# What to do after screen printing ink dries to make it permanent



## Fardor (Jan 27, 2008)

I got a SpeedBall silk screen (screen print) kit and in the direction book I believe it said to iron the areas where ink has dried on the shirt for 5 minutes or so to make it more permanent.

But I remember reading about using a heatgun to make it permanent. Will ironing it not make the ink truly permanent?


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Since you're using waterbased ink, an iron will make it truly permanent. It's one way to do it though, rather than the only way. It's more reliable than using a heat gun, but more tedious.


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## tpitman (Jul 30, 2007)

Fardor said:


> I got a SpeedBall silk screen (screen print) kit and in the direction book I believe it said to iron the areas where ink has dried on the shirt for 5 minutes or so to make it more permanent.
> 
> But I remember reading about using a heatgun to make it permanent. Will ironing it not make the ink truly permanent?


Iron the shirt for 5 minutes (I'd put paper bag paper over the ink, or iron it inside out). Then throw it in the washer and wash it a few times to see what happens. If you've got two shirts, wash one and save the other out to compare against, so you can check for fading, fibrillation, and so on.


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