How to Do Screen Printing On T-shirts Online At Home

Posted by Smith on October 11th, 2019

Screen Printing is the easiest and fastest way to create inexpensive, online designs on your t-shirt. Using Screen Printing, on your T-shirts or any other product you want to model, you can create professional quality designs.

Although some people may think this process is complicated and difficult to understand, if you're properly led, you'll find it's the simplest and less complicated way to transfer your concept to a T-shirt.

Screen printing is a method of using a mesh to pass ink to the surface used.

In this post, we'll take you through the process you must follow to get the best professional-designed T-shirt at home.

Step to follow

The first thing to do when you want to do your own screen printing is to create a screen frame for the job. Purchase canvas spreading wood frames from any convenience store if you want the cheap ones or go for the more costly and long-lasting ones like aluminum frames.

• Purchase the Mesh: If you purchase the Mesh, make sure you get the superior quality that allows the ink to be transferred to the T-shirt, paper or artwork.
• The Mesh-count is used to assess the looseness and tightness of the mesh itself, showing the amount of threads per square inches.
• Join the mesh frame together. If you want them close to prevent tearing, make sure the screen is very secure. Use the electric stapler or framing nails to secure the mesh tightly across the frame.  

The second step after constructing your board is to plan your artwork.

Prepare your own custom design that will be passed through the ink.

• A pencil
• A solid and thick paper
• White Cardboard
• Poster board
• A precision knife

You must research the complex nature of the designs for screen printing to strengthen your limitations. For better performance, follow these steps;

• When printing, make sure you print only one color.
• You should print contrasting pictures like white on a black dress.
• If the layout is complex, you can print several times. Print one color after another after the previous one.
• Place the design on the poster board as it helps straighten the design. Make sure your model is easy for a good printing result.
• Instead, the best paper cutter will cut out the prepared artwork in the form of a stencil that is dipped in ink. When cutting the stencil, just remove the white rings while the red rings should be protected with the stencil.
• When you can't cut your design with a durable sheet, you can use an alternate translucent paper when cutting complex designs. Ensure only black ink is used for opaque paper.  The black ink is used to block the sun, allowing the ink to pass the image to the T-shirt.

Printing Proper

Before you begin screen printing your T-shirts professionally at home, you should get ready the following items;

• A photo emulsion with its sensitizer
• Frame with it screen
• A pair of latex hand gloves
• A 250 watt bulb
• A dark room in your home
• Objects to be screen-printed like a T-shirt, etc.

Combine emulsion with its corresponding sensitizer. Using the squeegee put your screen in a disposable bag and spread the emulsion on it.

While distributing the emulsion on the monitor, make sure it covers more than the picture being printed on. You can even continue to make sure the screen is fully coated to be dark peach. Hang it in your dark room until it dries.

Open the window to see the photo on it.

Without yet showing the picture to the sun, laid the framed camera on a black surface. Often, lay the picture with the emulsion onto the screen. Clamp on transparency with glass or scotch tape.

Hold the 250 watt lamp 2 ft. above the monitor and avoid the dark room.

To make the light more powerful, use a desk lamp to bring down its brightness. Make sure there's no other light switched in the darkroom.

After 15 minutes, return to the dark room and gently remove the transparency. If you see a faint blue line where the screen impresses the picture, you know the printing will be successful.

The next move is to clean the window with cold water.

Even if the photo on the screen starts to flake off, keep cleaning until it's the same as your clarity and let it dry.

Place the T-shirt on a flat surface with a piece of cardboard paper inside.

• Then place the prototype display on the t-shirt where you want the model to show on the t-shirt.
• Apply a little ink horizontally across the screen and smooth it down with the squeegee.
• Move the squeegee as many times as it takes the ink to transfer to the T-shirt, from right to left.
• Lift your screen and carefully remove the cardboard paper from the t-shirt and print.
• You could place the t-shirt in an oven with a temperature of 400 degrees for 30 seconds.
• Wash off the screen ink before it dries so you can use it again. You can even use emulsion wipe to clean the image if you want to print another image.

If you follow the above method, you can definitely create professional T-shirts in your house.

Relevant reading: Types Of T-shirt printing.