BUYERS GUIDE - Wicked Printing Stuff

BUYERS GUIDE

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If you need any printing or product advice, to arrange a visit to our workshop or to place an order, there are many ways to contact us:

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Opening hours: 9.00am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and selected Saturdays.

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Unit 7, The Grove Workshops Three Gates Road Fawkham, Kent, DA3 8NZ

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T: +44 (0) 1474 709 009 F: +44 (0) 1474 709 200 [email protected] www.wickedprintingstuff.com

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Introduction How to use this guide What kind of printer am i? printing kit the basics Your Work What are you printing on? How many colours? Sizing up Screen sizes Which Mesh Count? Setting up budget Wicked kits exposure units squeegees Work space Printing Emulsion Inks & medium Drying & curing Wash fastness

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Cleaning Cleaning your screen reclaiming your screen Health & safty Environmental printing SCREEN PRINTING COURSES

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Glossary

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Stay connected with us via:

www.wickedprintingstuff.com

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Introduction Welcome to the Wicked Printing Stuff Buyers Guide.

What kind of printer am i?

Whether you are a ‘Rookie’ or a ‘Pro’; you can let go of any screen printing fears now, because here you’ll find all the guidance you need to figure out what screen printing products and equipment is best suited to you.

This will help us get you to the information you want quicker. Which describes you best?

a

I am new to screen printing and need all the help I can get to get cracking in my new hobby. If ‘A’ describes you best...Welcome ‘Rookie’, you are in safe hands. Don’t forget to look out for the info marked in green and we’re always here to help if you need anything else.

b

I’ve done a fair bit of screen printing, I have the basics nailed but am unsure of certain things. I love printing and sometimes sell my work. If ‘B’ describes you best...You are an intermediate but we’ll call you ‘Inter’ for short. You need to look out for information in blue as this will go into a little more depth for you.

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My job is screen printing, I know it inside out but need help with some of the technical bits. If ‘C’ describes you best...Hello ‘Pro’, keep your eyes peeled for the information in red as it gets technical, all you need to know for commercial screen printing.

Should you need even more in depth information, check out the FAQs section of our website or get in touch if you have a new question, we’d love to help. We offer a range of screen printing training courses to suit your needs. Whether you are an absolute beginner and just want to know the basics or maybe struggling to print that multi colour complex job, wps have developed a number of courses, events and workshops to help you get the most out of screen printing.

How to use this guide For all you pro’s and geeks out there, keep a look out for purple arrows as these notes will explain any technical information you might need. By clicking on words which are underlined you will be taken to our website or youtube channel. These will mainly appear to the side of the page.

Technical information.

See: the website. Watch: a video. Skip: to a page.

Words which appear in our glossary will appear in italic like this: ‘finding the squeegee which is right for you’. Click the word to read the glossary definition. This guide has been colour coded so depending on your level of knowledge, experience or interest you can quickly pin point the information you are looking for. Information specifically for beginners or ‘Rookies’ as we shall refer to them is marked with a green triangle. For intermediates or ‘Inters’ the information is marked with a blue triangle and for all you professionals, ‘Pros’, look out for pink triangles. buyers guide

Information for Rookies. Information for Inters. Information for Pros.


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Introduction

printing kit Here are the main bits of screen printing equiptment you’ll use and a little bit about what they are for.

1. Emulsion

4. Screen

6. tapes

9. Flash dryer

Light sensitive, thick liquid which coats the screen. When the screen is exposed the emulsion hardens and unexposed areas drop out to leave the stencil.

These come in different sizes and mesh counts.

Parcel tape is good for taping up a screen and masking tape for registering prints.

Used to cure colours inbetween prints.

5A. exposure LAMP

Screens are clamped in and rise and lower to the platen whilst printing.

7. Tunnel Dryer

Used for exposing artwork on to screens.

2. Trough

10. carousel

For fixing ink to fabrics.

Used to coat the screen with a thin layer of emulsion.

3. Squeegee

11. inks

5b. exposure unit 8. palette knife

Used to quickly expose artwork onto screens. Some units have built in drying cabinets to speed up drying screens.

Used for mixing inks with medium and scraping inks from screens.

Different inks are used to print on different types of surface.

12. Hand benches

Used to pull the ink across the screen.

Used to print onto large paper sizes, benches come with powerful vacuums.

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5B

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introduction

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the basics So, lets cover the basics. How does screen printing work? If you’re a Pro, you might want to skip ahead to page 10. For all you Rookies and Inters that need a little refresh, let’s begin…

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KIT:

coated Screen exposure unit or a hanging lamp and piece of glass

KIT: Screen trough emulsion

Coat your screen Emulsion is light sensitive so it’s best to do this in the dark. Fill the trough with emulsion and keeping the screen steady tilt the trough and drag it up the screen leaving an even layer of emulsion on the screen. Use a fan heater to dry your screen in a dark place.

buyers guide

When exposing your screen your positives should be face up (artwork touching the emulsion), place your screen on top of the artwork. Different emulsions have different exposure times, so check the tub for guidance. Once your have exposed, its time to wash. Spray the screen with water until the image appears and all the loose emulsion is washed out of the image.

