Now that you have prepared your screen, let’s get ready to print! The printing method is the same whether you are using the screen filler or the stencil method. Screen printing is a technique that you will perfect as you practise, so please don’t give up if your first attempts do not come out how you imagined; it is a skill that improves with experience. If you are struggling, use the Troubleshooting section to identify what is going wrong. A great tip is to write on any imperfect prints what you think went wrong then keep these as your own learning resource. We all learn from our mistakes and believe me, you will make some!
I suggest you practise on newsprint paper rather than your precious fabric. Newsprint is obviously a lot cheaper than fabric and you want to be able to practise freely without worrying about how much fabric you are going through. There will come a time when you need to perfect your printing skills on fabric, but hopefully by then your general technique will have become a lot more consistent.
One of the most important things with screen printing is to be prepared. Once you start printing, you need to work relatively quickly and continuously, otherwise the ink in your screen can start to dry and clog up the mesh. It is pretty tricky to unclog it and the only thing you can do is wash out your screen, wait for it to dry and start again. You can help to avoid doing this by having everything ready and to hand.
Make sure you have all the equipment that you need in your printing space. Amongst other things, have your inks to hand already mixed, an old towel for you to lean on, spare newsprint paper, your fabric ironed and cut to size, scrapers, and kitchen paper (paper towel) for blotting unwanted splashes and spillages. Even keep a little paintbrush to hand so you can carefully stipple any gaps that need filling in.
The final thing you need is an old towel or blanket that you don’t mind getting paint on to place under your screen. Fabric can have a tendency to slip if it is positioned directly on a smooth worktop, so to avoid this from happening you need to rest your screen on a non slippery surface. This allows the screen to sit on top of the fabric without it sliding about and makes printing much easier.
With the question of being prepared comes the question of where to print. Is the space you have chosen big enough to spread everything out without the worry of getting paint everywhere? You need to be able to move your screen around between prints, as you change your paper and fabric from print to print.
Another consideration of where to print is the space you need to dry your prints. Maybe you are lucky enough to have a large table to lay all your prints out on as you work. Or maybe you have room to put a clothes dryer next to where you are working. If not, you can always construct a temporary washing line and peg your prints up as you go. Don’t be tempted to dry your prints outside, however warm, as any gusts of wind could blow bits onto your not quite dry fabric, as well as folding the fabric in on itself so the paint rubs.
If you are not using ready mixed fabric paints, and there are some good ready mixed varieties available, then you will need to mix your water-based acrylic paint with a textile medium to make it suitable for printing onto fabric. Use a wide necked jar or carton for this and mix the paint in the ratio of 1:1, with a slight leaning towards a little more medium to ink. Mix thoroughly until you can no longer see specks of the medium. Make sure your jar or carton has a lid, as this will prevent your paint from drying out between your printing sessions.