Let’s start this lesson by talking about what fabrics we can use to print on…
Choosing the Right Fabrics to Print On
The best fabric to print on should meet the following criteria:
1. It’s flat. Not ribbed in any way or full of ridges and texture. It should be flat like a t-shirt or a tote bag or a scrap of quilting fabric. To use a t-shirt as an example, always print on the flattest part of the shirt – it will be problematic (gloppy and unpredictable!) if you try to print on the ribbed collar or on a seam of a sleeve.
2. It’s 100% cotton and able to be ironed. You shouldn’t be printing on any kind of fabric that cannot be ironed, since ironing is a major part of this process as you will see at the end of this lesson.
3. It’s light in color. For best results with your first few images, please stay away from dark fabrics and light inks. Instead use light fabrics and darker inks. You will see why when you start experimenting later, but to give you a warning, regular Speedball yellow inks are too translucent to show up on black fabric. If you want to print in yellow or white ink onto a black t-shirt, your best bet is to buy Speedball Opaque Ink in yellow or white and try that out instead.
Setting up a Printing Station
To set up your station for printing, you’ll need the following:
*A spoon or a spatula to get ink out its container
*Ink
*Squeegee
*Paper & fabric to print on
*Some newspaper
Some optional things you might find useful are some paper towels and a cup of water in case you make a mistake. I also keep some stain remover by my printing station just in case I get ink in a spot I didn’t want it to go on… Mistakes can happen, and having a tube of Kiss Off or a Tide To Go pen can sometimes be a lifesaver! Two more optional things you might need are an apron to protect your clothing and a friend to help hold down your screen as you print.
For the first time you print, I recommend that you use the black ink that comes with your kit. It has a great consistency and is easier to print with initially than the other three colors. Try the black ink first, then use one of the other colors next.
Lay some newspaper down and get all of your printmaking “ingredients” ready!
Now you are ready to go!
Step 1:
Lay some scrap paper down onto your table so that you will have something to print on as a test for your initial pull. I am using some old construction paper to print on.
Now lay your screen on top, well side facing up, flat side down.
Step 2:
Make a thick line of ink on one of the short edges of your screen by using your spatula or spoon to scoop out a good amount of ink, like this:
Use about as much ink as I have used in the photo above.
Now tilt your screen up so that it is not touching the paper.
(NOTE: this is where having a friend to help becomes very useful as they can help you by holding the screen as you work.)
With the screen tilted up, drag the ink along the screen. This is called a “flood coat” and this lays down the ink that you will print during your “print coat.”
Please note that during the flood coat, you are not actually printing onto your paper yet; you are just inking up the screen. This lesson’s accompanying video will show you this process, so please don’t forget to watch it.
Step 3:
Now that your screen is inked up, lay it down where you want it to print, and press down firmly, holding your squeegee at a 45 degree angle like so:
Drag your squeegee like this (at 45 degrees) over the entire image area, remove your screen, and voila! You have your very first print!!
Troubleshooting: If your image is too light, you did not press hard enough. Try again, and add more pressure to your pull next time. If your image is too dark and started to bleed, try again, but this time, use less pressure.
Set your prints aside to dry until they are dry to the touch, usually 30 minutes to an hour. Keep working while your previous prints are drying! You don’t want the ink to dry on your screen!
(NOTE: Sometimes people will print without doing a flood coat and just place the screen down on the paper, dragging the ink along and therefore inking the screen and printing in one motion. I do not recommend working this way with the water-based inks you are using. If you do everything in one motion like I described above, your screen’s image area will be left with traces of ink in it after you lift up the screen after printing. These little traces of ink can dry onto your screen as you attempt to line up your next piece of paper or t-shirt, and the dried areas could ruin your image for future prints. The flood coat is done in order to buy you some extra time for arranging items underneath the screen. Since your screen is fully inked with a thick layer of ink as you arrange your paper or shirt underneath, that large amount of ink is less likely to dry and ruin your screen. Flood coating also creates a much more even looking print in the long run.)
Keep repeating steps 1-3 until you print on everything you want to print on.
Please be aware that printing onto fabric will take a little more pressure than printing onto paper. To get the hang of printing, I recommend printing on scrap paper first, then “real” or nicer paper after that until you get the process down and feel comfortable with it. Next, move on to scrap fabric until you are ready for “real” fabric.
Please, please, do not buy a brand new blank shirt at the store to print on first thing before you have practiced.
I have had a lot of in-person students insist on doing this first despite my warnings, and they all end up disappointed at the quality of their first pull. Please don’t make that mistake too! Practice really does make perfect, especially when screen printing is concerned.
Step 4:
Once you have mastered scrap fabric, it’s time to print the image onto your “real” project: a t-shirt or tote bag…or both! You will need to put a piece of cardboard inside and in between the layers of your shirt or tote bag so that the print will not bleed through the first layer and onto the next.
Lay your shirt out flat, making sure that it has no wrinkles in it. Make sure the image you are printing is going to land fully on the part of the shirt that has the cardboard underneath it.
Not only will the cardboard catch any leaks, but it will also provide a nice, flat printing surface for your image to land on.
Step 5:
Print as you normally would, then remove the screen and let your t-shirt or tote dry with the cardboard or paper still inside of it. Keep printing until you have printed all of your special items!
Step 6:
Wash the screen out when you are done printing. It’s important to wash the screen out as soon as possible so that no ink dries permanently on the screen, because dried ink could block your screen and be problematic when you use the screen again in the future. It is best to wash the screen outside using a sponge and a garden hose with a spray nozzle attachment. Spray the screen on both sides with the hose, then loosen any excess ink with your sponge. Keep flipping and spraying until the screen is totally free of ink. Let the screen air dry to get rid of the excess water after rinsing it off, then don’t forget to bring it inside once it is dry. If you leave it outside overnight, the screen filler could crack and fall off.
Step 7:
Wait 24 hours for the prints to dry completely onto the fabric and so they will be ready for ironing. Please do not skip this step! It’s an important part of the process if you do not want your newly printed images to wash off the first time you put them through your washer and dryer.
Step 8:
Now it’s time to heat set your designs so that they are washer-and-dryer-safe! Set up your ironing board, but don’t put any water in your iron. Grab a piece of parchment paper larger than your design and place it over the image, like so:
Iron on medium to high heat with no water or steam for about 10 minutes, keeping your iron moving at all times. After you’re done, let it cool, and you are ready to wear your wonderful new t-shirt out on the town!
Troubleshooting Tips:
If your image ends up printing a bit too light in some areas, you can always take a paintbrush and fill in the areas that need it with a little extra screen printing ink.
Don’t forget that if your image is too light, that means that you will need to add more pressure the next time you print.
Don’t try to re-align the screen and print again if it comes out too light. That almost never works out well, unfortunately.
Here is a video further explaining the printing process:
Have fun printing everything in sight!
Refer back to the last page of lesson one for some great ideas of things that you can print.
I think you will find that screen printing is a fun and addicting process!!