Make your art work positive Make your positive on acetate or tracing paper. A cheap (and messy) method is to use olive oil to coat the paper on which you have drawn or printed your artwork. This makes the paper more transparent. You need to make sure the artwork is as black as possible. If you are using transparent film you can print two sheets of film and stick them together to make a great positive.

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Expose your artwork onto the screen

Let the screen dry, use a fan or drying cabinet to speed it up. We would not recommend using a hair dryer to dry your screen as it can over expose the emulsion causing it to harden. Once dry, check the screen for pin holes, anything you can see through will print. Use screen filler or parcel tape to fill any unwanted holes.

4 KIT: Table hinge (UU CLAMP) Vacuum bed or Carousel Parcel tape

Setting up to print However you are printing, your screen will need to be clamped in place. Use parcel tape to cover the edges of the screen where the emulsion stops. This prevents ink straying though the screen where you don’t want it to print.


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introduction

5 KIT: Inks Medium squeegee Acetate/trace parcel Tape Masking tape

The type of ink and medium you use depends on what you are printing as they are specifically for either fabric or paper. Squeegee’s are also different for fabric and for paper.

Skip: see page 23 for more information on inks and medium. Or, see page 19 to identify the type of squeegee best for you.

Apply pressure and pull the ink towards you to flood the screen and leave an image on your screen which you can use to register your work. Lift the screen off the surface, then push the squeegee and ink back to the top of the screen without applying pressure.

Pour your ink along the length of your artwork making sure it also covers the length of your squeegee. You’ll need a piece of acetate taped to the surface to help register your paper.

To get your registration right, especially if you are printing onto paper, you need to place your paper or substrate under the acetate and line it up as you want. Then, using masking tape, mark out where to put your paper.

See: Platen adhesives

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Printing & registering

For garment printing you would normally spray hitak or roll on adhesive onto the platen.

KIT:

palette knife brush stencil strip water power washer

Cleaning up With a palette knife scrape the unused ink from the screen and squeegee back into the pot. Take the screen out of the hinges and wash off straight away. Be sure to get all the ink out or blockages can occur. Your stencil can be used again or if you are finished with it spray the screen with stencil strip. Scrub with a sponge or brush (we recommend a brush especially if you are using Plastisol inks) to wash off and use a power washer if you have one. Ensure all the emulsion is out by holding the screen up to the light. Allow to dry and you are ready to start all over again.

A NEED R STILL HAND O G G IN N I N I P A L TR HE K ICAL PRACT Y NOT LOOSE? R U WH 35 O A CO TO D AGES 34/ P E E S

Using the registration marks place your paper/substrate in position. Put the screen down to make contact and with both hands apply a good amount of pressure and pull the squeegee and ink towards you across the screen, lift the screen off and push the ink back, this helps keep the ink from drying and floods your screen ready for the next print. Voila! You are printing.

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your work How many colours?

Getting the right kit which suits the type of work you want to produce is essential as you need different kit, inks and processes depending on what you are printing.

Whether you are printing onto t-shirts, sweatshirts, paper or board, the number of colours you want to print in a single design will ultimately determine whether or not you will require a 1, 2, 4 or 6 colour carousel.

What are you printing on? Textiles Are you printing T-Shirts, sweatshirts, hooded pocket tops or vests? All of our kits/carousels/presses (except the paper & board kit) are sold with either an adult or child sized t-shirt printing platen for printing onto t-shirts, sweatshirts and hooded tops.

Skip: see alternative platen sizes (page 12), ink (page 23) and mesh counts (page 15).

If you are unsure how many colours you want to print in your design and want to keep to a low budget to begin with, an upgradeable version of the press will allow you to add additional arms when you’re ready, meaning you can print extra colours in a single design.

Paper Stocks If you are printing onto paper, board, card, boxes (flat), canvas, caps (transfers), transfers and other flat objects we recommend printing with the WPS vacuum board or one of our professional Hand Bench machines which come with a built in vacuum. The vacuum board has a suction attachment to hold the substrate in place whilst printing as using Hi Tak spray adhesive to keep them in place will damage them. Why not check out our short video on the Wicked vacuum board.

WPS 6 colour Table top carousel

The vacuum board The vacuum board can be purchased as an additional item in conjunction with one of our printing presses under the ‘platens’ section on the website. We also sell paper & board kits which include a vacuum board.

Watch: vacuum board

For printing onto caps, you will need to produce Plastisol transfers and have a cap press for transferring the transfer onto the cap. We sell a range of high quality heat presses made in the UK including the WPS 1000 Cap Press, we also sell the papers and adhesive you will need.

WPS 6 Colour Floor standing carousel

cap press WPS 4 Colour Floor standing carousel

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your work

Sizing up

Platens

The size of the printing platen you require as well as the size of screen and squeegee needed will be determined by the size of your design and what you want to print on.

