Whenever you are truly interested in screen printing, you will want to garner as many tips as possible. These screen printing tips will truly help you to become an even better screen printer. With this in mind, here are some screen printing tips for you to utilize.
Printing With White Ink
A lot of new screen printers have problems whenever it comes to printing with white ink. Unfortunately, the problem usually has to do with the printer themselves. There are some variables and techniques that you will need to change throughout the screen printing process in order to correct this issue. This is because you have probably been doing something wrong, even while you are working with color ink, and not even realize it. The reason I say this is because it doesn’t require a whole lot of ink to be able to print things on light colored garments. However, more ink will be required when printing things on dark colored garments. Of course, this would only make sense and thus should go without saying. However, it is important to note because it means that you will need to make sure to use the correct screen mesh, have off contact and use the right squeegee technique so that you will get a final print that looks good.
Setting Up Your Screen Printing Press
It is important to understand how to choose the proper mesh size. This is especially true whenever you are working with white ink since it is thicker and thus needs a lower size mesh screen. Typically you need 110 to 156 when printing white ink. Of course, there are some times whenever an image will demand a higher mesh count. For instance, since a fine line drawing will not hold on a lower mesh screen, you will need to use a high mesh frame and apply more passes in order to achieve that bright white color.
Adjusting Your Screen
You will also want to make sure that your screen is properly adjusted on the press. The off contact should be about 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch. However, considering that white ink is somewhat thicker, you may need a slightly higher off contact for it (by about 1/8 inch). In order to understand what all of this means to you, it is vital to understand what “off contact” means. This is defined simply as the height between the screen mesh and whatever substrate you are printing your design on. Whenever the off contact is correct the ink will be able to easily be cleaned off of the screen mesh as the mesh is released upwards directly after the print stroke is complete, thus leaving your ink to settle smoothly onto the shirt.
Using An Off Contact Tab
An off contact tab is simply a little piece of material (i.e. penny, cardboard, paper, a piece of plastic) that is the same height as your off contact. You place this on the end of the frame’s screen where it is about to hit the top of the neck platen. Whenever you use an off contact tab you will be able to make sure that your off contact remains in place throughout the entire print stroke. This is because the tab will hold the end of the screen up as you push down on the mesh. Without having an off contact tab in place you may actually have a more difficult time clearing the mesh because your screen may want to stay flat against the material with ink stuck inside of it. Now you know why they say that using an off tab is so important.