Start Silk Screening and Screen Printing Shirts
First of all, we would like to say thank you for your interest in screen
printing. We hope that this message will bring you more insight into the screen
printing process and business. If you are asking a more specific question
then a general request for screen printing info or about our packages on this
page, please email us at support@ryonet.net (for tech questions
or customer service) or sales@ryonet.net
(for questions relating to future purchases) so we can respond to your question with the proper attention.
Want to know how screen printing works?
Instead of calling, check our easy to follow 10 minute
intro to process video.
www.SilkScreeningSupplies.com and the RYONET CORP offers a wide variety or products,
kits, and services. Our goal is to provide our customers with professional
quality products at an affordable price. Unfortunately, many screen printing
suppliers and websites market over priced setups that make it difficult for
those just starting out to get involved. We offer a large variety of kits to fit
any budget and level of entry. Whether you want to start an up and running
screen printing shop or just print a few shirts in your spare time, we will be
able to accommodate you.
Ryonet is a well established and professionally ran corporation. With
over 28 employees working both in Washington and Arkansas we can ship to nearly
the entire United States within 3 days ground. Our staff is knowledgeable
and well trained in the screen printing industry with years of actual shop
experience under their belt. Whether it be finding the right product or
getting through a sticky situation, we are here 10 hours a day to help you!
For more information about our company, please check out our about us page on
our website.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/269580
Before I explain to you how the screen printing process works, let me first
go over the kits we offer. Depending on where you want to start, this should
help clarify what you need to look for. If you have no idea of what screen
printing is or how it works and like to actually SEE how it is done
rather then reading about it, I would strongly recommend our
Screen
Printing 101 DVD. This DVD offers over 5 hours of instruction and
insight into the screen printing process. It’s also RISK free because you
can apply the price of the DVD to any kit purchased from our website.
If you are interested in taking a screen printing class, we have hands on training available as well, for more information check our our class schedule here.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/513551
Wanting to start a full screen printing operation?
If you are fairly serious about starting a successful screen printing business,
we would suggest looking into one of our business oriented packages. Currently
we have several options available. Our first is the Semi-Pro Complete Screen
Printing Setup. This package would enable you to start printing 1-4 color shirts
and even up to full color designs using four color process printing. The
printing production output is between 40-80 shirts an hour depending on how
complicated your designs are. The press will also enable you the possibility of
printing sign and decals in the future without having to purchase more equipment
(all you would need to purchase is a larger printing platen and different
screens and ink). The initial investment is around $1000, however with the
supplies provided to you in this kit, you will be able to print between
2000-3000 shirts and recoup your investment easily. We can’t make any promises,
but we have many customers who have started substantial screen printing business
with just this kit.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/1008
Its big brother the Semi Pro Plus package gives you a higher print
production, better exposure quality, and the ability to print 6 colors instead
of 4.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/1008P
If you are a little more serious and have some more money to invest, you will
want to look into our Entrepreneur and Premier complete screen printing shop
setups. These packages are in a few words, top of the line startup screen shops.
They includes a fully rotating four or six color, four station heavy duty press
with patented “Joystick” micro-registration. They also include a full package of
supplies, an exposure unit, flash cure and conveyer dryer, as well as a washout
booth. The printing output is between 120-200 shirts per hour with the
possibility to do every type of complicated printing. The initial investment is
between $3,700 – $6,500. This would depend on the options you would choose.
These packages offer the best equipment and a the best package price. They also
have the ability to print different products then t-shirts as well.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/ent44
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/prem64
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/elite
If you are a extremely serious and have a slightly higher budget we have two
packages geared more towards a larger manual screen shop. The PRO1 and
PRO2 packages have heavier duty equipment and larger equipment for higher print
production times, more peripherals, and film output options for unlimited film
capabilities. You can view these here.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/PRO1
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/PRO2
Wanting to start out small with the possibility to expand?
There are several lower cost kits that can help you get started for a fraction
of the cost other companies are asking.
Printing for just a hobby?
Screen Printing Starter Kit with a stationary steel printing press. This kit is
a great way to get started. The kit comes with everything you need to make your
screens and print 1-2 color shirts. The steel printing press has off-contact
adjustments so you will also be able to print single color signs and decals.