Size guide

inches Baby T-shirt platen 12 x 9 Child T-shirt platen 22.5 x 10 Adult T-shirt platen 22.5 x 15.5 Large front print platen 29 x 17 Mega ‘all over’ print platen 33 x 20 Sleeve platen 23 x 5 screen 12 x 16 screen 16 x 20 screen 20 x 24 screen 23 x 31 squeegee 8 squeegee 12 squeegee 15 squeegee 18 trough 8 trough 12 trough 15 trough 18 A4 paper size 11.7 x 8.27 A3 paper size 16.5 x 11.7 A2 paper size 23.4 x 16.5

buyers guide

millimeters 304.8 x 228.6 571.5 x 254 571.5 x 393.7 736.6 x 431.8 838.2 x 508 584.2 x 127 304.8 x 406.4 406.4 x 508 508 x 609.6 584.2 x 787.4 203.2 304.8 381 457.2 203.2 304.8 381 457.2 297 x 210 420 x 297 594 x 420

Note: Squeegees are available in custom sizes.

Note: Vacuum boards suit most standard sizes of paper and boards.

ScreenS

squeegeeS TroughS Image Size

Set up sizes Example standard sizes to give you an idea of what you will need:

A4

A3

A2


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your work

Screen Sizes

See: Mesh

count 10t 15t 21t 32t 43t 55t 61t 77t 80t 90t 110t 120t 140t 160t

When selecting your screen size you will need to take into account the size of your artwork, what size screens your press will take as well as any storage issues you may have in your working area. We supply 12”x16”, 16”x20”, 20”x24” and 23”x 31”. Wicked Screen measurements are the outside frame dimensions. Printable areas are minus 3 inches from the width and length..

Which Mesh Count? Once you have selected your screen you will need to select a mesh The mesh count is the amount of holes per inch count. The mesh count will depend what substrate you are printing in a screen. The lower onto, what ink you are printing with and how detailed your artwork is. the count the coarser The mesh counts range from 15t which would be used for glitter printing, or highly absorbent surfaces, to a 200t which would be used for extremely fine and intricate lines, hand drawing and photographic work. The most popular textile mesh count for either Waterbased or Ink is between 32t and 65t, and a mesh 77t / 90t upwards would be advised for paper and card printing with a water based ink.

buyers guide

mesh count guide

the screen, the higher the count the finer.

type coarse coarse coarse textile textile textile textile textile textile textile textile paper paper paper

ideal uses glitter glitter glitter maximum opacity on dark fabrics bolder graphics finer detail finer detail finer fabrics, halftone graphics finer fabrics, halftone graphics extreemly light material, general graphics extreemly light material, general graphics general process general process photographic detail

Our kits are sold with 32t and 43t mesh counts on the screens, these are best for general textile designs with no halftones, shadows or very fine detail. If producing finer detailed or glitter print, halftones or photographic work, you will need to read the following guide in order to select the correct mesh count. We can alter the mesh on the screens for you (there may be a small fee to pay for the difference in cost) or, you can order additional screens alongside your kit. A popular question is ‘What is the difference between white and yellow mesh?’ Generally speaking there is very little difference in the performance of the mesh unless you are using 90t upwards. The yellow mesh will help absorb the light when exposing the screens, this will help expose those very fine lines and intricate detail in the photographic designs and hand drawings.


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Setting up Budget

See: kits

Wicked Kits

We sell a wide range of screen printing kits at fantastic prices, catering for the beginner who wants to get started right through to our high end Pro range which provides all of the equipment and consumables to start a large printing business.

Remember: Our kits are sold with both 32t and 42t screens but we can alter the mesh on the screens for you (prices may vary).

If you are a beginner or need enough equipment and consumables to produce one-off / samples or want to try out screen printing without spending too much money then check out these fantastic kits, ‘Foundation UU kit’, ‘Foundation so easy kit’ and the ‘Ultra 1 Colour kit’.

Our range of kits are the:

mid range Kits Essential: For printers on a limited budget, beginners and

See: kits for beginners

people wanting to produce simple designs.

Mid: For printers with limited space, a small business, medium throughput but produce multi colour designs.

PrO: For printers starting or running a large business, wanting high throughput and printing complex designs.

UU clamp with screen

Specialist: For printers using specialist inks and printing onto non textile substrates.

Club: For printers who want the basic consumables but have access to equipment at a school, club or college.

Plastisol is a chemical based ink and specific chemicals are needed in the clean up process which aren’t required with water-based inks which are also better for the environment. More on page 24.

Great for screen printers with limited space but who want to produce professional garments. The kits include the Press, Exposure Unit, Consumables and a selection of either Plastisol inks or waterbased inks. The Advanced kits also come with more consumables and the WPS flash dryer.

Upgradeable Kits Ideal if you are unsure how complex the designs will be that you will print. These will let you add more arms to the carousel when you are ready. You can start with the upgradeable 2 or 4 colour kits and add more arms when required to make it up to a 6 colour carousel.

Pro Kit range Perfect for those wanting to start their own screen printing businesses ranging from kits including floor standing carousels, tunnel dryers, exposure units up to Semi Automatic carousel packages.

