There are many different ways to customize t-shirts. They can be colored using various techniques, painted or decorated using stamps.
It is also possible to apply printed foils or cut foil motifs to the T-shirts. Another classic textile printing process is screen printing. The following basic instructions explain in detail, step by step, how we perform t shirt screen printing in Dallas.
The basic principle of screen printing
As the name suggests, screen printing involves printing through a type of screen. In this case, the sieve is a fine-meshed polyester or nylon fabric that is stretched onto a frame made of aluminum or wood. This frame covered with the screen fabric is called a screen printing frame. An emulsion is spread onto the sieve mesh.
The emulsion forms the so-called copy layer. When the emulsion has dried, it is irradiated with light and hardened in this way. No light comes through in the places where the copy layer is covered. That’s why the emulsion doesn’t harden in these places.
Instead, it remains possible to soften the emulsion with water or solvents. In contrast, the emulsion can no longer be removed from the areas that were not covered and have therefore hardened due to exposure.
The result is a template. If this stencil is placed on a T-shirt, the motif can be transferred to the fabric using textile paint and a squeegee.
The materials required for screen printing
In order to carry out screen printing professionally, some special utensils are necessary:
- Screen printing frame, fully covered : The screen printing frame forms the basis for the printing stencil. In order for printing to work later, the screen mesh must match the material. Screen printed fabrics are marked with a T number.
The T number indicates how finely meshed the fabric is. The higher the T number, the smaller the mesh size and the finer the sieve. The finer the screen, the less ink gets through the screen during printing. When printing on textiles, however, the ink application must be thicker than on paper, for example. A screen printing frame that is covered with a 54T screen mesh is therefore suitable for printing on T-shirts.
- Photo emulsion : It is also called screen printing emulsion or emulsion. The emulsion is applied to the screen mesh.
- Coating trough : The emulsion is distributed on the screen mesh using the coating trough. Alternatively, a spatula or squeegee can also be used.
- Yellow light lamp: This prevents the emulsion from hardening prematurely during processing.
- Exposure lamp : In order for the emulsion to harden, the screen printing frame must be exposed to UV light.
- Printer film : The motif with which the T-shirt is to be printed is printed out on a transparent film. This film is placed on the screen printing frame and the frame is then exposed.
- Screen printing ink : The motif is printed on the T-shirt with the textile ink.
- Screen printing squeegee: This is used to distribute the textile ink.
- Remover: If exposure does not work, the emulsion must be removed again.
To do this, the stripper is applied to the screen fabric and, after a short exposure time, washed out of the fabric together with the emulsion. In addition to the special materials for screen printing, T-shirts are of course also required for printing.
Here it is advisable to start with white or at least light-colored T-shirts. Scraps of fabric can also be used for the very first attempts. The T-shirts should have a cotton content of at least 80 percent. If you have a little practice, you can try other materials and dark fabrics later.
Basic instructions for screen printing on t-shirts
The first step in screen printing is to apply the photo emulsion to the screen printing fabric. To do this, the yellow light lamp is first brought into position and switched on. The yellow light is important so that the emulsion can be processed without it hardening prematurely. The coating trough is then filled with the emulsion.
The screen printing frame is placed vertically on the work surface or the floor. The outside of the screen printing frame, which is the side with the covering, faces forward. Now the coating channel is placed at the bottom edge of the frame and angled slightly so that the emulsion can gradually flow onto the screen mesh.
The coating trough is then slowly pulled up over the screen printing frame. It is important that the entire screen mesh is evenly coated with the emulsion. Otherwise, exposure and subsequent printing may not work properly. For this reason it is also better to apply the emulsion using a coating trough. A spatula or squeegee also works, but makes an even application more difficult.
If the emulsion has spread unevenly or if some areas are not wetted at all, the coating groove is placed a second time at the bottom edge and pulled over the screen mesh. If the emulsion runs, the layer is too thick. In this case, the coating trough is drawn over the screen mesh at a shallower angle to remove the excess emulsion.
1st step: prepare the screen printing frame
In order to achieve optimal printing results, the individual components must be coordinated with each other and at the same time match the material that is to be printed. It may therefore be advisable to use a ready-made set. Such sets contain all the necessary utensils and are offered in different versions tailored to the different printed materials.
Once the outside is finished, the other side of the screen printing frame is also coated. The emulsion must now dry. To do this, the coated screen printing frame can be laid flat with the outside facing up.
However, it should be dark in the room where the screen printing frame dries. Light would cause the emulsion to not only dry, but also to harden prematurely. If you want to speed up the drying process, you can use a hairdryer.