Screen Printing Machines

The screen printing process involves creating a stencil on a mesh screen, which is stretched on a frame. The garment lays underneath the screen and the ink is pushed through the mesh on to the fabric. Each colour in the design is pushed through separately on different screens to reach the finished design. To complete the screen printing process, it is then heat-treated to cure the ink to create a lasting design.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Screen Printing Process

T-shirts with designs that have been screen-printed are high quality, vibrant and colourful. The ink applied is thicker than that applied by a DTG printer, resulting in brighter colours. For large production runs over 500 pieces, screen-printing is also more economical than digital printing.

Screen printed garments will not crack, fade or peel unless the ink is applied too thick upon application or the print is not cured properly. As part of the screen-printing process, a hot air textile dryer can dry plastisol ink in around one minute, whereas DTG garments can take up to six minutes in a dryer.

Screen Printing Challenges

Not so much a disadvantage, but a challenge of screen-printing is that it is a skilled practice and those learning the screen printing process will need to undergo a steep learning curve to master the art. However, once you have this skillset, you are at an advantage compared to your competitors.

Screen printing also requires a lot of space for the printing press and cleaning area, but if you have the real estate for the machinery, you are in a prime position to print at scale. Regular cleaning is required and compared to DTG printers’ artwork placements is limited.

Materials Required For Screen Printing

Depending on the setup of your screen-printing business, there a number of basic things required before you will be able to complete the screen printing process, all of which Adelco can equip you with.

• Computer with design software
• Printer for making the screens
• Ink and film
• Screens
• Emulsion that hardens when exposed to UV light to create a stencil/screen
• Drying racks for the screens when drying the emulsion
• Exposure unit to cure the stencils/screens
• Washout station to rinse and clean the screens
• Printing press, either auto or manual
• Squeegees
• Flash cure units, so you can print on top of base colours
• Hot air Conveyor or drawer dryers to cure the print

With the correct screen-printing equipment and materials, you will be able to produce designs that last the lifetime of the garment, generally around 50 washes.