With the supplies that come with this kit you will be able to print between
500-700 shirts with ability to print an unlimited amount with the purchase of
more ink. The price range for this kit is between $235-$275, depending on the
options that you chose. This kit is a great way to start out and this press will
last the life time of your shop and would be put to good use printing your one
color designs long into the future.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/1009
For those wanting to print multiple color prints for a lower cost, we suggest
taking a close look at our Econo 4 Color Press and Package. This kit is great
for doing one to four color textile prints. The four color steel press that
comes with the kit provides excellent registration and durability. We’ve
designed the press to handing a fair amount of use as you learn the industry and
have fun doing it. This kit should print over 800 shirts with the provided
supplies and is priced around $600.00 depending on the options you chose.
You can always add a flash dryer to this at a a later date for a dependable
curing source and higher production times.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/EC41
Screen Printing Signs or Decals:
Although flat stock printing is a little different then printing on t-shirts,
our company offers several packages to help business’s print signs and other
products for a low cost.
The ink used to print on signs and other flat stock applications, (such as:
metal, glass, stickers, vinyl, paper) is an air dry ink. The is nice because it
doesn’t have to be heat cured, however this limits you to only printing one
color at a time. We’ve designed two kits for around $325 that give you the
ability to print onto the most popular 18×24” corrugated plastic signs
(political, real-estate, ext) or anything that is flat stock. The kits come with
a single color fully adjustable steel press as well as a 20×27” printing pallet
and a 23×31” in aluminum screen.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/350465
Finally if screen printing is not for you, we have two options
available for you to look at.
Heat transfers can be purchased from a screen print warehouse or printed
directly from your desktop printer and then heat transferred onto a shirt.
To view our heat transfer presses, supplies, and packages please click here.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/543863
The newest form of shirt printing technology is called direct to garment
printer. Our FAST T JET printer prints t-shirts like a desk top printer
prints pictures. There is very little setup and cleanup time and the
printer prints on both light and dark garments. It gives you the quality
of screen printing with the ease of heat transfers. For more information
on the Fast T Jet please click here.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/825816
The Screen Printing Process:
For those of you who know nothing about screen printing or need a refresher
course, hopefully this will shed some light on how things work. You
can also check out our FREE online DVD here:
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/543290
We offer two versions of screen printing process and instruction, we recommend reading both to obtain the most comprehensive understanding. The first is the more simplified, the second a little more complex. Good luck and we hope this has provided you some needed information!
The 8 key elements in
Screen Printing:
1. Artwork: The artwork you start art with is important. If
you have jagged or grainy artwork, you will reproduce have jagged or grainy
artwork REMEMBER; Garbage in-garbage out.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/82582777 Programs
for doing art in-house are available or there are art services on the
internet that will supply you will screen printing artwork. If you fax them
a logo, they can redraw it for you and send you a file in which you can use
for the making of screens.
If you can draw the artwork yourself, it is wise to use a vector art
program like SmartDesign which is a Corel Draw supplementary program. This
quick and easy tool ensures that you will have high quality artwork in the
end in less than half the time. Photoshop can be used as well, but this is
more for full color printing, etc., which is not good to start out with
since there are special techniques to master before moving into this realm.
2 Film Positives: When you have artwork that is ready to
print, you can print your artwork out on a clear film instead of paper. For
every color you have, you will print it out as a black plate on a separate
film. For example, if you have a logo that is Red & Black, you would
separate the two colors from themselves and print each out, changing the red
to black and printing and then printing the black. Each of these would be
printed on their own film by a printer, inkjets have made great strides and
coupled with a RIP program have made actual cameras and darkrooms almost
obsolete.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/Ripcombo1800
This is simply known as art separations. If the colors are touching in
the final version of the logo, then you need to have what is called trap or
choke. Basically, it’s an overlapping of the artwork by a small margin. This
small margin is just enough so you can register the colors so there is no
space between them. On the films, you will also place registration marks.
These marks usually are a circle with a vertical and horizontal line passing
through it. These marks will be on the same spot on each film. This will
help you register your colors later it’s also a good idea to include center
marks so the design will be dead center on the platen.
