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Step 6Print with your screen!
First, take your dry screen and hold it up to the light. If there are pinholes or spots where the emulsion didn't expose and washed out, cover those with masking tape. (Or, for a more durable fix, paint a thin layer of Screen Filler fluid over the pinholes or unwanted open areas and let it dry.)
Wear clothes you won't mind getting ink on, and make sure to put down lots of newspaper on your work surface. This is definitely a messy step.
I've found that screenprinting is much easier with a friend helping, especially if you're printing on fabric. This way one person can hold the screen down tightly on the fabric while the other spreads the ink.
For printing on fabric:
I've used the Speedball or Versatex textile inks for printing on fabric. It's a good idea to test your ink on the fabric to make sure it adheres and heat-sets properly. If you're printing on new t-shirts or clothing, make sure to wash it first. Scrap fabric and remnants from the fabric store make great material for patches. You can also pick up blank t-shirts, tank tops, or other basic clothing from thrift stores.
For printing on t-shirts, you'll want a piece of cardboard or newspaper to go inside the shirt so that the ink doesn't bleed all the way through to the other side. I also usually put a book or piece of cardboard that's slightly smaller than the screen underneath the fabric, so that the screen can be pressed down taut against the fabric.
It takes a bit of experimentation to figure out which printing techniques work best for a particular screen, ink, and fabric. For these prints, I laid the fabric down over a piece of cardboard, then set the screen on top of the fabric and had my friend hold it down. I put a bead of ink on the screen, then pulled the ink down the screen with my squeegee set at about a 45 degree angle. If it looked like I didn't have even enough pressure or missed some areas, I made another print stroke without moving the screen. My results aren't perfect, but they're fine for a set of patches to go on shirts, bags, or whatever-else.
Other tips and techniques:
You can do a "flood stroke" to spread ink over the screen before setting it down on the fabric. For this, you'll need to have your friend hold one end of the screen up away from the table. Put a bead of ink on edge of the screen closest to you. Spread the ink into an even layer using a smooth, light pass with the squeegee. Have your friend set the screen firmly down on the fabric, put your squeegee on the other side of the bead of ink you've just pushed across the screen, and pull it towards you with firm, even pressure. (Again, have the squeegee at about a 45 degree angle to the screen.)
The inks I'm using for this project are pretty old, so they don't flow as well as I'd like. Ideally, you want your ink to be smooth and slippery -- you can add some of the ink bases that Speedball makes, or just mix in a few drops of water.
For printing on paper:
The process is pretty much the same as printing on fabric. I've found the "flood stroke" technique to be more useful when printing on paper than on fabric. I still often use a bit of cardboard under the paper so that I can press down more firmly with the screen, but it's not necessary. Different types of paper will take ink very differently, so experiment a bit to find out what works. Heavy, porous-surface papers tend to work well. Lightweight paper often warps and wrinkles under the ink, and glossy paper doesn't take ink well and tends to smear.
Wear clothes you won't mind getting ink on, and make sure to put down lots of newspaper on your work surface. This is definitely a messy step.
I've found that screenprinting is much easier with a friend helping, especially if you're printing on fabric. This way one person can hold the screen down tightly on the fabric while the other spreads the ink.
For printing on fabric:
I've used the Speedball or Versatex textile inks for printing on fabric. It's a good idea to test your ink on the fabric to make sure it adheres and heat-sets properly. If you're printing on new t-shirts or clothing, make sure to wash it first. Scrap fabric and remnants from the fabric store make great material for patches. You can also pick up blank t-shirts, tank tops, or other basic clothing from thrift stores.
For printing on t-shirts, you'll want a piece of cardboard or newspaper to go inside the shirt so that the ink doesn't bleed all the way through to the other side. I also usually put a book or piece of cardboard that's slightly smaller than the screen underneath the fabric, so that the screen can be pressed down taut against the fabric.
It takes a bit of experimentation to figure out which printing techniques work best for a particular screen, ink, and fabric. For these prints, I laid the fabric down over a piece of cardboard, then set the screen on top of the fabric and had my friend hold it down. I put a bead of ink on the screen, then pulled the ink down the screen with my squeegee set at about a 45 degree angle. If it looked like I didn't have even enough pressure or missed some areas, I made another print stroke without moving the screen. My results aren't perfect, but they're fine for a set of patches to go on shirts, bags, or whatever-else.
Other tips and techniques:
You can do a "flood stroke" to spread ink over the screen before setting it down on the fabric. For this, you'll need to have your friend hold one end of the screen up away from the table. Put a bead of ink on edge of the screen closest to you. Spread the ink into an even layer using a smooth, light pass with the squeegee. Have your friend set the screen firmly down on the fabric, put your squeegee on the other side of the bead of ink you've just pushed across the screen, and pull it towards you with firm, even pressure. (Again, have the squeegee at about a 45 degree angle to the screen.)
The inks I'm using for this project are pretty old, so they don't flow as well as I'd like. Ideally, you want your ink to be smooth and slippery -- you can add some of the ink bases that Speedball makes, or just mix in a few drops of water.
For printing on paper:
The process is pretty much the same as printing on fabric. I've found the "flood stroke" technique to be more useful when printing on paper than on fabric. I still often use a bit of cardboard under the paper so that I can press down more firmly with the screen, but it's not necessary. Different types of paper will take ink very differently, so experiment a bit to find out what works. Heavy, porous-surface papers tend to work well. Lightweight paper often warps and wrinkles under the ink, and glossy paper doesn't take ink well and tends to smear.
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