A Little Bit About Us

Wooden sign with carved letters mounted on dark wood background, with a light wood frame around the sign.

Ink Pusher is a thoughtfully run print shop based in the mountains of Asheville, NC. Owner Timm Watrous brings 20 years of industry know-how and resources to this streamlined operation. Big projects or small, we can do it all. We live to craft!

A white van with “Ink Pusher Screen Printing” logo and contact information parked on a grassy area near a lake and trees, under a clear blue sky.

We Believe in:

  • Service that is not only friendly, but quick and human! We aren’t a big corporate company employing AI chatbots to help you. And we never will be.

  • Consistent turnaround times. If we say something, we mean it.

  • Only industry veterans around these parts. Crooked prints, cracking ink on your shirts, pixelated prints… doesn’t happen around here.

  • We’re a small business, but that’s by design. Our low overhead and top tier industry resources allow us to provide our customers with a wide range of products at competitive prices while simultaneously providing personalized service.

Close-up of a rectangular wooden squeegee held by hand, with a green plant with large leaves in the background.
Black and white tattoo style illustration of a tiger.

Fun Facts about Ink Pusher:

  • It all started with a squeegee -Ink Pusher actually began in 2018 as a side project making handcrafted wooden screen printing squeegees as a way to combine a love for woodworking with an obsession for printing.

    • Turns out... printers are frugal. Most screen printers didn’t have $100+ for a fancy squeegee. So the business evolved!

  • We opened in the middle of a pandemic -Launching a print shop in 2020 probably wasn't the safe choice, but sometimes the biggest risks lead to the best adventures. Thankfully, it worked out!

  • Bring back your box. Get a buck -Return one of our branded boxes and we'll knock $1 off your next order for every box you bring back. It's a small reward that keeps perfectly good boxes out of the recycling bin a little longer.

  • Big shop experience. Small shop mentality -20 years before before starting Ink Pusher, shop owner Timm Watrous landed a job as a head screen printer and graphic designer producing work for internationally recognized music and entertainment brands. That experience taught him what large production shops do exceptionally well and where they often waste time, money, and resources. Ink Pusher was built around a simple idea - deliver big shop capabilities with a lean operation, personal service, and attention to detail.

  • We actually reply to emails - Usually within a few hours. Sometimes within a few minutes. (Check your spam folder before assuming we've ghosted you.)

  • Meet Cookies - That adorable pup you spotted around the home page? That's “Cookies”. She's one of our shop dogs and takes her responsibilities very seriously. Supervising snack breaks, barking at greeting visitors, and reminding everyone to stop working too much.

    • Sweetie is our other pup, but she much prefers an air conditioned work play place. All play all day for her > >

Close-up of a black and gray dog with yellow eyes, its tongue sticking out, and ears perked up.
Close-up of a black and gray dog with brown eyes and a tongue out, holding an orange and blue toy in its mouth.

What else?

  • Find us on social media - or not. We really don’t care about social media. Never have, never will. But we’ve uploaded some pics over the years. Look at them if you want, or don’t. Meh.

    • Our focus will always be on creating prints, not content. We’ll leave the social part to our customers.

Box of printing supplies with a black and white banner that says 'INK PUSHER' and a red and white checkered pattern.

Sustainability and ethical practices are also key values at Ink Pusher. The garment industry has significant environmental and labor challenges, so we prioritize garments and products that meet the highest standards, focusing on top-tier quality and service. Be transparent, be friendly, be a good person, it's pretty simple.

Not All Garments Are Created Equal

The good thing is that it’s not hard to hard to know which shirts to use. We take care of that part and vet the brands we offer and therefore the brands we don’t use.

The average print shop might offer you a super low price, but make sure you’re comparing the same fruits. What they might not be telling you is HOW the shirts cost so little. Honestly, they might not know why. But we do. That’s why we’ll never use those cheap sandpaper shirts that the other shops do.

Take a look at some of our favorite apparel choices.

Colorful infographic about the origin of clothing, with icons of a globe, a warehouse, a delivery truck, a shirt, and clocks, emphasizing the global and industrial aspects.
An infographic with the title "Don't Be Trashy Did You Know?" featuring an illustration of a green garbage truck filled with green trash."
A digital illustration of several plastic bottles with their caps removed, arranged in a circular pattern. The image is part of an infographic about recycling and environmental awareness.
An infographic emphasizing the importance of saving water, depicting a stylized Earth with water flowing from it, along with text providing water conservation facts and tips.
Infographic explaining that organic cotton doesn't actually cost more because conventional cotton farming doesn't cover all of its true costs, highlighting environmental concerns.