Have you ever looked at an oversized t-shirt and wondered how a phenomenal art design made it here? From planning to t-shirt screen printing on fabrics, the task is a long one. In today’s textile industry, screen printing plays a major role. Most people have come to know about its quality recently. However, it had been in use for centuries before. The result is garments that are extraordinary and durable as well. It’s convenient and makes every design achievable. In this blog, we shall discuss how screen printing has become the centerfold of today’s garment industry, how it does, and how it beats every other method known.
What is t-shirt Screen Printing?
In general, as the name suggests, T-shirt screen printing involves using a screen or a film to print the desired design on any blank piece. You can use this method to imprint on anything from wood, paper, and garments to even glass. But this isn’t something that came to us yesterday. This method has been in practice since ancient times, when it was called the stencil method. The Chinese were the first to develop matrices, which today are known as screen printing frames, in 960-1279 CE. With the emergence of Pop Art during the 1960s, screen printing became eternal when artists used it as a method for transferring their artwork to canvases.
With the evolution of modern technology, screen printing has also become more advanced, with technology making it easy to print with increased printing magnification. Currently, the most widespread use of T-shirt t screen printing is seen in the textile industry, with users’ growing need for wearing designer apparel and its favorable method used too. Let’s see in the next section how it’s done in today’s exquisite times.
Steps of Screen Printing a T-shirt
Design Preparation: Firstly, you need to select the desirable design you want. Either print or create in black and white, where the black portion will represent where the ink will go on the t-shirt. The design is then transferred to a transparent film called an acetate sheet.
Screen Preparation: Following this, the screen print is transferred to a light-sensitive emulsion. Once it’s dried, the printed film with the design is placed on the screen, and then the design is exposed to UV light. This process will make the emulsion hard, leaving the parts where the design is imprinted.
Washing Screen: After this exposure, the screen is washed with clean water. The areas that were unexposed to the emulsion will wash away, and it will leave open stencil areas, transferring the design onto the fabric.
Setup Screen: Once the screen is prepared, it’s placed onto the printing press with the back printed T-shirt positioned on a platen
Applying Ink: Then the ink comes into the action. It’s gently poured at one point of the screen to spread it evenly. It’s done using a squeegee. In this process, the ink sinks through the open stencil area, allowing transference of the design onto the fabric.
Curing the Print: To make sure that the print stays in place and doesn’t wash off quickly, the printed t-shirt is heat-cured, increasing its resilience and durability..
Finishing: Then it’s left for some time to cool. Then it is analyzed for a quality check and Printed T-Shirts for Men and Women become ready to be worn or packaged.
Advantages of using Screen Printing for T-Shirts
Tshirt Screen printing is widely popular among various textile industries. It has multiple benefits over other methods. These are as follows:
Vibrant and long-lasting colors: The prints done with screen printing produce thick, high-quality inks that produce bold and vibrant colors. Because of this, fading and cracking rarely occur, even after multiple washes.
High durability: Because the ink seeps deeply into the fabric. It ensures that the design lasts longer in comparison to digital or heat transfer printing methods.
Excellent for Bulk Orders: Once the screen is prepared while printing multiple T-shirts becomes fast and efficient, making it highly cost-efficient for bulk productions.
Versatility in Fabric Choice: Tshirt Screen printing works wonders for various materials, like cotton, polyester, and blended fabrics, with light- and dark-colored garments.
Consistent Quality: With screen printing, every output generated is of high quality consistently in all productions, with uniformity in color and designs.
Supports Large & Bold Designs: Using screen printing, it becomes very convenient to create any suitable design you want to create any type of artwork. There’s barely any limitation to what screen printing and designs it can accomplish.
Professional Finish: Screen printing helps in producing a smooth, premium look and feel, which will enhance the overall texture and finishing of the garment.
Wrapping Up
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that although T-shirt screen printing has been a long-term practice, it’s not going anywhere because of its many benefits. We discussed how it has shaped the textile industry into creating every design imaginable, removing limitations from being creative. Not only this, but it also propagates durability making high-quality production possible.