Garment Decorator: Complete decoration solution including vinyl and colour laser transfer technology.

specialist Kits Amazing for printing posters, paper, transfers or flat surfaces not suitable for gluing or sticking to a platen. These kits include inks suitable for printing onto paper / card and transfer paper.

The Essential range of kits are suitable for simple text designs ideal for a hobby. These affordable kits are not for producing photo sensitive stencils, but are great for the ‘craft hand cut out’ stencil method.

Garment decorator As your budget increases so does the ability of the equipment to enable you to do more complex designs when printing. We have a variety of complete kit packages, which include everything you will need to start printing professional, screen printed garments.

buyers guide

Upgradeable carousel

We have teamed up with The Magic Touch and developed a range of kits that combine the equipment and consumables needed for your garment screen printing, vinyl and laser transfers. A complete garment decorator package!


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setting up

Exposure units

Squeegees

To transfer your image onto your screen you will need to use an exposure unit. There are many different exposure unit set ups on the market and each has a different light source. Each having different light sources. UV, halide and halogen are very popular in the UK. Our Wicked exposure lamp has a 1000 watt halogen light source and is provided will all waterbased and Plastisol kits.

We sell both aluminium and wooden squeegees in a variety of sizes (8,12,15,18 inches) with either a D cut or square cut blade. Depending on the ink you plan to use, the type of surface you are printing onto and the effect you want to achieve will determine what you choose.

We also sell Actinic and Metal Halide exposure units which are See: exposing equiptment able to expose quicker (typical exposure time is 2 minutes for an Actinic unit and 16 minutes for the lamp) than the cheaper lamp solution. Some units include built in drying cabinets making the whole process a lot faster. A very large part of your decision if you are new to screen printing will be your budget and space. Exposure units vary dramatically in price. The WPS Lamp is small and compact, it’s a great popular starter piece of equipment.

the handles Aluminium squeegees: We sell a standard and premium handle. They are hard wearing, non absorbent, easy to clean (using screenwash) and allows you to increase pressure when printing. Wooden squeegees: are moisture resistant and have been treated to prolong the life of the handle. Designed for maximum comfort and for easy pull and push when printing. The yoke of the hand takes all of the pressure, so printing is less strenuous on the fingers and thumb. Wooden squeegees are cheaper than aluminium but can be prone to warping.

the blades Our squeegees use the WPS range of Flow Print Squeegee blades we sell both D (aka V) and Square Cut Blades. D Cut blades are ideal for Textile Printing and using Plastisol Ink. It is suitable for absorbent materials as the D cut blades lay down a heavier deposit of ink. Great when printing light coloured inks onto dark garments. The Square Cut is available with different level of Shores (hardness of the blade) ranging from soft to very hard. The blades are manufactured to exhibit minimal swelling whilst maintaining hardness, resilience and abrasion resistance.

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setting up

work space

weiss carousels

Wicked have a range of floor standing and tabletop carousels and printing presses. They are designed to be space saving and suitable for those with limited space. Great for small workshops, shops, schools and colleges where multiple printing presses are required and those working from home.

Ideal for professionals. Built to last, adjustable and easy to operate. Upgradeable from the 4 Colour 4 Station to the 6 Colour 6 Station press.

We also sell the Weiss range of Floor standing carousels, made in Denmark they are high quality carousels designed for commercial screen printers. These carousels require more space than the tabletop units.

Weiss range - floor standing carousels The exposure lamp can also be sat on a table and depending on the size of the screen you are exposing takes up only 1 meter square of space.

The small floor standing carousels are built using high quality components, with a very precise and rigid construction providing the basis for high quality prints. The registration forks are factory set and require no lubrication or adjustment.

The maximum area needed, say if you were printing with our 6 colour carousel set up with our largest 23” x 31” screens is a comfortable spinning circle of 6 foot. Smaller screens require a smaller spinning circle. The table size required for the printing press base must be big enough to cover the base size of our presses. We recommend a table of no less than 130cm in length / 65cm width.

Small carousel’s max screen width: 4 colour = 90cm 6 colour = 50cm

Small: Work space 100cm

Carousel space 200cm

Weiss floor standing carousels

90cm

The measurements for our 2,4, and 6 colour presses are: Without Platen = length 120cm /47”, Width 46cm / 18” With Platen fully extended = length 140cm /55.5”

Medium carousel’s max screen width: 4 colour = 115cm 6 colour = 62cm

Small dryers such as the WPS Tunnel Dryer and the Panther 700 Texitunnel can be used with Single Phase electrical supplies. Bigger dryers are mainly three phase.

medium: Work space 100cm

Carousel space 280cm

Ideal for small workshops, retail premises and classroom environments. The floor standing carousels are upgradeable up to 6 Colour 6 Stations.The carousel space has a diameter of 230cm.

WPS 4 Colour Floor standing carousel

90cm If you are looking to purchase a tunnel dryer, depending on what size dryer you are looking for you will need between 2.5m – 4m in length by approx 1m length. Also check that you have adequate electrical power.

WPS 6 Colour Floor standing carousel buyers guide


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printing Emulsion

inks & medium

There are many emulsions on the market and every printer will have their preferred type and brand. Some emulsions come pre sensitised and ready for use and some will need mixing.

