Screen Printing Using A Vinyl Mask

[Fred McLean]

Strange choice of vinyl squeegee!!

Can’t see there being a problem,and tee shirt ink is quite thick
so not a lot of pressure needed to get the ink onto the shirt or whatever. 😀

[John Gregson]

Hi Paul,
Yes its possible to use vinyl as a stencil to screen print but only t’shirts and paper products. You couldn’t print stickers as the vinyl ink would melt the stencil and you’ll end up with a gueey mess. You’ll never get the same results as a direct stencil but for short run t shirts it can be used.

Chhers John

[Paul Humble]

Cheers guys, its only to be used on baby teeshirts anyway. Ill look into costings etc to see if its worth her while.

Paul

[Steve Underhill]

Oracal 651 didnt work for me, the ink smudged under the vinyl and ruined the next transfer/shirt might be something to do with the flexibility of it etc but one things for sure 651 wont work, it is fine for the first transfer or shirt but after that you get a ghosting where the ink has gone under the vinyl
for the cost of a tub of emulsion and a coating tray youre better off using that than ruining T shirts, as the cost will outweigh itself, you can reclaim the screens if you need to also and 1L of emulsion will do loads of screens

[Paul Humble]

quote Steve Underhill:

Oracal 651 didnt work for me, the ink smudged under the vinyl and ruined the next transfer/shirt might be something to do with the flexibility of it etc but one things for sure 651 wont work, it is fine for the first transfer or shirt but after that you get a ghosting where the ink has gone under the vinyl
for the cost of a tub of emulsion and a coating tray youre better off using that than ruining T shirts, as the cost will outweigh itself, you can reclaim the screens if you need to also and 1L of emulsion will do loads of screens

I had the same feeling about the ink getting under the vinyl. The only reason I considered this option was simply for the reduced chance of mess.

[Steve Underhill]

OK mess scenario.
emulsion, just coat expose done.
vinyl, cut, weed stick to screen print one print and then remove plastisol covered vinyl, very messy plastisol is hideously messy and hard to remove from clothes, and other stuff you dont want it on so coat with emulsion, if you are using baby clothes then a small screen will cost you about £7 from screen stretch, they sell all the consumables from screens to emulsuins and decoating solutions etc
call them on 01942 888747
I buy my screens from them and they are cheaper than anywhere I have found, they will even collect and remesh your screens for a tenner each.

[Philip Hammerton]

Vinyl is fine for temporary stencils providing it is cut mirrored and applied to underside of meshed frame (going direct against material being printed on) and shouldn’t bleed. Only use water based inks i.e Speedball or similar iron cure inks.

But only this only suitable for short runs (1-10 qty) – but it is easy to pull vinyl off wash mesh off with water, dry & re -apply new vinyl stencil again

Long term emulsion stencils will be far superior for long runs or plastisol inks.

[Steve Underhill]

Well having done it, with 651 and plastisol It does bleed on the 2nd print, water based may be different
cant vouch for other vinyls though.

[John Gregson]

Try stenplex :lol1: :lol1:

[Steve Underhill]

Never heard of it, whats stenplex?

[John Gregson]

I was only joking Steve. :lol1:

Stenplex was a green paper type material with a backing sheet. It was cut by hand but now you could probably cut it with a plotter. You would cut the stencil, peel off any bits that weren’t required, then lay it on your hand bench – face up. The screen went ontop then with a damp cloth you wiped a strip of screen (about 60mm) to make the stenplex stick, then wiped it with the hot iron – to dry it. Once the whole stencil was up and dry you peeled the backing sheet off to reveal the stencil.

It was a nightmare to use if you didn’t get it right as the backing sheet used to tear and leave tiny bits on the stencil or you’d get scum off the water which the ink wouldn’t print through.

The trick was keeping the cloth clean and damp – not too wet or dry and doing small strips at a time. I was a master by the time i’d served my apprenticeship. :lol1: Then it was time for Ruby, FIVE star and then direct emulsion which I use now.

Cheers John

[Steve Underhill]

Aha thanks for the explanation, only ever used emulsion we have some folex ruby film but its not worth the hassle involved according to them lol

[MilosV]

As we are textile screen printers too we tried similar things many years ago. We were not satisfied because only few prints were OK and after that the ink went between mesh and film and printing was over. Making stencils in classic manner (graphic film, emulsion) for me is easier and I think even cheaper if you look at whole project. Single color prints and even small designs like you say for baby clothing… you can put few designs on the same stencil, mask them separately and you are winner 🙂 You can use some universal emulsion. This will allow you printing with water base, plastisol or even vinyl inks.

[Earl Smith]

An interesting Post. I have thought of doing the same thing but always worried about ghosting on the second prints.
How where screens made in the days before emulsion was used?? Maybe thats the solution for short runs.
Earl