September 8, 2009
About an hour ago I went ahead, took the plunge and ordered myself a Yudu personal screen printing machine!
I’m so excited, because after watching the various tutorial and review videos crafty bloggers have posted on YouTube, my mind is fairly spinning with all the creative ideas I have planned 
With a retail price of $299.99, this is not a cheap toy. However you can find it on eBay for about $180-$200 shipped, at Amazon.com for about $200 shipped, on HSN.com (from whence the craze began) for as little as about $230 shipped (possibly even less) with a coupon. Michael’s is selling the machine for regular price and then offering purchasers (from Michael’s only of course) a $50 gift certificate. My take on it? Get it from either Amazon or eBay it for the best deal on the Yudu. The only downside with eBay is that you can get a Yudu in the under $200 range on auctions only, so while it’s highly likely you will, there’s no guarantee you’ll win one at so low a price.
Some people love their Yudu’s and say it’s worth every penny, while others argue that the price of the Yudu is not justified. Well, sure you can run out and just get a whole bunch of screen printing supplies from any art or crafts store, however much of what you’re paying for with the Yudu is the convenience of being able to burn your screens (which is multiple steps) and print your projects all in one relatively compact device. Provocraft recommends that users ONLY use Yudu branded accessories and inks (big surprise there), but some Yudu connoisseurs have already confirmed that it is OK to use some third-party inks (such as Speedball waterbased screen printing ink), at the user’s discretion due to differences in the inks’ consistencies. Also, you can check out DIYteeshirt.com for a yudu screen hack to save on photosensitive emulsion sheet costs.
I’ve read what people have to say about the Yudu, both positive and negative, and all I know is I am psyched to try my hand at personally screen printing custom tees for myself and the kiddos, as well as invitations, etc. etc.
I hope I’m not being overly ambitious about the Yudu (I don’t think I am), but based on the content of the reviews I’ve read, I am inclined to believe that many of those who dislike the Yudu do so because of impatience and inability to so quickly and effortlessly master the skill and art of screen printing. Just like any crafty hobby, screen printing, even on such a minor level, has a learning curve and requires skill, attentiveness and determination (and practice!) to master. Being that I’m pretty much “behind” the fad, there’s a plethora of user-created tutorials for the Yudu available on the web, so I’m crossing my fingers and hope that any problems I may run into has already been experienced and addressed by a more advanced crafty vlogging or blogging mom.
As soon as I receive my Yudu and try it out, I’ll post (and maybe even vlog) about it!
Awesome! Enjoy!
Greg Dawson´s last blog ..Screen Printing Tutorial
So happy for you!! It’s really fun, but you’re right that you do have to figure it out first. My first time using mine I think I read the directions 100x’s & watched a ton of videos on it…once you get the hang of it it’s pretty easy.
Let me know if you have any questions once you get it. I’m here to help.
Erin Bassett´s last blog ..Video Tutorial: How to reload the Advantus Tiny Attacher