How much ink will you need?

Our emulsion is a 2 part emulsion, its comes with sensitizer which when pre-sensitized both parts can last from 12-24 months. Once mixed the emulsion lasts 6-8 weeks (its life can be prolonged slightly if it is stored in a cold place, like the fridge). It is possible to mix half sensitizer with half emulsion which will prolong shelf life.

Watch: Step by step screen printing video tutorial [04:13s for coating your screen]. Tip: avoid exposing your emulsion to light when mixing and coating.

This depends on the size of your print and how many prints you need to produce per colour. As a guide, a 1 litre tub of ink will produce 200-300 prints A4 size, depending on how heavy the deposit of ink is on your garment. This should help you calculate your requirement. If you are using specialist inks such as ‘All Night Glow Inks’ typically a 1 litre tub will give you between 60-100 prints for an A5/A4 logo.

the three main types of ink we sell Plastisol inks: Widely used in garment printing because they are easy to print, do not dry on the screen, can be opaque on dark garments, and adhere to most textiles.

Some printers prefer readymade capillary film. WPS are a supplier of Ulano emulsions and we are continually expanding the range.

Perfect all rounder Ulano proclaim emulsion: An all purpose textile and graphic emulsion it prints a wide variety of inks and substrates and provides excellent definition and resolution whilst giving sharp, durable stencils’. A true multi-purpose emulsion for textiles and graphics. For use with Plastisol, Vinyl, Correx ink, Nazdar and other solvent based inks.

Waterbased inks: A range of solvent free air-dry waterbased inks, widely used in schools and colleges. It is perfect for printing onto fabric as well as paper, cardboard. And Solvent based inks: A range for use on substrates such as nylon, vinyl, plastic, correx, aluminium and rubber. You will find Mercury Gloss, Catalysed, Correx, Nylo Bag, Paper & Board and Vinyl inks in our range.

Autosol 5000: A great general purpose emulsion which you can use with both solvent and waterbased inks.

Plastisol INKS Great for long print runs Ulano 925WR (Water Resistant) Emulsion: Stencils produced with 925WR are completely water resistant and very durable. The 925 Emulsion is highly recommended for long print runs and large designs when using water based inks.

best for textiles Ulano EZ-Film Capillary film: Intended for standard textile printing using non-aqueous Plastisol inks 31-61t Mesh count. Adheres perfectly, dry’s quickly and exposes quickly. Consistent stencil with no mess.

buyers guide

Note: 925 requires a longer exposure time when using the WPS exposure unit

Plastisol inks are most commonly used in screen printing because they are not ‘air-dry’ inks and when producing longer print runs they will not dry up on the screen. There is more choice when choosing your Plastisol inks, more colours, plus additives can be added to your Plastisol ink to produce special effects such as puffer/raised effect, suede effect, Lycra additive, glitters and metallic’s. We also sell specialist Plastisol inks such as the ‘All Night Glow’ inks which glow in the dark for several hours.


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printing

categories of Plastisol inks we sell are:

See: Plastisol ink guide.

UNION MAX-OPAKE INKS / Rutland EH High Opacity ready mixed inks: High Opacity Direct Print. The most opaque Plastisol colours available, they can be printed, quickly flash-cured and printed again to achieve extremely bright prints on garments that contain polyester. Ideal for dark garments as they have great opacity. Cotton or cotton polyester blends. Wet on wet direct printing. Special low bleed version for polyester and bleeding cotton/poly fabrics. Manual or automatic printing. Easy to print - soft creamy consistency and ready to use. UNION MIX-OPAKE INKS / Rutland M3 Mixing System: High-Speed High Opacity. Similar to Max-Opake, but is a system to mix standard Pantone and Union colours to order. Union’s MixOpake inks provide you with the opportunity to simulate almost any colour in the PANTONE® Gloss Colour Selector (Coated). The Mix-Opake inks are an excellent choice for standard colours when color matching is not required. With MIXE Plastisols, you won’t have to slow your production with additional flash curing stations between colours or to clean excessive build-up under the screens. Extremely opaque prints. Prints cleanly at maximum press speeds with virtually no build-up. Colours easily mixed by hand. Excellent for everyday printing, prints easily by hand. No white underlay needed. High speed wet on wet production with virtually no build up.

Fluorescent inks: Neon (fluorescent) colours are the latest addition to the Max-Opake colour line. Metallic inks: Metallic Plastisol inks are formulated for direct screen applications on textiles they are 100% solvent-free and cannot be air-dried. Glitter inks: High deposit lead-free Plastisol glitter inks with excellent opacity. These inks will heat cure to a glittering textured metallic finish. Under base inks: These are for direct printing or overprint for transfers.

See: Plastisol with additives.

Plastisol inks cannot be ironed and must be heat cured at 150°C.

