Screen Printing at Home

Screen printing -- also known as silkscreening or serigraphy -- is a good option for printing designs on different materials like posters, canvas totes, etc. The prints done through the process are durable in nature and they do not fade off easily. Also, the materials required for screen printing at home are available easily.

How to Screen Print at Home
The first thing that you would require for screen printing at home is a frame. This frame can be either a metal or a wooden one. Make sure that it is stretched with screen mesh. The next is a foam rubber which is 4 to 6 inches thick. You will also require screen printing ink and squeegee light-sensitive emulsion. Instead of using this equipment, you can also use halide work light or any other source of light. A piece of glass is also required. Make sure that its size is slightly bigger than that of the frame. Other materials required are a film and printmaking paper.

Make sure that the frame is clean. If not, clean it with mild soap and allow it to dry at least for an hour. After this, coat the screen with light sensitive emulsion and scrape away excess emulsion from all the sides. Allow it to dry for a period of 12 hours.

On a transparency, put a design. You can draw the design on the transparency or vellum with Indian ink or get the design printed. The image or design can be printed with the help of a laser printer. Some laser printers are too hot which can lead to the melting of the vellum. If you are making design with Indian ink, brush the strokes twice for the purpose of opacity. When this step is being done, the screen or the transparency should not be exposed to light at all.

Now, you can place a foam rubber on the flat surface and can then place the coated screen frame over it. On the screen, place the transparency upside down and place heavy objects like books at the corner. Hang a source of light 18 inches above the screen and turn on the light for number of minutes recommended by the manufacturer. Make sure that the screen is not exposed to more time than specified by the manufacturer of the screen.

With warm water, develop the screen. Till the image area is free of all emulsion, spray the screen. Use more water pressure if the screen does not develop easily. After the procedure of developing is complete, remove the extra emulsion with the help of newspaper which will help in blotting. If the emulsion is coming out which leads to the degradation of the quality of the image, then increase the exposure time.

Allow the screen to dry and then place it over the paper or a T-shirt. In order to create a reservoir of the ink, add ink to one side of the screen. With one hand, hold the screen tightly and with the other hand, pull two to three strokes with the help of a squeegee. Now, pick up the screen and check the print. After you have completed with this, immediately clean the screen. You can try a finer screen mesh if the print smudges. If you think that the T-shirt has not received enough of ink, then you can try thin ink or you can also make use of a wider screen mesh. So, now after knowing how to screen print at home, I am sure that you will not be able to resist and will try. Silkscreening at home can be very interesting and you can give wings to your artistic self by trying out different patterns. It's easy and yet beautifully different. All the Best!