Screen Printing. Learning to print tote bags with screen printing technique

You can enjoy the thrill and satisfaction of creating your own tote-bags. Screen printing is not hard, and you may need little equipment and the process is relatively easy and the results turn out really professional.

In order to get started, you need to choose an image to be transferred on the textile. You can add a catchy phrase. However, have in mind a simple and clean shirt design for a better and cleaner result. The design will be printed on the front of the shirts.

Equipment you need

A screen.

Dual cure emulsion/ Water resistant emulsion.

Squeegee to coat the screen with emulsion and to print.

A flat piece of glass or clear plastic.

Water based textile printing ink.

Masking tape.

Cutting blade or pair of scissors.

Card stock for blocking Ultraviolet UV light.

Step 1: Prepare the Artwork

Start off with a simple design for the project.

Print the design on a transparency to transfer the image to the screen. This piece will be used as a stencil. The light from the exposure rig will be blocked by the opaque mask of the design.

Step 2: Prepare the Screens

You can buy new screens or create your own screens.

In order to create your own screens for printing, you need frames. Take the appropriate sizes for the images and then add a few centimetres of buffer space around them to come up with the frame sizes. You should have enough room to work with the images on the frames and still have room to tape off the sides to prevent bleeding through.

After measuring and cutting the pieces, glue and screw them together.

The screen material you can use is 110 mesh fabric. Cut a piece of fabric for each screen leaving enough overhang to wrap around the frames. Attach the screen fabric to the frames using a staple gun. Make sure the screen is applied under tension. Trim off any excess to the edge of the frame being careful to not cut or damage the screen surface. Wash the complete screen, frame and mesh.

Step 3: Preparing the Photo Emulsion

Now it is time to coat the screen with the emulsion. Use a chemical photo emulsion to create the screens. Follow the directions on the bottle for mixing the two bottles together to activate the photosensitive chemicals.

Wear gloves as these chemicals can be harmful to your skin.

Once the photo emulsion is thoroughly mixed, use a squeegee to apply a smooth coat to your frames. Apply one time from the outside of the screen (the side facing the fabric while printing), then one or two more times from the inside of the screen (side where you put your ink in)

When you have an even coating of emulsion on the screen, you need to place it in a dark place to dry.

Step 4: Curing the Emulsion

After the photo emulsion has dried on the screen in a dark place, we need to expose it to set the image on your screen. Place the screen in the exposure place and carefully centre and align the transparency on the frames. Remember to place it backwards as this side of the frame will be next to the fabric when printing.

Use a glass to hold the transparency tightly on the frame while it was being exposed. Now it is time to expose the screen to UV light. You need to cure it for at least 1 hour .

Step 5: Washing Out the Frames

After the curing time has passed, you should see a colour variation on the screen. The lighter shade is where the emulsion was blocked by the transparency print Wash out these lighter areas with cool water and clear these areas to force out the uncured emulsion. Smaller detail areas may require a fine bristled brush to clear it away. Check your screen by looking through it towards a light source to make sure the image areas are clear and your edges are clean and clear.

Step 6: Print Your tote bags

Now your screen is ready to be used in printing tote bags.

Simply align the screen on the shirt and place some ink across the screen above your image. Make sure you place a board inside the bag to avoid bleeding through.

Secure the screen so that when you push or pull the squeegee for the final print, the screen does not move.

Using your squeegee, gently "butter" the ink across the image area of the screen Once the image is covered, use your squeegee to scrape down the ink across the image as your "print" stroke. Each stroke needs to be in the same direction. Also try to keep the squeegee at a 45º angle.

After every print, you need to remove the screen from the fabric and gently spread the ink over the exposed areas of the screen. We need to keep the exposed areas filled with ink so that ink does not dry out and block the stencil. So, the procedure is to print with a single stroke, lift the screen from the fabric, back flood with ink and then reload with another bag.

You can make additional strokes if you want to apply the ink thicker. But keep in mind that if you have small details, and you "print" stroke too many times, then you might have some bleed through in your print.

Also, in general, even though great details are possible, a simpler design makes the process easier.

Step 7: Drying the Print

Water based inks need to be heat set after all the water has been expelled to ensure a durable print. After printing you can hang dry the bag or speed it up with a hair dryer.

Final cure only occurs after all the moisture has been expelled.

Wash the screen. The screen is reusable, just wash it clean with cool water when you finish printing.

Screen printing is all about your mindset. Work slowly and carefully. Experiment. Then you will succeed in your tote bag screen printing project.