process involves a lot of make-ready. It's not Yudu's fault that it takes so many steps to go from concept to final print, because that is a simple fact of the screen printing process itself. Where I do blame them is for removing most of the benefits of the screen printing process and leaving only a huge amount of work for a small amount of gain. The simple fact is that screen printing is primarily suited for mass production for two reasons: 1) it is not cost-effective to do so much work to get a small number of low-cost goods, and 2) if you are set up properly (which Yudu isn't), you can literally make thousands of identical prints once you've completed the make-ready. The problem with Yudu is that you'll never get more than a few prints out of it before you're old and grey. Loading the T-shirts onto the platen takes so long and is so unwieldy, that I'd have to say I have never seen a worse system, ever. Besides that, they recommend you let the shirt dry while still on the platen before taking it off. Basically that means that you need a separate platen for each piece in your print run. Platens are $22 each, so you do the math. That's probably why Yudu's website never mentions printing multiple pieces. Bearing that in mind, Yudu is a pretty weird bird.

Their Advertising

I am impressed with Yudu's ability to crush the internet with their ad campaign. To me, that's the most impressive thing about them. I even like the bit about the X's over people's mouths to show that without a means of expression you find yourself silenced. I think that's a bit of hyperbole, but hey, it's advertising. I do find myself absolutely insulted by the homeless guy on the street with a Yudu machine. First off, you can't use that machine that way. It implies the guy is on the corner making money by printing T-shirts with his Yudu machine. That's patently ridiculous and, in my opinion, even crosses the line to false advertising. If it was a heat press or a machine that can do some semblance of mass production, fair enough, but the Yudu is a toy that simply can't be used as a business model for a homeless person.