SCREEN PRINTING TECHNIQUES

For most screen printers, liquid emulsion is the preferred tool for coating screens to make stencils. There is an alternative that’s often overlooked and undervalued: capillary film. Capillary films are sheets of hardened emulsion on a polyester backing. The emulsion side of the film is applied directly to a wetted mesh screen. The emulsion forms a firm bond with the mesh as it dries, and the backing is peeled away. From there, the printer can expose a stencil much as they would a screen coated with liquid emulsion.

Screen printing remains the top method for garment decoration for a variety of reasons. It’s a straightforward, versatile and time-tested process that’s economical for high-volume printing and delivers great results on almost any substrate. However, emerging new technologies have created some doubts about screen printing’s future. So where might the screen printing industry be headed in coming years?

How do you reclaim your screens? This might be one of the least liked jobs in the entire screen printing shop, which leads most screen printers to explore all screen cleaning options. If you’ve undertaken the search for the best way to reclaim your screens, you’ve likely come across the controversial dip tank. Some screen printers love them, touting them as time and supply savers, while other screen printers warn against them, saying they waist chemicals and produce hazardous waste.

Plastisol ink transformed the screen printing industry when it was introduced to the market in the 1970s. Since then, plastisol has become the industry standard. Why is plastisol ink so popular? 

When it comes to altering ink to get it to behave just how you want, ink additives can be invaluable. When you’re trying to get a print to look and feel just so, looking to create an eye-catching effect or printing on tricky substrates, screen printing ink additives are tools you can use to get your screen printing jobs to turn out just right. 

For those who are old enough to remember, “puff ink” brings to mind neon graphics and all-over 3D designs that were all the rage in the 1980s and early 1990s. The puff ink craze might have gone out of style with the Walkman, but that doesn’t mean puff ink doesn’t have its place in modern screen print designs. When used right, puff ink can add a fun textural element to your screen prints, and if you’ve never given this specialty ink a try, it’s time to see how puff ink can transform your screen printing.

For screen printers, team apparel can generate big business. From local school sports teams to rec leagues to local colleges and universities, there’s plenty of business to be had. Contracting with a team can result in repeat business, year after year, and it brings more than just jerseys: Think  warm-up gear, hats, team jackets and fan apparel. So if your screen printing shop isn’t already churning out team apparel, it’s something you should be looking into.

Tri-blend shirts have become a major force in the fashion industry since their introduction a decade ago. In the custom apparel industry, tri-blend fabrics have become a customer favorite. But these blended garments present their unique blend of decorating challenges. To be able to profit from the popularity of tri-blend garments, screen printers have to know how best to print on them.

Would you like to decrease profit loss in your screen printing shop? Who wouldn’t! While there are limits on what you can do to reduce costs, one area you do have control over is quality control. In specific, you can save money and cut waste by reducing misprints.

Have you ever felt a soft, velvet-like screen print and wondered how the image was created? Flock printing, or flocking, creates a unique, soft texture on garments, cardstock and even on car interiors.

One of the most often overlooked details in screen printing is mesh tension. While brand new screens might print great, over time, your mesh tension will wear down. Poorly tensioned screens can have a major impact on print quality, even if it’s hard to notice that the mesh has become loose or saggy.

There are a lot of variables that go into exposing a screen for screen printing. The opacity of your film positive, your emulsion, the type of exposure unit you’re using and even the age of your exposure unit all will affect the amount of time you need to expose your screens and the success of your stencil.