Plastisol inks MUST be fully heat cured before washing to avoid the print coming off in the wash. Plastisol inks wrap around the fibres in the fabric, sitting on top of the fabric producing a more ‘dense’ appearance and have a rubbery feel to them. You can change the appearance and feel of the Plastisol ink by using an extender base or a super smooth base so as it feels and looks like the water based or sublimation ink. Plastisol inks cannot be ironed directly over, due to the plastisizer in the ink. Plastisol inks must be cured at a temperature of 150 °C. Plastisol inks require screenwash to clean them off your screen.

Tru-tone process inks: Union Ink’s Tru-Tone (PRPL) Plastisol inks are the premier inks for process colour printing on textiles. TruTone inks have extremely accurate, consistent colours, very low dot gain, and are ready to print with. Glow in the dark inks: Full range of colours by day and night. Vivid fluorescent colours by day with a range of glow colours by night.

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printing

WATERBASED INKS

Discharge Inks: Before curing

Waterbased ink is an air dry ink and with the use of an air dry catalyst the drying can be accelerated in order to achieve a quicker drying reaction/bond with the fabric. Various factors can determine a ‘fully cure’ of the print and so WPS always recommends the use of heat curing equipment in order to fully cure the print and guarantee wash fastness.

Discharge inks Discharge inks are used to print light colours onto dark fabrics. During the curing phase the ink, in conjunction with an activator, removes the original dye (colour) from the garment and replaces it with the colour (pigment) from the ink during from the ink. This results in a soft printed texture in the finished garment.

Solvent Based Ink and Additives The waterbased ink is like a dye that changes the colour of the fabric and has a sublimation appearance. Waterbased inks have a softer feel as the ink dyes the fabric as opposed to ‘sitting on top’ of the fibres; it has an almost non-existent feel to it. Waterbased inks are widely used in schools, colleges and on babies clothing. If you are printing an all-over print on to a garment that needs to be ironed such as a cotton shirt then a waterbased ink would be more suitable as you can iron over the print. Waterbased inks require water when cleaning them off your screen. Waterbased inks come in standard colours (except the opaque white) and are not ideal for printing onto dark garments, unless a white under base is printed first, flash dried and then overprinted with the required colour. This is one of the many reasons Plastisol inks in the maxopake range are widely used and are the first choice when printing onto black garments. We sell different types of waterbased ink: Permaset Aqua – Professional premium fabric eco friendly inks Permaprint - Professional premium paper eco friendly inks Rutland HSA Inks – Professional commercial inks WPS Waterbased Inks – Opaque inks WPS Art Paper Inks – Range of professional paper inks Unico ECO Discharge Inks – Range of eco friendly discharge inks When printing breast size logos (9cm x 9cm approx), waterbased or Plastisols can be used but you cannot iron directly over a Plastisol print as it will re-melt the Plastisol and smudge.

buyers guide

Discharge Inks: After curing

We have listed below the type of ink that should be used when printing onto other types of materials. Solvent based inks require screenwash to remove them when cleaning them off your screen: Board inks: This type of print requires an AIR DRY ink. You can use either a solvent free waterbased ink, or for a permanent outdoor ink you will need a paper & board solvent based ink. Transfers: Plastisol ink Nylon bags: Nylobag ink (Solvent Based). Nylon Fabric cannot be heat cured. Vinyl products: Vinyl ink (Solvent Based) Correx/Plastic: Polyplast ink or Correx ink (Solvent Based) Catalysed: Metals, ceramics, glass, phenolics, ureas/melamines, acrylics, stoved enamels, treated polyethylene, polypropylene and some polyesters. Mercury Gloss: Paper, board, corrugated board, wood, hardboard, polyart, metal, fake leather, metal foils and polyesters which have been top coated. Please note: There are health and safety regulations that come with using all solvent based types of ink.


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PRINTING

inks to substrates Key

Use this table to help you select the right ink depending on the substrate you are using.

Material

Union & Rutland Plastisol

WPS Waterbased Textile Inks

WPS Waterbased Paper Inks

Primary Purpose Can be used Limited Capability Very Limited Capabillity Not Recommended

Rutland HAS Waterbased

Permaset Aqua Waterbased

Permaset Permaprint Inks

Unico Discharge Inks

Board Inks

Catalysed Inks

Correx Inks

Mercury Gloss Inkls

Nylon Ink

Vinyl Ink

Nazdar ADE Ink

Nazdar System 2 Ink

Acrylics Card Ceramics Correx Cotton Fake leather Glass Melamines Nylon Paper PC Boards Plastics Polyart Polyester Polyester (Top coated) Polypropylene Polystyrene Silk Stoved Enamel Vinyl Wool Metals Polythene Epoxy Board Wood

buyers guide


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printing

Flash dryer

drying & curing fabrics

See: heat curing.

If you are printing more than one coat of ink for the same image, or printing a multi-colour image, you will need to flash cure your ink by using a flash dryer, hand curer or heat gun between each print. Once your print is dry to the touch you can apply your second coat or next colour.

Panther Tunnel Dryer

Once you have finished your print, you will need to fully cure your garment. Simply drying the print does not mean that your garment is machine washable. In other words – The print will come out in the wash!

