Screen Printing
If you’re looking for a high-quality print that will hold up wash after wash, then screen printing is the choice for you.
Today screen printing is a popular and cost-effective option for creating bold, durable, and vibrant prints, especially for large quantities of items like t-shirts, hoodies, shirts, tea towels, tote bags and more. The process involves creating a stencil on a screen, placing it over the apparel, and using a squeegee to force ink through the stencil, transferring the design onto the fabric.
How it Works (Simplified)Create the Screen:
A design's negative (where ink shouldn't go) is applied to a mesh screen stretched on a frame, blocking those areas with a stencil (often using photo emulsion).
Prepare for Print: The screen is placed over the item (like a t-shirt) on a printing press.
Apply Ink: A squeegee spreads ink across the screen; it goes through the open mesh onto the item.
Cure: The ink is then dried and "cured" with heat (like a conveyor dryer or heat gun) to set it permanently.
Multi-Color: Each color requires a separate screen and print pass, carefully aligned (registered).
Key Features & Uses
Durable & Vibrant: Known for producing solid, bright colors that last.
Versatile: Used on textiles (t-shirts), posters, circuit boards, and industrial parts.
Cost-Effective: Great for large runs and simple designs with fewer colors.
Core Supplies
Mesh Screen & Frame
Squeegee
Ink (Fabric ink for garments)
Stencils/Emulsion
T-shirt Press (for garments)
Heat Source (for curing)
We do not direct print on polyester garments? We prefer to transfer print . Polyester fabrics are dyed using heat, and when we cure screen prints we can activate the dye, which then can migrate into the ink and cause the whites to take on the colour of the garment. Its a fine balance between a properly cured screen print and this happening.
With a Transfer Printing, A small area of the garment is getting a more tightly controlled heat and so we avoid these issues, especially with multiple prints on the garment. The finish is normally better as well.
