screen printing

Tag Archive for: screen printing

5 Tips to Prevent Dye Migration, While Printing on to Polyester.

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Dye migration is a real nightmare for printers when screen printing on to the dreaded polyester!

So what causes dye migration you ask? It is a result of the dyes in the fabric becoming wet and active again. This happens when exposed to excessive amounts of heat from flash cures and screen print dryers.

During the drying/heating process of screen printing, the migration tends to bleed through your screen printed design. This usually happens when block lettering on a sports garment like a football shirt and will turn the nice bright white lettering on a polyester football shirt pink! This can take 24 hours to happen so the effect may not be immediately after coming off the dryer, so please beware!

  1. Use a good dye blocking white, grey or even black in some cases such as our range of Dye Block Inks.
  2. Flash the base Colours, just touch dry as little heat as possible.
  3. Make sure the dryer is running accurate and don’t not over cure on the final cure.
  4. Do not stack the garments high after the print as they will retain the heat.
  5. Always test the garment prior to print at least first 24 hrs. prior to printing the order.

If you want to prevent dye migration while screen printing, Our range of Dye Block Inks are a great option! You can find out more by visiting our website, or if you would prefer to chat to one of our experienced team you can get in touch on;

01562 829009 or email sales@screenprintworld.co.uk

 

 

which is the right glue for you?

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Here at screen print world, we have specially selected a range of glues to suit different budgets and applications. See below a break down of each glue we do to see which one suits you best!

Amex Extra Tack Spray Tack

One of our best-selling budget adhesives. our AMEX spray tack
has been specially formulated to give superb hold between your garment and your
platen, to prevent minimal movement when printing whilst also holding it’s tack
well for multiple jobs. It can be used on a variety of garment types including heavy wool,
sweaters and difficult fabrics. Budget Friendly and minimal effort!

 

SPW Waterbased Pallet Adhesive

Designed to be an alternative to aerosol adhesive cans, our water
based adhesive creates a permanent bond between substrate and platen during
screen printing whilst still allowing for easy removal. Water based can offer
you a more eco friendly alternative to sprays and prevent the build up and mess
that gets created by using sprays long term.

 

TB-10

Tekmar TB10 has been specially formulated for use with our TB500 and TB1000 glue gun systems. It is a lot thinner that most glues which
allows for it to flow though the systems evenly onto your surface . 1 gallon of glue is the equivalent to 72 cans of spray tack, meaning you can save a huge
amount of money in the long run by switching to those systems as well as saving
time setting up each platen manually every day.

 

TB-HV

TBHV is another water based pallet adhesive made from the
leading manufactures, TEKMAR. It is formulated to apply easily and smoothly
onto your platen and creates great hold between the garment and the surface. TB-HV
affords tremendous economy, 1 litre can replace up to 3 dozen cans of spray
adhesive with absolutely no mess or waste. TB-HV can also withstand repeated
flashing, without losing its tack.

 

TBEZX

TBEZ is another water based glue to be used with out TB500 and TB1000 glue gun systems, however this glue has been formulated to work with
performance fabrics and garments. Performance fabrics contain silicones and
Teflon additives that can cause premature release with other Adhesives. TB-EZX
is formulated to temporarily bond with the fabric fibers and hold the garment
until unloaded. It is manufactured using synthetic polymer acrylic compounds
that were developed for specialized applications such as these.

 

 

Everything You Will Need to Start Up A Print Shop

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Ready to start screen printing? It’s a big jump, but it’s worth it. To build your shop, you will need to obtain some equipment and supplies. Our team of experts put together a handy check list of everything you should know about and consider for your future shop

 

MANUAL PRESS

The screen printing market has an abundance of screen printing presses. All these presses have different features, abilities, and prices. You want to make sure you’re getting the right press for your goals and/or your customers’ needs. How do you even begin to choose?
First, you pick a trusted brand
If you’re brand new to screen printing, consider starting off with the Riley Hopkins 150 Press. The 150 is a simple, high-quality press that’ll help you master the craft. If you’re planning on establishing your screen printing business, consider the Riley Hopkins 250 Press or our M&R Kruzer press.

