Images_Digital_Edition_November_2019

STEP-BY-STEP: HOW TO SCREEN PRINT SWEATSHIRTS 8 Check for quality The end result – a perfectly printed sweatshirt 9 www.images-magazine.com NOVEMBER 2019 images 83 TIPS & TECHNIQUES 2 4 Use spray adhesive to give a nice, even coat of glue and ensure the garment doesn’t move As sweatshirts are much thicker than T-shirts, you need to set the off-contact to around the thickness of a pound coin. This creates more space between the screen and the garment, which gives you a nice, crisp print and prevents the ‘orange peel effect’ 1 Establish the material: we’re using a B&C unisex hoodie (WU620) made from 80% cotton and 20% polyester, and we’re printing on the back 3 Stroke the garment fibres away from you (same as the print direction) to give a flatter surface and reduce the risk of the garment moving while printing 5 6 Flood and push print. You need at least 15 newtons of screen tension on a standard static aluminium screen. The objective is get the ink to release from the flooded screen onto the garment below. If there’s not enough tension on the screen the ink will sit in the mesh and not snap back when printed. This means it will only release the ink when you lift the screen, which won’t give a smooth finish Set flash at the lowest temperature to reduce the chance of misregistration caused by shrinkage via over-heating. 7 Ensure that there’s an opaque finish. If not, print again as flashing allows a second layer of ink to be adhered to achieve the opacity you need for your customer