# New to Screen Printing, question about full shirt screen print



## tfountain (Apr 9, 2008)

Hi I am new to screen printing and wanted to start making t shirts.

The first design I have in mind was a full t shirt print. I was planning on having someone burn the screen for me.

However is it much more difficult to screen a full shirt once I have the screen, than a regular shirt.

Also since I am just getting started do I NEED any fancy equiptment of screen presses to get started or can I jsut improvise.

I see that the screen is supposted to be about an 1/8in about the shirt while screening. Any tips on how to achive this for cheap?

Any other tips on full shirt screening you could give would be great!

thanks

Tommy


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## neato (Mar 21, 2006)

I think perhaps you may be biting off a little more than you can chew at this point. Are you sure you're going to have all the tools necessary to do a full print? You'll need: An extra large screen, massive shirt pallet, huge squeegee, giant scoop coater, and a gargantuan exposure unit.

And then, you'll need to have all the normal sized stuff to for regular prints.

There are a lot of guys who have been in this industry for many years who do not have the capabilities to print oversized prints (including us). It's a lot of investment for something that more than likely is just a passing fad. 

I'm not saying you can't do it, but it may be more economical to find someone to print your shirts for you.


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## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

Agreed with neato^^^ 
Once you look further into screenprinting you'll understand how difficult this is.

As far as the 1/8" offset, tape a paint stirrer to the bottom of the screen.


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## tfountain (Apr 9, 2008)

neato said:


> I think perhaps you may be biting off a little more than you can chew at this point. Are you sure you're going to have all the tools necessary to do a full print? You'll need: An extra large screen, massive shirt pallet, huge squeegee, giant scoop coater, and a gargantuan exposure unit.


Do I absolutely need and exposure unit, or can I just let them air dry?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

tfountain said:


> Do I absolutely need and exposure unit, or can I just let them air dry?


The exposure unit is what develops your screen emulsion. You will need one at least as large as your screen.

What dries the shirt after printing depends on the ink. If you are using waterbased inks, then air dry is a possibility, but not recommended. You will need either a heat press, flash dryer or regular dryer. Your ink manufacturer will advise you which is best for their ink.

If you are using plastisol inks, air drying is not possible. Plastisol requires a flash or regular dryer.


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## tfountain (Apr 9, 2008)

Ok but if I am having someone else burn my screen then I dont need a exposure unit, correct?


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## tfountain (Apr 9, 2008)

Also if I am jsut starting out is it possible to you a hair dyer or heat gun to dry/cure the ink?


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## midwaste (Apr 8, 2008)

If someone else burns the screen for you, no, you wont need an exposure unit.

A blow dryer is not hot enough to flash/cure plastisols. I use a heat gun to flash in between colors, but I wouldnt recommend it for curing the ink. Use an old oven instead


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## Unik Ink (Nov 21, 2006)

Most plastisol ink has to reach a temp of 320 degrees to cure. I guess it really depends on how hot your hair dryer gets and how long you want to sit there and blow it on each individual shirt. If you are doing screen printing as a hobby, you might get away without spending much money, but if you are doing it as a business enterprise, you should learn all that you can, take classes or watch how to dvds, work for a printer for awhile, then think about investing in equipment.


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## Unkle Samo (Feb 27, 2008)

I use a flash dryer over 4 quadrants of the t shirt and that takes a ridiculously long time to cure an all over print...I can't even imagine a heat gun, much less a hair dryer! The drying area is way too small and would you really be sure all of the plastisol ink is cured (over a 36" X 40" area)?


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## FAT DADDY (Sep 4, 2008)

is there a company who will do a full print shirt...say if you wanted clouds covering enitre shirt and you want 500 of them.
thanks


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## Uncle John (Mar 11, 2007)

Fat Daddy, what you asking is unrealistic. The presses to print all over prints cost hundreds of thousand dollars. 500 shirts with clouds would take about 10 min. The cost is in the screens, setup and art.


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## chuer24 (Apr 7, 2014)

Uncle John said:


> Fat Daddy, what you asking is unrealistic. The presses to print all over prints cost hundreds of thousand dollars. 500 shirts with clouds would take about 10 min. The cost is in the screens, setup and art.


What company out there is capable of doing this?


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