 

 

A WAY TO CURE INK YOUR INK

You will need equipment to cure or flash the ink. A heat gun or heat press can work, but it’s very difficult to maintain consistent heat across the whole print.
The best option for curing ink is to use a flash dryer or tunnel dryer.  A flash dryer provides even, consistent heat across the whole print. The most popular flash dryer new printers grab is the Afford-A-Flash. If your looking at a tunnel dryer, Then the BBC little buddy is a great option used by many printshops across the world.

EXPOSURE UNIT

The exposure unit is a  very important piece of the screen room.This what you’ll need to expose your screens.  The quality of the exposure unit matters. Some may start out with a bulb, while others get the Small UV Exposure Unit. If you’re able to chip in a bit more money. You can sometimes find great second hand units on our used section.

If investing in an exposure unit is not doable for you right now, some businesses offer a screen exposing service, We recommend Squeegee & Ink who will create your screens for you for.

 

SPACE FOR CLEANING SCREENS

To rinse out freshly exposed screens or reclaim old screens, you’re going to need a space to accomplish those tasks. The Dip Tank is the most practical way to manage your screen reclaiming, along with a dip tank which can streamline your cleaning process. If you are limited on space, We recommend a table top washout booth. You’ll also need a jet wash to efficiently remove emulsion and other build up.

 

PRINTING POSITIVES

To get your image onto a screen, you’re going to need a film printer. Many types of film output printers exist, but chat to us if you’re unsure about which ones may be suitable. The most common is an inkjet printer. Inkjet film has one side that’s coated, and one side that isn’t coated. The coating is important because it holds onto the ink from the printer. The coating on inkjet film also helps maintain the density and shape of the image.
Asking a local print shop to print film positives for you is definitely an option if you do not have the funds for a film printer. Ask around to see if shops would provide that service and how much it would cost.

SOFTWARE

You will need a few programs to create the art and print it off properly. For creating art, screen printing experts suggest to use Adobe® Illustrator or Photoshop.
For printing films, you’ll need software such as AccuRIP which is the most common, versatile program. If you print a lot of spot colors, you could look into Separation Studio

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SCREENS

You’ll need a good supply of screens.

Here’s a generic summary of the uses for basic mesh sizes:

  • 43T/110 — great for polyester inks, white on
    black prints, block text, white base, and large spot color designs
  • 62T/156 — the jack-of-all-trades for
    screens, many jobs can be done with this mesh count
  • 90T/230 — great for high detail and finer
    lines
  • 120T/305 — CMYK,

INK

The two most common screen printing inks are plastisol and water-based. Plastisol inks are a great way to start screen printing because they are easy to print, do not dry in the screen, cure painlessly, and are vibrant and opaque. Water-based inks are good if you’d like a softer feel however they do have a tendency to dry in the screen so you do have to work quick and clean up straight after a print job. They are great eco friendly option and do not require chemicals to clean.

MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES

Along with all your equipment, You’ll need lots of other printing consumable such as cleaning solutions, tapes, squeegees, emulsion coaters, spatulas ETC. Check out our Screen Print Essentials checklist for a full list of consumables that you’ll most likely need when starting up.

PACKAGES

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the above? Fear not. We have selected Start Up Packages packages that will contain everything you need to get started. These packages are suited for various budgets and requirements and offer you everything you’ll need to hit the ground running and be productive prom the outset. No need to pick and choose, just select which package would be right for you and your business. Check out the Starter Packages we offer here.

That’s everything you need to get started! If you have any
questions, please contact us. We’re here to help. You can call us at 01562 829
009 or email at nick@screenprintworld.co.uk

 

 

 

4 Easy steps For Coating Screens

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Step 1

The first step in the screen coating process is to mix the Emulsion. Top tip ,always pre mix your emulsion preferably the night before as this gives air bubbles a chance to settle and preventing pin holes in your coated screen.

Why use a Scoop coaters?

