Screen-printing is one of the most popular ways of producing beautiful shirts in bulk. Here are some of the basics surrounding this process.
How it Works
In the traditional silk-screening approach, you start with a square wooden frame about the size of a T-shirt. Over this frame, you tightly stretch a piece of sheer fabric (originally silk, now polyester). This is the screen. Over this sheer fabric, you put a thin sheet of plastic into which you have cut holes where you want the ink to appear on the T-shirt. You can either cut the holes with a scalpel (an arduous task), or you can use a liquid plastic coating that's sensitive to ultraviolet light and "cut" the holes with light. It is hard to find a printing method as versatile as screen-printing. It can be done on almost any surface as long as it is flat, fabric, wood, plastic and even metal, among many others.
Process
Next, you place your T-shirt on a flat board and press the screen onto the fabric. By coating the screen with thick ink using a sponge, you cause the ink to flow through the screen onto the T-shirt. For multi-color designs, you do this multiple times, starting with the lightest color and moving up to the darkest. Screen-printing allows for greater thickness of the ink than other techniques, which result in greater possibilities when it comes to the finish of the piece.
Firefighter Shirt Designs
Here at Dove Designs, we care about what our customers do for our communities. Call today if you have any questions about setting your team up with custom gear.