Making a screen with our Flat Fox Premium Diazo emulsion.
This short video is to show the product and how it looks while being used.
People choose diazo emulsions as they have a wide window for getting your exposure right and they work with light sources that have low UV output like LED lights. All lights emit some UV but some emit very little, a good UV bulb or LED UV light is a good investment.
Diazo emulsions also have a 3-4 week shelf life once the sensitizer is mixed so if you don't make many screens a smaller 250ml tub is ideal.
If you are looking to make your own screens or have any questions let us know. We've gone through the screen exposing process from the beginning and we've learnt a lot from making mistakes and experimenting. We are happy to help you get things right.
Happy screen making !
#screenprintingprocess #makeityourself #makersofinstagram #homescreenprint #screenprintlife #screenprintathome #screenprintingtips #screenprintsupplies #screenprinting #ilovescreenprinting #flat_fox
Printing onto dark fabric ?
This is a short guide to getting good opaque prints on dark fabric.
You need hinge clamps or a way to get your screen into the exact same position.
You also need a pallet adhesive.
Flat Fox Perfectly opaque inks are waterbased and don't dry quickly in your mesh which is ideal for printing at home.
We also sell waterbased pallet adhesive in 100ml tubs.
Link to shop in our Bio.
If you need any help or run into problems with your printing let me know and I'll help you get better results.
#printingtips #screenprintingprocess #screenprintingtips #homescreenprint #screenprintathome #waterbasedinks #waterbasedink #screenprintinguk #flat_fox #printityourself #crafts #crafting #craft #textileprint #handprintedtextile
Using a garden house is a great way to wash out your screens after exposure BUT be very careful as the sun will overdose your screens very quickly making washout difficult if not impossible.
After exposure wet both sides of your screen while you are inside and wait a few minutes to let the unexposed emulsion soften. Wetting the emulsion stops it exposing and then you can safely wash your design out outside without the sun or UV light hardening your emulsion more.
#screenexposure #homescreenprinting #screenprintityourself #screenprintingtips
Fabric printing ? These are sample pots of waterbased pallet adhesive.
This magic stuff goes onto your printing board and stops your fabric from moving. It's sticky but doesn't come off on the fabric. When printing on fabric you should have a small gap between your screen and the fabric, this is known as "off contact" and "snap off".
After you flood your screen, you do a print stroke which presses the mesh down to the fabric surface, as your squeegee passes over the screen clearing the ink from the design, the screens snaps up off the fabric. This helps get an even deposit of ink and helps prevent smudging, bleeding of ink.
If you order fabric ink on our website ask for a sample in the order notes and we'll send you one.
Pallet adhesive was the first thing that made a difference to my printing. I had printed for many years as a hobby and when I started using pallet adhesive I stopped wasting shirts with misprints. If you lift the screen and see that you haven't cleared the mesh properly, you can bring the screen down and do another print stroke. Without pallet adhesive the shirt sticks to the screen and moves when you lift it so it's impossible to do another print.
On dark fabric it enables you to get a second layer printed so you can get good opaque prints.
TLDR;
Pallet adhesive is the best stuff and will make a big difference to your fabric printing.
#palletadhesive #screenprintathome #screenprintingsupplies #screenprintuk #homescreenprinting
Another batch of screens on their way to @screentecprintessentialsltd to get remeshed.
Frames have been cleaned and they'll come back looking superb. These were all old screens with tired torn mesh, old emulsion and dried ink. Stripped the mesh off and gave the frames a good clean, these will be good for another good run once they get remeshed.
#silkscreenmesh #remeshscreenprint #screenprintuk #screenprinting #screenprintingaddicts
Need screens restretched ?
We use @screentecprintessentialsltd and these screens arrived back today and they are perfect !
I always collect up a few frames and send them in together.
#Screenprinting #screenprintuk #silkscreen #artsandcraft #screenprintingaddicts
Need a specific ink colour ?
We mix custom colours in our Perfectly Opaque waterbased ink range.
#Screenprinting #texttileprintinguk #textilescreenprintinginks #textilescreenprinting #screenprintuk
Tag us with your printmaking projects @flat_fox
We love seeing what you create.
#screenprintinguk #screenprintedart #screenprintingaddicts #silkscreenprint
A new screen. So many possibilities...
I've mainly printed onto fabric with 43T and 55T mesh screens. Since discovering Aqua Art paper and board inks I've been using mainly 90T screens and printing onto paper and cardboard boxes.
The detail you can expose and print with a fine 90T mesh is amazing. The Aqua Art inks are a dream to print with and the fact that they are archival and won't fade or yellow is great. Perfect for creating art that will last, imagine printing something awesome, selling it and a few years later it is fading or yellowing !
Try our Aqua Art inks and you won't be disappointed.
Aqua Art waterbased paper and board inks
Made here in the UK 🇬🇧
#screenprintedart #screenprintingtips #screenprintsupply #screenprintityourself #screenprintuk
"A" is for Positive Quality, not really but if your positives are not dark/dense enough they will let light through during exposure.
This will make washout difficult unless you expose for less time which means your emulsion will be unexposed.
Underexposed emulsion will break down while printing and since it is not hard enough the emulsion can absorb chemicals during printing and chemically harden. Underexposed emulsion is harder to strip.
Solutions
If your positives are not dark enough you can use RIP software to get denser ink printed. Some RIP software like Accurip have free one week trials so you can test them out. The RIP software basically takes over your printer's brain and says "now we are going to print with a lot more ink."
If this isn't an option try doubling your positives, print registration marks and line two positives up. This makes a big difference, your washout will be much easier and the emulsion will be easier to strip later.
It all starts with a good positive. The difference a good quality positive will make to your exposure experience is amazing.
We provide a positive printing service which is especially good if you are printing fine detail or halftones.
Our One Step photopolymer emulsion responds well to post hardening unlike diazo emulsion where post exposure doesn't make much difference. After exposure, washout and drying of your screen, you put it back under your UV light for 4 times your initial exposure time to post harden the emulsion giving the photoploymerd time to fully harden.
This makes your emulsion stronger, more waterproof and in the end easier to strip.
#printingathome #screenprintingtips #screenprintsupply #screenprintityourself #homeexposure