3. Screen Making: When screen printing began it was called
silk screening. The reason for this is, the screens used to be made from
silk. Since this is no longer the case (now they are made from polyester),
the name changed. A screen is simply a wooden or metal frame that has a fine
mesh stretched over and attached to it. Some examples 
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/269576
would be 83, 110, 125, 200, 230 and so on with various numbers in between.
The lower the mesh count, the less detail you can print and the thicker
the ink lays down. Choosing the proper mesh for the job is art form, in time
you’ll learn through testing and results. It’s always a good idea to keep
production records for consistency from the beginning of every job.
The actual process of screen making is quite simple, just time consuming,
the most common technique is using a light sensitive liquid emulsion
although Capillary film is stilled used. Emulsion
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/CCDXPQT can be
used under a yellow light so that you still can see what you are doing, but
the UV light is filtered out so as not to effect the emulsion. A scoop
coater is needed.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/SC16 You pour
emulsion into the scoop coater and place it on a vertical screen. Pressing
up against the screen and pulling up, you will lay a thin layer of emulsion
on the outside of the screen. Turn the screen around and do the same for the
inside of the screen. Emulsion thickness EQUALS ink thickness. For thicker
stencils it’s a good idea to dry between coatings.
Once the emulsion dries, you can “expose” the screen. You need a good light
source for this process. The exposure unit is basically a box with a glass
top and a lid that has a compression lid
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/RXP2536LID
or
a rubber blanket and a vacuum frame. The light source would be contained in
this box. To expose a screen, taking the film positive you created and place
it on the glass top with the right reading being up. Then take the dried
screen and place it on the glass top with the film positive under it. The
screen mesh will be touching the film positive. When you close the lid, the
compression lid presses the foam against the screen and the positive
providing contact.
At this point, the length of time will be dependent on your emulsion and
light source. This is something you can talk to your supplier about. It’s
really a matter of testing. Most problems occur in this stage, so it is
critical that you understand this process through testing, training and
trial and error. The better you are in this area, the better your prints
will be. For a black light unit a 5 to 3 minute exposure time is the norm
but will vary as already mentioned due to emulsion thickness and mesh
counts.
Once the image is exposed into your emulsion, you can take the
screen to a washout booth
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/KDL lightly
spray both sides of the screen with water. A garden hose with a sprayer on
the end works well for this procedure. You do not want a lot of pressure but
you do want some. After waiting for a minute, you can go back and begin
spraying your screen with water. Spray on the outside of the frame, or the
side that was touching the film. The inside will naturally be softer because
the light had to shine through the emulsion to get to that side. A good
exposure will yield less scum (softness) on the inside.
As you spray down the screen, you will see the image on your screen. What
happened is, wherever there was black on your film, the light did not shine
through. Since the light could not expose the emulsion, it remained water
soluble. Wherever the light shine through the emulsion, it hardened and will
not wash away. Lay out newsprint and pat the inside (squeegee side) with one
sheet, DO NOT wipe then let the screen(s) dry. You will want to check for
pinholes (little holes caused but dust, dirt) and block out with emulsion or
a commercial blocking agent, then dry. After the screen has completely dried
expose again (post –hardening) for a longer lasting stencil. This can be
done in your exposure unit or out in the bright sun.
4. Printing Press Choosing a printing press is as critical,
although you are looking for a quality press. To be honest, you may want to
stay away from all-in-one units and similar machines. They are a waste of
money. Even though you can print just as good of a print with these
machines, they are costly and they slow your process down. When your first
starting, you could use a one platen machine but a 4 color-2station press
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/lg4×2 is just
about what you will need. Very rarely will you ever need to print anything
more than a 4 color design. Later, as you grow purchase more machines that
will allow for more colors. In the first years of your business, you may
only have 1-6 color job. When you need to expand
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/WIN64 will suit
production requirements perfectly. What you are looking for in a press is a
solid frame, joystick or micro registration and rotating platens. Outside of
this, startups don’t need much more than that.
5. Conveyer dryer and flash unit: To actually cure the ink,
you need a heat source to reach 320 degrees for your ink. If you can reach
320 degrees in 1 second, it’s cured. If it’s 10 seconds, it’s cured. As long
as it reaches 320 degrees, you are good. A flash unit is a unit that you
place over your platen
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/BBCBF2-2000S
(the arm that you place the shirt on). This flash unit is meant to flash the
ink just long enough where it is not cured and it is not wet. This will
allow you to print colors on top of colors if needed, and you will need it!