Tunnel Dryers We manufacture the most comprehensive range of tunnel dryers in Europe ranging from the brilliant ‘Mini dryer’ to the top of the range dryers. The WPS Tunnel Dryer is ideal for the smaller workshop using a tabletop or small standalone carousel up to the top of the range Panther Dryers which are ideal for screen printers with automatic presses or digital printers.

Heat gun

Wash Fastness If in doubt, test it out

for Fabrics printed with Plastisol inks All Plastisol inks are not air dry and will therefore need to be dried by heat equipment. Plastisol inks will also need to be fully cured at 153 degrees, which is drying them to the correct temperature and length of time, in order for the ink to not come off in the wash. A flash dryer will dry and cure the inks in 60 seconds and for longer print runs or larger set ups, a tunnel dryer is recommended.

We always say here at WPS, the only definitive test to determine if inks are fully cured is a wash test. That is washing the garment in hot water with a strong detergent. Of course, don’t ignore the washing instructions of your garment. If the print is under cured, the print will show deterioration after only 1-3 washes.

Hand curer

Cure at 153°C WPS Mini

for Fabrics printed with waterbased inks

Key

WPS waterbased inks need to be cured at 180 degrees. To cure your inks, you have a number of options. You can use a flash dryer, hand curer, heat press or tunnel conveyor dryer for this. If you are using a WPS flash dryer to cure your print, we recommend you measure the temperature of your print with a digital laser thermometer until it reaches the required temperature. Depending on the nature of your fabric it is recommended that you break this up into intervals of approximately 10-15 seconds and repeat 3-5 times as most garments cannot withstand such continuous heat in one go. If you are a busy printer, you will find that a conveyor tunnel dryer is a much quicker, more efficient and reliable way of curing prints.

Primary Purpose Can be used Limited Capability Very Limited Capabillity Not Recommended

buyers guide

Cure at 180°C

comparing curing technologies Equipment

FLASH DRY

FULL CURE

COMMENT

HAIR DRYER

They do not reach curing temperature – Not recommended.

IRON

Iron’s give inconsistent heat. Potentially can work with some hobby inks but not suitable for batch curing.

HOT AIR GUN

Ok for basic spot drying, technically possible to cure but not very reliable easy to under cure parts of the print.

FLASH DRYER

Designed for flash drying between colours. Can be used for curing but for only low production.

HAND CURER

Designed for flash drying between colours. Can be used for curing but for only low production. Easier, safer to use that a traditional flash dryer also uses less power.

HEAT PRESS

Designed for heat transfer applications but can be used for ink curing. Typically for small production batches.

TUNNEL DRYER

Designed for ink curing, only real viable option if printing large number.


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Cleaning Cleaning your screen

health & safety

for Waterbased ink

It is important to consider your environment in order to select the correct type of ink to use. If working in a well ventilated garage or workshop environment, then Plastisol inks or solvent based inks are fine to use. They contain an odour and require a solvent screenwash to remove them from your screens.

As waterbased inks dry on the screen, you must clean it down straight away, or your mesh will clog. For this simply use water.

for Plastisol ink To clean Plastisol ink from your screen, you will need a dry cotton cloth and some screen wash. Apply a generous amount of screen wash to the cloth and rub with pressure. The screen wash will dissolve the ink. You must be in a well ventilated room to use high strength screen wash.

See: screen cleaning kit.

If working in your home or in schools and colleges, select a solvent free ink such as a waterbased ink in order that no fumes are emitted and also for ease of cleaning down. e.g. if using a bath or shower and only water to remove the ink from your screen. It is not advisable to use, keep or store any inks and chemicals in an area where there are persons under 18 years of age.

Prefer to use Biodegradeable solutions?

See: biodegradable cleaning You could also try biodegradable screen wash that has a low odour products. and contains less harmful chemicals to the printer and environment. WPS supply a range of environmentally friendly products, which are drain safe.

Ghosting If you have any ghosting left on your screen which is common when using waterbased inks as they dye the mesh, Haze Paste remover is a good solution. However it’s nasty stuff and is extremely harmful to the skin and the environment. Make sure you wear gloves when handling the remover. Your screen can be used over and over again if stored safely.

See: Haze paste remover.

environmental printing

See: WPS gone green.

If you want to do your bit for the environment, choosing biodegradable platens, cleaning products and water based inks.

reclaiming your screen ‘Reclaiming’ is the act of striping the stencil from your screen in order to create a new strencil and start the printing process over again. The main ingredient for reclaiming is stencil remover or ‘strip’. If you dont remove the stencil properly it can interfere with your next piece of artwork.

buyers guide

See: page 09 for the cleaning section of the basics.

ED A OR L NE STIL G HAND NING AI PIN HEL ICAL TR OOK L CT PRA HY NOT URSE? W CO 4/35 OA 3 TO D PAGES SEE


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Screen printing Courses

Course

What is Covered

Price (ex VAT)

One Day Course

The entire screen printing process from artwork creation to taking down your job – print a one colour design using water-based or Plastisol ink. Learn how to create quality screen prints easily and efficiently. This course has been designed to give you all of the basic screen printing techniques to get started.

