Screen Printing

A comprehensive guide to the benefits of Screen Printing

It can print graphics and designs on fabrics such as silk, cotton, polyester, and organza. Silk screen printing is well known, but any form of fabric that requires some form of printing can be used in screen printing. Different inks work with various materials, including ceramics, wood, glass, metal, and plastic.

How to screen print on different kinds of fabrics

  • Cotton fabrics. Cotton and cotton blends are popular choices for most textile screen printers.
  • Silk fabrics. Highly valued properties of silk include softness, high lustre and an exceptional warmth to weight ratio.
  • Wool fabrics.
  • Acrylic and polyester fabrics.
  • Jersey fabrics.
When choosing the best fabric for a screen-printing project, it’s nearly impossible to beat 100% cotton. It’s easy to work with and tends to be suitable for most jobs. And, screen printing on cotton is less complex than printing on other options, including fleece, polyester, acrylic and blended fabrics.

What Are The Uses For Commercial Screen Printing?

One of the main reasons that commercial screen printing is so valuable is because setting up screen printing materials and operations in-house can be extremely expensive. The cost of equipment, materials and the time it takes to learn how to create professional-quality screen printing can be detrimental to any business’ budget and hamper their ability to be predictive and timely.

With commercial screen printing services, businesses have easy access to professional bulk screen printing services at a great price without going through the headache of trying to do it themselves. Moreover, printing companies often have decades of industry experience and can guide you through the process to ensure you are employing the proper process for the unique needs of your project.

The Screen Printing Process: Explained

While there are multiple approaches to screen printing, they all center around the same basic technique. One of the most important aspects of screen printing is the stencil that is used to lay the designs onto the materials. The more intricate and detailed you can design the stencil, the more creative possibilities and details become.

The commercial screen printing process typically goes as follows:

Create the Design

The first step in the commercial screen printing process is to solidify the design. Once the design is finalized, the image is often sent digitally to the screen printing company. This design is then used to create the stencil.

Screen Preparation

Next, the printer will choose a mesh screen to accommodate the complexity of the design and the texture of the fabric. The mesh screen is then coated with a layer of light-reactive emulsion, which will harden when developed under bright light. In order to create multicolored products, the printer must use skill and expertise to design each stencil and line them up perfectly to ensure that the final design is seamless.

Prepare for Print

a multi color printing press being prepped for a projectOnce the design and screen are created, the screen is placed onto the printing press. The most commonly used techniques involve automated processes as this allows several different screens to work at once. For multicolored prints, these screen printers are used to apply the separate layers in quick succession.

Pressing

The final step in the process is lowering the screen onto the printing board where the design is pressed onto the material. Then, a squeegee is used to pull the ink along the full length of the screen. This presses the ink through the open areas of the stencil, imprinting the design on the product underneath. Finally, the material is sent through a dryer and checked for quality assurance.