If you have a flash unit over a platen, it has to reach 320 degrees to cure
the ink.
Raytek
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/RMT4 makes a
heat gun that when the shirt comes out, you point the laser beam at the ink
and it will give you a temperature reading, 320 is the magic number! This
heat may eventually warp your platens, it will also heat your platen up
enough that when you put another shirt on it and print, it might semi cure
the ink in your screens, causing a clogging and poor printing so allow cool
down time on long runs. The reason for this is, you would print white on a
shirt, flash it, and then when the shirt comes back around to you, and it
needs a second print. This gives you a good vibrant white.
If you are printing a color on a dark shirt, you would also print a white
under base, flash it, then print an exact image with a different screen over
top of it with the color you need. To increase your output a conveyer dryer
is needed to increase your production. When you finish printing a shirt, you
pull it off of your platen and place it on the conveyer dryer. Basically,
it’s a dryer that has a belt on it that goes through a tunnel of heat. When
it comes out the other side, it is cured.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/BBCLB02-20002-20
Again, use a heat gun when the shirt is about to come out, you point the
laser beam at the ink and it will give you a temperature reading. Remember,
320 is the magic number!
6. Inks and miscellaneous: The ink you will use is a
Plastisol ink. There are so many manufacturers and types of inks, it’s good
to find one and stick with them. Consistency is the key to success
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/873816873816 You will
also need squeegees. A squeegee is basically a handle with a rubber blade on
the end.
This
blade is what you use to push or pull the ink through the screen and onto
the shirt. There are so many miscellaneous items that it would be good to
talk to Ryonet about what you need to get started.
7. Screen prep and registration: Your scoop coater cannot
reach all areas of the screen, so you want to tape out the areas that did
not have emulsion, there are special tapes made to do this.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/854291854291 If you
have a one color design, placing the screen on your press is quite simple.
If you have more than one color, this is where the registration marks are
needed. After placing your first screen on the press, you would do a test
print. Place some ink on the screen and rest a squeegee on the frame close
to the head. Pull the ink across the screen and onto the shirt then flash
it. Next, take your second screen and place on the next head.
Align
the registration marks on the screen to the marks on the print you made.
Once in place, you can lock them in and adjust the joystick or micro
registrations if necessary. Once locked in, do a test print. If everything
is registered, you can tape up the registration marks on your screen and you
are ready to print.
8. Your first print: You will be working upside down when
you print t-shirts. The collar will be closest to you. After placing the
shirt on the platen, pull your screen down, look between the shirt and the
platen, you should have a gap. This is called your off-contact. You need
about 1/8” between the screen and the platen. This will give you just enough
room to make a print and allow for the screen to snap away from the shirt
which gives you a clean print. Some people will push their squeegee and
others will pull, whatever is comfortable to you is best for you. Most
printers pull the squeegee, which means that when you pull down the screen,
grasp the squeegee and pull the ink towards you. You want to have the
squeegee at an angle, if you go too much of an angle, you will get a heavy
print The good thing is, if the first print does not work out for you, you
can print it again, right over top of it. The registration of the machine
will be the same so even if you rotated the press and came back to it, it
would still print good. Rule of thumb; Angle and slow speed for light inks,
less angle and a faster print for dark inks, especially printing on an under
base.
Helpful Information
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/513551Training Classes
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/825827Software
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/269581Questions and answers
Tips and tricks, Pointers and Advice from Ryonet’s Technical
Assistance Team.
More In Depth Instruction
Making a screen:
A screen is made by transferring a positive film onto a photo sensitive
emulsion. A positive film is a black image on a clear transparency sheet
(something like the overhead transparencies displaces you saw your teachers
using in high school.)