A scoop coater, there are two sides to a scoop coater a thin side and a slightly thicker side. The thin side is used for fine screen mesh and the thicker side is for courser mesh as it puts down more emulsion.

 

Step 2

 

Take your pre mixed emulsion an pour it in to your scoop coater, not too much, just enough to coat 2 or 3 screens, if you over fil the coater this tends to spill.

 

 

Step 3

 

Coat the inside of the screen first, start 5cm up the inside of the screen. Tilt your coater and place a gentle even pressure all the way up your screen.

 

Flip your screen and repeat this process, this is called a wet coat.

 

 

Step 4

 

Next is your final coat, this time don’t tilt your coater the aim with this coat is to push all the emulsion through the screen, so the emulsion gathers on the back.

Leave your screen to dry in a drying cabinet for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

You can also watch a video of Dave Roper Screen Print World CEO Showing you how its done

WATCH HERE


For more information on screen printing please do not hesitate in contacting us on 01562 829009 or email one of our experts at nick@screenprintworld.co.uk

 

 

 

The Rename

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Effective from November 1, Dave Roper Ltd will be known as Screen Print World going forward.

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Choosing the right frame and mesh count

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Choosing the right screens and mesh counts.

Our standard screens are aluminium framed, as it provides the durability and longevity needed when printing large runs. Also, when exposing frames to water in a dip tank or washout booth aluminium frames will not warp (unline wooden frames) ensuring you keep flat frame and mesh. Aluminium frames can also be stretched and re-stretched many times, therefore making the process more cost effective.

If you are stuck on which mesh count to choose just remember; higher mesh count = higher detail. The higher the mesh count means the finer the threads and holes are in the screen. The size of the mesh has a lot to do with how detailed your image is and the viscosity of the ink.

110/43t: Considered to be a course-medium screen, this is known as the mesh that does all! It’s a highly popular mesh for general screen printing but not used for very fine detailed prints. Good for printing text and solid prints.

156/62t: This is considered to be a medium screen mesh. It’s most commonly used for printing onto light coloured fabrics with regular detail and medium ink deposit.

230/90t: This one is a fine mesh count for printing onto white or light colours and gives a soft hand feel. Good for high detailed designs and large halftones. Not recommended for four colour process.

305/120t: A very fine mesh count used for highly detailed prints and fine halftones.

If you are still unsure on which mesh count to use we are always here to help. Give us a call on 01562 829009 or email info@screenprintworld.co.uk

Curing Screen Printing Ink

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Curing Ink – How to cure ink on garments to make the garment washable.

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“What’s the right manual screen printing press for me?”

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Whether you are a beginner screen printer, or adding an additional machine to your print shop, we have a selection of world renowned presses to suit your needs.

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Make sure your emulsion survives the cold.

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We’ve had quite a lot of lovely Sun recently, however it’s still a bit chilly overnight and there has been a frost in some parts. Printers must be aware of the potential that emulsion can freeze it stored incorrectly.

Emulsions that have gone off if they have one of the following characteristics;

  • It gells into a ball or has a thick rubbery consistency
  • It may separate into different layers or not mix fully
  • It may feel and look grainy

If your emulsion is a two part mix, and it’s been frosty, your diazo may also freeze. If the diazo has frozen then thawed there will be moisture in the bottle, if this is the case, the diazo has gone bad and you will need a new bottle.

If you think the emulsion has survived the cold check by giving it a good mix then letting it settle for 3-4 hours. This will release any air bubbles and allow you to test coat a screen.

With the Amex Emulsion we provide we suggest to keep it in its original container between 15°C  and 25°C. Once mixed it will last for up to 8 weeks.

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What is the difference between squeegee blade profiles?

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SQUARE EDGE the most common squeegees, and are mainly used for textile printing and on manual presses. 

ROUND EDGE generally used in the textile industry, when a heavy ink deposit is required.

BEVELED EDGE (“V”SHAPE) are typically used for printing rounded surfaces where high definition is required, also used on high-speed automatic machines.

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