About Screen Printing!

Back to About Page

Back to Wholesale

 

Here we have it - the heart of our

company - laying in wait to pump out

your beloved designs. It's here that

the designs are transformed from

paper art into those delightful tees and

sweats we all desire. To the right is our

6 color press and below is our 4 color

press.

Silk Screen Press 2
Silk Screen Press
I will now give you a quick walk-through of the process. First we take a digital design or hand-drawn piece of artwork that has been color separated. What this means is that each color in a design gets its own screen. The only time this is not the case is when we blend colors on one screen which gives each garment it's own original blending of color.
We then take the artwork and burn it onto a silk-screen. This is done by coating the framed screen with an emulsion and then burn the image into it using a high intensity light in our exposure unit.
The Begining
The Mounted Screen
The screen is then mounted on the press using all sorts of fancy knobs and cranks in order for the image to land on the right place on the garment. When there are multiple colors this can be a challenge.
Mounted Screen
The Pull
The inks are then loaded and the pulling begins. A squeegee is used to press the ink through the design that was burned onto the screen. The amount of pressure used during the pull creates the needed displacement of the ink through the screen. In the case shown here we are using that cool blending ink process we mention earlier.
The Pull 2
Wow!! There it is just like magic. There is only one thing left and that is the curing of the ink. Right now the ink could be smeared or washed off. It must now be cured and with the types of inks we use this is done with the heat lamp shown below. The inks when heated go through a chemical transformation and bond with the fabric.
Post Pull
The Curing ProcessViolla
Ok there we have it. The only thing left to do is fold it and put it on our shelves or right onto your back. I hope this takes away some of the mystery behind the silk screen process. Of course our exuberant printer has many mystical tricks that he will not divulge.

Copyright ©2007 The Flying Fish Studio