Creating your design: It’s not too hard to create your t-shirt design. For your
basic text t-shirts, designs can be made in any word processor program. If you
want to create multiple color designs with graphics and logos it would be a
smart idea to look into getting either Adobe Photoshop or Corel Draw. These
programs allow you to separate your colors to correctly output your film. Each
color your print has to be separated to a different layer in your artwork
program because each color has to be printing through a separate screen on your
press. After designing is completed, your end goal is to have a black design on
a white background. If you have a multiple color design, you simply need to view
each color at a time and transpose your color into black and white before you
print it.
Printing your film: The film goal is to print a black opaque image on a clear
transparency positive or unfiltered vellum paper. You can print this film
directly from your home inkjet or laser printer. There are some variables
involved when printing your film. Like I said before, you want to get a very
dark and opaque black image on your film. If you have to, you may need to print
two copies out and stack them on top of each other. When you hold this your film
up to the light, you don’t want to see any light through your image. If you are
having problems getting a dark image, for laser printers there are spray toner
enhancers that can help you achiever better results. You can also print two
copies of your film and layer them on top of each other. Any computer and
printer can print out basic film, spot color (text, logo’s, but no fades, half
tones, or photo graphic reproduction.) If you would like to be able to print
half tones (half tones are how a shade or a fade is screen printed), you need
two things. A Special Printer RIP (this is a go between from you computer to
your printer that tells the printer to print half dots and fine tons. Normal
printer drivers are not designed for this.) You will also need a higher end
printer that is compatible to this RIP. If you are interested in more advanced
printing, please check out this printer and rip film output package.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/Ripcombo1800
Important Note: You do not have to have this special rip or printer to start
out. You can print all your most popular images, text, and designs strait from
your desk top printer.
Once your film is completed you are ready to continue making your screen.
The most important thing to emphasize in the screen coating, exposure, and
washout process is “light safe”. Your emulsion is sensitive to bright light, if
you are trying to expose or washout out side or in a brightly lit room you are
running a VERY high risk that your image will not turn out. Please keep this in
mind during this process.
Before you exposure your screen to light, you need to coat your screen with
emulsion.
When coating your screen, you want to be sure that your room is very light
controlled. A dim yellow “light safe” light in the corner of the room just
enough so you can see what you are doing would suffice. Do not use any bright
fluorescent or halogen lights as this will ruin your screen. Depending on the
type of emulsion you are using the coating instructions can vary. I’m going to
explain how to coat a screen using the simplest method using a dual-cure
emulsion.
Every emulsion will come with its own mixing and application instructions. You
will want to read these instructions thoroughly so you can make any adjustments
if need be.
To coat your screen we would suggest using an emulsion scoop coater. Before you
coat your screen, you want to degrease your screen to remove any hand grease or
dirt that might have gotten in the screen during manufacturing and shipping. To
degrease a screen, you apply screen degreaser soap to the screen and scrub in
into the mesh using a scrub pad. After your screen is degreased wash it out with
cold water so all the soap is gone and completely dry your screen with a lint
free towel and then under a fan.
In your dark room, apply one coat of emulsion to the outside or shirt side of
your screen. Once the outside of the screen is coated, turn the screen over and
put a second coat on the inside of the screen. As soon as your screen is coated,
place a fan on your screen to help dry it faster and then turn the light off to
make the room completely dark. To properly dry your screen, place two pieces of
wood on the floor and set your screen onto them with the shirt side facing down.
You want all your emulsion to settle on the outside or shirt side of your
screen. This will create a gasket for printing. With a fan on your screen, the
emulsion should dry in about 3 hours. Without a fan, let it dry overnight. When
the emulsion dries, it should turn a darker color then you originally started
with.
Once your emulsion is dry, your screen is ready to be exposed. Depending on what
kind of light source you are using to exposure your emulsion the exposure times
and instructions will vary. I am going to explain how to expose a dual-cure
diazo emulsion using a 500 Watt Halogen Light.
Place your screen flat on a table or floor with the flat side of the screen or
the t-shirt side of the screen facing up. We sell a pre-set pre-measured stand
that you can place your screen into instead of setting up the light yourself.
However, if you are setting the light up yourself, you need to place the 500
Watt light directly above the center of the screen at a distance of 16 inches.
