DIY! How to Silk Screen at Home!
Have you always wanted to learn how to silk screen at home, or are you a recent follower of the trend? Whether you’re an experienced professional or a newcomer to the craft, it is easy to learn how to silk screen at home.
To begin, you must gather your materials:
- You will need to find an image to use. You will need to have your image copied at maximum darkness onto a transparent piece of plastic (cellophane wrap or clear packaging from toys work great). You can also draw on the transparency with white out or paint. Another option is to use a flat object (such as lace) or some shapes cut out of dark colored construction paper lain on top of the transparency.
- Wooden picture frames which are completely flat on the front surface. You will also need a piece of glass from a frame smaller than the frame you use to make your screen.
- An old, gauzy curtain. The color of the curtain doesn’t matter, but the curtain does need to be in pretty good shape. The fewer the holes and the more tightly woven the fabric, the finer you can silk screen at home.
- A piece of black or dark-colored fabric big enough to put the frame on.
- A staple gun and staples.
- Photosensitive goo and activator (speedball is one of the more common brands at craft stores). You need the emulsion and the activator; they come in two different bottles which you have to mix together. Don’t bother with the screen cleaner unless want to reuse the same screen for other designs.
- Either a piece of cardboard or an art squeegee especially for screen printing.
- Screen printing ink
* If you are printing t-shirts you’ll need paper to put inside the shirt when you print so that the ink doesn’t bleed through the side you’re printing on all the way through to the other side.
Next, build your frame:
- Take apart your frame and set the glass aside. Remove all of the tiny metal parts.
- Cut a piece of the curtain large enough to cover the front of the frame. Stretch the fabric around the sides (try to keep the weave of the fabric as straight as possible) and staple it into place.
- Cut excess fabric off.
Now, coat both sides of your screen with a thin, even layer of the emulsion and set it in a dark place to dry. Once the screen is dry, take it out in the sun and lay it face down on your black cloth. You need UV rays to expose the emulsion; even on a cloudy day you can get exposure, but a lamp at night will not work. Place your image inside the frame and lay a piece of glass (must be smaller than the picture frame) on top of the image. Now, just wait! The sun is going to harden the emulsion and it will change colors. Be wary of shadows, any part of the screen which doesn’t get exposed is going to wash clear. Also, be very careful not to let your image move around. The glass helps keep it in place and also makes sure no sun gets in under the edges of the image. Your exposure time will vary depending on how much sunlight is in the equation.
Once you feel that the emulsion is hardened, you will rinse off your screen.
Finally, it’s time to silk screen at home!
- Put some masking tape along the edges of the screen before you start printing so you don’t get any sloppy leaks off the sides.
- Place your fabric on some papers to protect the surface underneath. If you’re doing a t-shirt, put a piece of paper inside the shirt.
- Put the screen down on your fabric, put some printing ink along the top of the screen, and pull it over the image with your art squeegee or piece of cardboard.
* Be very careful not to let the screen move while you are printing. Hold it down firmly . You absolutely have to print on a good flat surface or you will get unsatisfactory results.
Now you know how to silk screen at home!
