Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a mesh stretched over a frame to make a stencil. A black opaque transparency sheet of each colour is skilfully created and used to superimpose the image from the film onto the stencil/screen. Once the screen is created the screen is taken to a screen print machine for printing. The screens are then lined up (registered ) on the print machine and the individual ink colours are mixed and placed onto the screens. A test print is then printed and checked for fine adjustments.

WHAT IS A SCREEN?

BASIC SCREEN PRINTING PROCESS

The first colour screen is placed onto the substrate such as the fabric. The ink that’s been placed on the screen is then lightly pulled across the screen using what’s known as a ‘flood bar’. The flood bar does exactly as it’s name suggests, it floods ink across the screen. The idea of the flood bar is to control the flow of the ink buy filling the holes in the stencil with ink, but not pushing the ink through onto the garment. Once a nice even flood of ink is achieved then it’s time for a squeegee to push/cut the ink through the mesh onto the substrate. This process may happen one or two times to achieve the desired ink coverage.

Once you have printed your first colour it’s time to bring around the next print head with your next colour screen/stencil, then repeat the process by bring each colour around in the desired order until you reach the end. Obviously this all sounds very easy! Trust me it’s not as simple as it sounds. This is just the basic principal, our print staff have years of experience to make your prints POP!

For a small additional charge we can change the ink colour on your screen so you can mix and match your garments and printing. This could offer a great option when you're looking for individual team colours.

Screen printing is by far the most versatile of garment decoration techniques. Many effects can be achieved using a variety of inks and additives. If you're looking for a bright hard wearing print in up to ten colours, Ethical Tees have the experience and work ethic to ensure your prints are just how you would like them to be.

We keep control of the whole screen printing process from start to finish. Our in-house artwork department can design and produce the most demanding of screen printing orders, giving us the ability to make those little adjustments needed here and there without having to use outside artwork agencies.

The art of the screen printing process has been around for many years now and is a proven and tested method for most garment types. T-Shirt printing is the most well known garment choice for screen printing but it can be used for various other products. Other products include: sports bags, shopper bags, windcheater jackets, socks, tea towels, work wear, plus many others.

Screen Printing Products.

There is an initial set up charge for preparing your artwork/design to make suitable for screen printing and the making of your screens. This is charged at £18.50 (plus VAT) per screen per colour, which is a once off charge. Ethical T-Shirts try to keep your charges down to the minimum when making screens, not like other printers! We charge for what we can fit on the screen. A lot of the time customers may choose a left breast print for the front and an A4 size print for the back. Ethical Tees will only charge you for the one screen as we know that we can fit both designs onto the one screen. Other printers would probably charge you for 2 screens. (Subject to required print size)