# silk screen onto paper bag?



## smeared ink (Jun 13, 2011)

I want to silk screen my logo onto the paper bags that I use when I deliver my orders. Can I silk screen onto paper. How do I cure It? I only have regular ink that I use for garments. I am new to this so I am not sure.
Thank You


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you could direct print plastisol on quality paper bags and cure them in a conveyor oven. Not easily, mind you, but it could be a great employment pre-qualifier. 

OK, if you want to make it EASY, get some poster inks at the local art supply-- remember to flood in between prints and clean up right away. 
The trick will be finding places to put them all to dry.


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## smeared ink (Jun 13, 2011)

thank you, just reg poster ink?


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## Tj Ryonet Tech (Jul 28, 2008)

Use water base ink. They will air dry on papers. Plastisol won't work. The plastisizers in the ink will eventually leech into the paper and give a oily residue look to the images.


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## rudi (Mar 7, 2007)

I use a poster ink called papersolve (in australia) and run them thru the dryer at a low temp (let them fall into your garment bin). That way your not clogging up you factory drying them or just get a drying rack.


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

Tj Ryonet Tech said:


> Use water base ink. They will air dry on papers. Plastisol won't work. The plastisizers in the ink will eventually leech into the paper and give a oily residue look to the images.


Not to say it will stick well, or that it's the right thing to do, but if you run it through the dryer just right, or flash it for a second or two, it will cure on paper just like fabric and look just fine-- Don't wash test it though. 

I would think you could use nearly any quality air-dry ink, not just poster--I use rubber base ink for a lot of random stuff and it works great. Air dry vinyl is a little stinkier, but a gloss might be classy depending on the design.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Also, just know that if you're a typical plastisol printer, your emulsion will not hold up to water-based inks. The stencil will start to break down so don't expect large runs, or reusing the screen for subsequent runs.


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

Grab some Speedball ink. Paper printing is about the only thing it's good for, and it'll do a nice job. Alternatively, get a quart of flat wall paint at Home Depot. It's a bit on the runny side, but a lot of gig poster people use latex paint with a ghetto press to save money. I'd personally spring for the Speedball ink, though.

The main reason plastisol isn't the best is it needs to mechanically bond to a surface with enough "tooth" to grip. Once the ink cures it shouldn't leach out the oil, but it may very well scrape off the paper with very little effort.


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## redlinecol (Jul 13, 2011)

Contact your supplier for a paper & board ink...best to use the proper stuff for the job. Use a fine mesh & probably best to air dry if possible. If you run it through your dryer, lower the temperature & slow it right down. Check at the end check that all solvent has been driven off before stacking...otherwise the ink will re-wet & you'll end up with a pile of bags stuck together


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## ScreenFoo (Aug 9, 2011)

I'd throw it in there too, if you're printing black air dry, and can run a 200 or 230, you shouldn't have too hard of a time curing in a conveyor with decent airflow-- The afforementioned speedball inks have been zipped through the dryer here pretty quick. Also, although I do primarily plastisol, if you use a good dual cure and use good stencil making practices, you shouldn't have any problem getting a few hundred, if not a thousand prints out of a screen.

Tom--I know newsprint and computer paper will take a plastisol print pretty well, a few months back I ripped down about eighty square feet of about 20 year old prints on paper off one of the walls here. (got rid of a lot of neon that day ) Although they were definitely easy to damage, it seemed like you had to damage the paper to damage the print.


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

I'll be printing some bags myself for this same purpose. I have a couple of businesses so this fits great for me.

It will be training for a guy I'm trying to test out and my wife at the same time.

I've printed black plastisol on the same paper bag already and ran it through the dryer. It worked out just fine. I even tried VERY hard to scratch it with my fingernail and after LOTS of really HARD scratches I managed to slightly smudge the corner I was scratching at. Pretty durable, especially if this is just a carry out bag for customers that will likely be binned when they get home.


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## mdcorral (Jan 8, 2009)

yap, waterbase will do best



Tj Ryonet Tech said:


> Use water base ink. They will air dry on papers. Plastisol won't work. The plastisizers in the ink will eventually leech into the paper and give a oily residue look to the images.


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