# Noobie Question - Screen Printing vs Airbrushing



## Loose Lips (Apr 29, 2009)

Hi.

I am thinking about airbrushing over stencils rather than screen printing mainly because I can do this at home much cheaper than paying for someone to screen print my designs. But some advice would be good!

I think this will allow me to go with smaller run's of tshirts without forking out for a minimum print to make it viable through a proffessional screen printer.

I could almost create them 'on-demand' as they sell, or at least allow me to keep a very lean amount of stock.

There's no way I would consider screen printing at home - the general vibe that I can tell is to get it done professionally.

However, I would have a crack with a spray gun and curing with an iron and a hair dryer. (Obviously I have read that proper heat curing is the way to go for better results).

I'm thinking that I use Permaset fabric ink in the spray gun and stencil using acetate so it's durable and re-usable - it will also allow me to number my tshirts in an Andy Warhol 'Factory' kind of way, which screen printing won't allow me to do (by 'signing' the shirts with the spray gun i.e. 4/50).

The second I sell a few I will then go proffessional on the screen print with the profits.

I think this may give a slight look about my designs but if I minimise bleed how close can I can a stencil spray gun tshirt design to a screen print design? Are certain type of inks better?

Am I mental - is this definitely not the way to do it? I feel it could cut my overheads in terms of a start up. Especially with low run, multi colour designs.

Any thoughts?

Cheers in advance.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Silkscreen inks like Permaset are thick, like paste. you would have to water it down so much to go through the sprayer. Your colors would become very transparent.

If you are going to use stencil, use Permaset with a small squeegee or roller. Although you will still need something better than an iron or hair dryer. A $20 heat gun from Home Depot would work.


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## wjmurray (Jan 6, 2009)

If you are going to airbrush fabrics, use paint designed for use in an airbrush. Createx, Golden and Jacquard are 3 that come to mind. I use Createx for a multitude of purposes and it does the job well. Just remember to heat set the paint once you are done to be sure that the shirts will wear well when washed. I know a lot of custom shirt painters who only use Createx and their shirts can last for years if they are heat set properly and cared for as instructed by the customer.

Don't try using inks made for screen printing because they will just mess up your brushes and not give you the results that you want.


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## Uncle John (Mar 11, 2007)

I would recommend to you, that you find a local DTG printer that will work with you on pricing and that way you have a quality product and make money.


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## wjmurray (Jan 6, 2009)

It's kind of a rather broad assumption that just because someone does not screen print the shirt and uses an airbrush that they are not giving a quality product. If the seller uses the proper PSI to infuse the paint into the fibers when airbrushing and heat presses (Not use an iron or heat gun) the shirt after painting, they will end up with a quality product that will stand up to washing and look very good if done properly. If the person using the AB has any talent, they can even make the shirt a real work of art and create a lot of one of a kind shirts that will be more valuable to a customer than a mass produced garment, and be able to charge more for them.


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