This is all done of course in your dark room with very minimal light. Once your
light is set in the right position you reverse your positive film and place it
on the screen. To reverse your film you are basically flipping it over so that
when the shirt is printed it will show up the right way. Once your film is on
your screen you need to place a piece of unfiltered flat glass over your film so
that there will be no light refraction between your film and your screen. Once
this glass is placed over the screen turn your light on for exactly 12 minutes,
30 seconds.
If you are exposing a screen with a high output UV exposure unit you exposure
times will go down tremendously. An exposure time for a 110 Mesh screen with our
UV exposure units will expose in about 5 minutes 15 seconds. Read more about our
exposure units here. There are also higher end more advanced forms of
exposure units as well.
http://silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/350453
After twelve minutes thirty seconds, turn your light off and take your screen
directly to a wash basin or outside to wash your design out. You cannot expose
the screen to bright light after it has been exposed until your design has
washed out. You want to be using a thin, directed line of water to wash your
screen out. If your screen and emulsion get too wet with too much water your
emulsion will start to wash out and the design will be ruined. Using cold water
get both sides of your screen wet. You should see your design show up on your
screen. Let the water soak into the emulsion for about one minute. Continue
washing out your design until all the emulsion on the inside of your design is
completely washed out of the screen. Once your design is washed out, place your
screen back under your fan to dry the emulsion.
You are now ready to start printing. Clamp your screen into your press and apply
a small amount of ink under your image. You screen should sit off or your shirt
about 2 pennies high to insure off contact is achieved. You might want to print
a couple test shirts first to make sure your design is lined up and printing
properly. When your shirt is on the printing platen, pull down your screen onto
the t-shirt. Using your ink squeegee, make a 2-3 passes over your design pulling
the ink over the design and pushing it through onto the shirt. Be sure to press
hard when bring over the squeegee. If you do not apply enough pressure your
prints will not come out properly. Always make your passes in the same direction
what ever that may be. Once your printing passes are completed place your screen
back in the up position. For tips on printing with the proper squeegee angle
check out this article.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/853186
The ink now needs to be heat cured. You want to cure the ink at 320 degrees
for 45 seconds. You can do this using a flash dryer, heat gun, conveyer dryer,
or conventional home oven. We would recommend using a flash dryer or conveyor
dryer but if you are using a heat gun you are going to want to cure the ink for
about twice as long in order to set the ink correctly. When using a flash dryer
to cure or flash a shirt, you want your heat element of the flash to be about 3″
above the garment surface. Also if you only have a single station press, its a
good idea to set up a separate drying table to do your final cures on. This will
help your printing pallet from getting too hot and possibly warping. When you
are printing a thicker ink such as white, you want to increase your curing time
to compensate for the thicker ink. A good way to test to be sure your ink is
cured is to slightly pull or stretch the image. If the ink stays together like
rubber, then your ink is probably completely cured. However, if your ink breaks
apart and you can see the shirt under the ink, then you are going to want to
increase your curing time.
Cleanup:
Once you are done printing it is time to clean up. If you are planning on
keeping your screen you simply need to store the screen in a cool dry place that
is preferably dark. The ink doesn’t dry because it is an oil based plastisol so
if you are keeping your design you do not need to completely remove all the ink.
You want to get all the ink out of your image at least though.
If you are planning on scrapping the design and reclaiming the screen so it can
be used again you need to remove all the ink. You can do this with an ink
solvent remover. Do not use lacquer thinner for this because it will chemically
set your emulsion so it won’t wash out of the screen.
After your ink is removed from the screen, spray your stencil or emulsion
remover onto your emulsion using a spray bottle. Let sit for about 45 seconds
and then spray out with a high powered sprayer. If you have access to a pressure
washer, this would be ideal to use.
After your emulsion is removed from the screen, degrease the screen once again.
Let the screen dry and store it in a clean place until you are ready to make a
new design.
This is the basic how to guide for the screen printing process. If you are very
interested, sometimes things are much easier shown then explained. Please check
out for FREE our full instructional DVD available for viewing or download on our
website at the following address.
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/543290
Thanks once again for your interest. Our technical support and customer
service team is available via email or phone to answer your questions as they
arrive.
For questions or help placing an order;
Call Toll Free
1-800-314-6390
International Calls Dial:
360-576-7188
M-F 9 am – 6 pm PST
We look forward to being in contact with you again in the future.
Ryonet Corp
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