How to print on fabric with a silk-screen printer

The most common fabric printing project is printing T-shirts, but you might also want to print other items such as banners or tablecloths. Silk-screening is a good way to accomplish these printing projects.

Here are the materials and equipment needed to print on fabric with a silk-screen printer:

• Silk-screen printer

• Fabric or item to be printed

  Hints:
  • Use light colored fabric unless you print with opaque white ink.
  • Read ink package to find what kinds of fabric work best with that ink.
• Stencils
• Stencil cutting tool
• Textile ink
• Ink dispensers

• Ink touch up tools, such as

  • match sticks
  • tooth picks, or
  • cotton swabs.
• Masking tape
• Cardboard or newspapers to protect what is behind the printing surface

• Cleanup materials

  See:	Cleaning a silk-screen printer

You should have three people to help with printing on fabric:

1. One person to

   • prepare fabric, and
   • place it under the screen.

2. One person to

   • handle ink, and
   • print.

3. One person to

   • remove fabric
   • touch up paint, and
   • hang fabric to dry.

1. Design and draw a graphic.
2. Cut a stencil.
3. Select the proper paint or ink for the job.
4. Prepare the printer.
5. Prepare the fabric.
6. Print.
7. Dry the printed fabric.
8. Clean the printer.

• How to print on paper with a silk-screen printer
• How to print a poster with a silk-screen printer

• Echerd and Walter 1981
• Pearson and Pearson 1988
• Rempel 1988
• Wegmann 1991

• Task module: How to print on fabric with a silk-screen printer, by Robin Rempel
• In task module: Using a silk-screen printer
• In task module: Printing literacy materials
• In task module: Producing printed materials, by Anne Klaassens (contributor), Robin Rempel (contributor), Trudy K. Stewart (general editor, contributor), Leah B. Walter (contributor), Glenys Waters (contributor), Diane Wroge (contributor), and Adelle R. Walter (illustrator)
• In task module: Developing instructional materials, by Trudy K. Stewart, Leah B. Walter (contributor), and Trudi C. Hunt (contributor)
• In task module: Developing an instructional program, by Kenneth A. Boothe (contributor), Patricia M. Davis (contributor), Trudy K. Stewart (general editor), Leah B. Walter (contributor), Glenys Waters (contributor), and Adelle R. Walter (illustrator)
• In task module: Implementing a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler)
• In modular book: Implement a literacy program, by Carole P. Spaeth (compiler) and Leah B. Walter (compiler)
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 22 October 1999

© 1999 SIL International