£ 200

Two Day Course

The entire screen printing process from artwork creation to taking down your job - print a 4 colour design using water-based and Plastisol ink. Learn how to create quality, complex screen prints efficiently and easily. The course has been designed to give you a range of the basic, advanced and specialty screen printing techniques to print complex multi-colour prints.

£ 325

On Site Training Days

Tailored to suit your screen printing needs and available equipment

£ 250

Half Day Master Class

Perfect your technique when printing multi-colour jobs

£ 100


Master printing with a specific ink or difficult substrate

£ 100


Learn how to produce high quality prints using white on dark fabrics

£ 100


Learn how to prepare and expose your screen in 2 colours

£ 100


Step by step guide to printing – tutorial only, no practical work

£ 100

At WPS we are pleased to offer an affordable range of screen printing training courses delivered by professionals to suit your needs. You might be an absolute beginner who just wants to learn the basics or you might be struggling to print that multi colour complex job. WPS can help you get the most out of screen printing and regardless of whether you are looking for basic, advanced or specialty screen printing techniques we can help you to develop that edge which sets you apart from your competition. Our exciting classes are hands on, fun and interactive with never more than 3 people in a class. They can be tailored to suit your specific needs so if you cannot find what you are looking for please contact us and we will be happy to design a package to suit you. Our courses are held on selected Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays every month. Once you have booked a course you can choose the date that best suits you. We look forward to meeting you at our workshop in Kent, but if that doesn’t work, we can come to you.

All of our training courses held at our workshop in Kent and include; • WPS screen printing materials for use in the course • Two blank t-shirts for printing (these are yours to keep) • Light refreshments • A full set of WPS training material • Note taking materials • 10% voucher code to use against purchases made during the course • The knowledge and skills to advance in screen printing. Visit our website where you can find more in-depth information about our courses.

buyers guide


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glossary

C

Carousel Consumables Curing

D E F

Degreaser

Emulsion Exposure

Flash Dryer Filler

Flood

G H

A rotating device which holds screens in place for printing. A commodity that is intended to be used up relatively quickly. ie: inks and tapes. To set or fix printed matter. Used to clean the screen prior to coating with emulsion. Reduces the chance of pin holes. A light-sensitive coating for photographic use, containing crystals of a silver compound dispersed in a medium such as gelatin. To transfer artwork onto the screen by allowing the light sensitive emulsion to come into contact with an extreme light source for a set period of time. A light-sensitive coating for photographic use, containing crystals of a silver compound dispersed in a medium such as gelatin. To transfer artwork onto the screen by allowing the light sensitive emulsion to come into contact with an extreme light source for a set period of time. To cover the screen in ink.

Ghosting

You can still see the stencil on the screen eventhough you have reclaimed and removed the emulsion.

Halftone

A reproduction of an image in which the various tones of gray or colour are produced by dots of ink. A halogen lamp, also known as a tungsten halogen lamp, is an incandescent lamp with a tungsten filament contained within an inert gas and a small amount of a halogen such as iodine or bromine. A high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp, produce high light output for their size, making them a compact, powerful, and efficient light source.

Halogen

Halide

M

Hand Bench

Printing machine normally with a powerful vacuum used for printing onto paper, card, correx type substrates

Haze Paste

Chemical used to remove ghosting buyers guide

Heat Press

Used for curing ink, fixing vinyl and tranfers

Medium

A thick neutral liquid which is combined with waterbased inks for both paper and textiles to prolong the drying time of the ink, increase coverage without diluting colour and helps the ink bond to the surface more successfully. Material made of a network of wire or thread.

Mesh

P

Pin Holes Platen Positive

R

Reclaiming Registration Retarder

S

Screen Screen wash Sensitised Solvent Spot Cleaning Squeegee Stencil Strip Sublimation Substrate

T U

Transparent Trough

UV

Small holes in the emulsion normally caused by dust on the screen (see degreaser) A flat surface which allows the screen to be pressed against and make contact with a substrate such as fabric or paper. The visual which is intended to be transferred on to an unexposed emulsion coated screen. Removing an existing stencil from a screen. The positioning and alignment of the print area to the substrate being printed. Used mainly with waterbased inks to keep the ink wet. The taught mesh across a frame, used for printing. Used to clean solvent inks of the screens Reactive or reacted substance. A substance which is dialutable, usually harmful. Used to remove ink deposits from garments A scraping implement with a rubber-edged blade set on a handle. A defined area, allowing for repetitive identical prints. Liquid used from breaking down emusion on a screen. A change directly from the solid to the gaseous state without becoming liquid. A surface or material. Allowing light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen. Long, narrow container used for applying a thin coat of emulsion to a screen. Ultra violet light form. www.wickedprintingstuff.com

If you need any printing or product advice, to arrange a visit to our workshop or to place an order, there are many ways to contact us: Opening hours: 9.00am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and selected Saturdays. Unit 7, The Grove Workshops Three Gates Road Fawkham, Kent, DA3 8NZ T: +44 (0) 1474 709 009 F: +44 (0) 1474 709 200 [email protected] www.wickedprintingstuff.com