Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas.
It is also called Silkscreening as the woven mesh used to be made of silk in the olden days.
One of the most important element of textile screen printing is the type of ink used. These inks can generally be categorised as Water-Based Ink and Plastisol Ink. An article comparing the two inks can be found Plastisol vs. Water-based Ink for Textile Printing
How To Screen Print?
Equipments you will need:
Screen (wood/aluminium)
Photo Emulsion
Transparent Film
Exposure Unit
Screen Printing Press
Screen Printing Ink
Squeegee
T-shirt
Step 1: Creating a stencil
Coat the screen with a layer of photo emulsion. An Emulsion Scoop Coater will be helpful here to ensure that an even layer of photo emulsion is applied.
After the screen is coated, dry the photo emulsion using a hair dryer.
Place the screen with the desired design printed on a transparent film on an exposure unit.
Expose the screen depending on the emulsion used and your exposure unit.
Once it is done, wash out the screen and your screen printing stencil is done.
Step 2: Printing on the t-shirt
Position your stencil on your screen printing press and secure it tightly.
Apply a layer of the screen printing ink on your stencil.
Slot your t-shirt onto the platen of your screen printing press.
Using the squeegee, push the screen printing ink through the stencilled screen onto your t-shirt.
Step 3: Drying the print
Put your printed t-shirt through a flash curer to cure the ink and your t-shirt is completed.
