Do you want shirts that are custom-made to suit your own style and your own personality? If that is the case, you can order custom-printed shirts that look awesome or you can make your own. Now, you might feel leery about printing your own shirts because that is strictly for artists and pros, right?
Well, you will be happy to know that you can easily silk screen your own shirt designs and you can do it right at your own home. You do not even need to invest in expensive materials since you can make your own right at your house with homemade screen printing materials. You can screen print at home and you can have amazing results; you just need a few great tips to get you there.
Screen Print at Home – What Do You Need?
You need to make sure that you have everything you need for your project. For this one, you will have need for the following:
- Screen and frame (this will cost you about $14)
- Photo sensitizer and emulsion
- 250W bulb
- Gloves
- T-shirts
- Silk screen fabric ink
- Squeegee
- Small piece of cardboard that fits inside your T-Shirt
Create an Image
If this is your first time, you should start out with something simple that has tons of thin lines. You can create a silhouette out of Photoshop. You want a solid black image so that you can block the light. Once you have settled on an image, you laser print it on transparency paper or you can pay a copy shop to do it for you.
Use Emulsion to Coat Your Screen
You will have to do this in two parts with the use of the emulsion and sensitizer – you can mix them according to the manufacturer instructions. Put your screen on a garbage bag and pour some emulsion on the screen. Use your squeegee to spread it out until it covers the area of the image you want. You want a thin and even layer on your screen.
Expose Screen to Light
This is the step where you expose your screen to light. In a pitch black room, lay your board down with the screen side down on the black surface. Put the transparency with the image you want on the screen where your emulsion is. Use tape to hold down the transparency. Use a desk lamp with a 250W bulb and shine it directly in the screen for a good 10 minutes.
Clean Your Screen
Use water to hose down your screen and you will notice that the area where your design is will start to flake off. Once that is dry, you can cover any exposed parts of the screen where there is no print with tape. After you do this, it is just a matter of getting the print on your shirt. Stuff a board inside the shirt so that you do not spill ink on the other side of the shirt.
Do you think you can screen print at home? Share your thoughts with the rest and any other tops you might have.