# How to setup home screen printing room?



## skrokievoks (May 29, 2007)

Thinking of converting a room in my house to use as a screen print studio.
I've got no hands-on screen printing experience.

Questions:

What are all the equipment I'll need for screen printing?
Furniture needs?
How big should this room be?
Any other considerations? (heat, ventilation etc)


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## JOAT (Nov 12, 2008)

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to let people know that you do not have to have all the high end equipment to produce t-shirts. I started with a 4/1 and a flasher and made money then bought other equipment. The key is to start.


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## raziemlutto (Feb 18, 2008)

You would need the following equipment and supplies

Press (tabletop would save the most space)
Flash
Exposure

Ink and chemical supplies

make sure is darkroom safe.


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## MotoskinGraphix (Apr 28, 2006)

Pull up your carpet is the first thing to do.


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## JOAT (Nov 12, 2008)

LOL...I wish someone would have told me that at first...You will drop the squeeze several times with ink on it then it will bounce and roll with paint being tossed everywhere...I ended up putting painters plastic down everywhere. you can curse and everything else the stain is still there and it is permanent


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## LUTION (Jun 17, 2011)

Haha, yes definitely carpet removal/protection... I have both emulsion and ink stains now... I just built a small one color press and bought a flash dryer. To start out you can outsource just about everything else, there are sites that can send you screens with your designs on them so you don't have to worry about the cost or space of that equipment quite yet. Make a few dollars with a small setup if your doing it from home, then expand where you need to most with what you can fit. And good luck!


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## Cathy91722 (Feb 26, 2010)

I hear alot of people are starting out with one of those Yudu's. I work out of my storage shed out back, I don't want my press taking up living space in my house, the vinyl cutter, mug press, heat-press, embroidery machine etc are bad enough!


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## JOAT (Nov 12, 2008)

jaded4business said:


> could you please post the pictures and models of each thing you use for screen printing. I stay in INDIA and have to figure it out if I could get them here.
> Thank you


 There is a book out called How to make Tshirts for fun and profit. That was my guide to doing a lot in setting up at home and in my shop.


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## SlightlyBlended (Jun 15, 2011)

I know this was an old post but the pull up your carpet comment cracked me up


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## superD70 (Dec 22, 2010)

Amazon.com: How to Print T-Shirts for Fun and Profit! (9780963947413): Scott O. Fresener: Books


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## sharefilters (Nov 20, 2008)

Choosing the Right Screen for Screen Printing
When printing T-shirts, you need to choose a screen that is right for the image you are printing. There are a few choices you have to make: aluminum vs. wood, screen size, and mesh count.

Should I use wood or aluminum?

Other than ease of construction, there is only one advantage to using a wood screen: price. A lot of suppliers don't even offer them anymore, or are clearancing them out at cheap prices. Aluminum screens are more rigid than wood, and won't warp. When aligning multiple screens for a multi-colored T-shirt job, warping screens could make alignment impossible. Ink is also easier to wipe off of aluminum as it won't absorb any of it. However, if you are going to make your own screens, wood is easier to use and is what we show in the instructions on the "stretching your own screens" page.

Screen sizes

There are two considerations when determining what size screen to use. First, how big is your image? Second, will it fit on your screen printing press? The standard outside dimension of T-shirt printing screens is 20 x 24 inches. It will fit most designs and will fit on all printing presses. If you need to go larger for a big design, make sure that multiple large screens will not hit each other when positioned side by side on a press. The press featured on our Printing Press Site can hold screens larger than 20 inches wide, but not more than two at a time. Wide screens can be placed across from each other on a press so as to not conflict.

Choosing the right mesh count

"Mesh count" refers to the number of threads per inch in a screen. The count can range from 16 threads per inch to over 400. Generally, bold and simple images go on low-numbered screens, complicated and detailed designs go on high-numbered screens.

Below are four design examples and the mesh count used for printing. Keep in mind that there are a number of intermediary meshes (200, for instance), but I have chosen four that show the wide range of possibilities 83, 110, 230 and 305:



83 Mesh Count: The above Circuit Board Tie has been a big success and is featured on web sites such as Think Geek. Note that the widest part of the tie is 3.5 inches so you can judge how thick these lines are. Although the design is fairly detailed, in order to use metallic inks I needed to use a very low mesh, such as an 83. I was able to use a 110 with some success, but it became easier when lowered to an 83. Any more detailed on such a low mesh and the linework would lose its detail and corners.



110 Mesh Count: Above is a detail of my tattoo octopus design. Depending on your monitor resolution, this is approximately lifesize. There is no small detail work, so it is ideal for about a 110 mesh. See the octopus shirt below:









230 Mesh Count: Above is the accordion from the Instruments of War T-shirt design. Depending on your monitor resolution, this is approximately lifesize. There is some fairly small detailed work, but it's bold enough that it still works without resorting to a higher mesh.



305 Mesh Count: Above is a detail from the Instrumental Oddities T-shirt design. Notice what kind of extreme detail is possible even on a shirt!

Other mesh count considerations

As illustrated above, the higher the mesh count, the more detail that's possible. However, higher mesh counts put LESS INK through the screen per squeegee pull. That means that images will appear lighter, but this can be corrected by using multiple passes of the squeegee until the design is the desired value (darkness). The above "Instrumental Oddities" shirt takes 3 squeegee passes for proper contrast. For this reason, light inks on dark shirts work better on lower mesh counts because they require thicker ink. Still, multiple squeegee pulls or a print, flash, print method (explained later) can make light-on-dark printing possible even with detailed designs.

For more information on the silk screening, please visit us at: www.sharefilters.com


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