[whynot56]

Hello,
I'm new to screen printing and new to this forum as well. As of right now I am just getting in to this for fun, and to make some christmas gifts. I don't want to sell anything (...yet). I am using one of the speedball screeenprinting kits and have some questions about heat setting that the instructions do not really cover. Here they are:

The instructions say 3-5 minutes with an iron, and with something in between..but...

Do I have to do it on the front and then turn the shirt inside out and do the back?

What can I use to put in between the iron and the shirt? Would another shirt work? Or does it have to be thinner?

Can I move the iron around? Someone said I cant slide the iron around as it will smear the ink...but I thought you werent supposed to keep it in one spot or else the shirt will burn? Can someone explain this please.

How long should I iron it for? (What the instructions say or longer?)

And finally, does throwing it in the dryer work as well as ironing...can you even use the dryer?

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Dan K]

Hey there. I haven't messed with speedball since the early 90's in an apartment in Seattle but I'll take a stab at this from memory... I don't remember how I cured the speedball stuff but I remember using a dryer and an iron... Based on that and my current experience here's what I would do:

Hit each shirt with a hair dryer set on hot to initially dry the ink (I think speedball air drys before it cures). This will at least dry it to the touch, maybe.

After that I would throw ONE in a laundry dryer, set it as hot as you can, and dry it for a bit. These two processes should get all the moisture out of the ink.

After that, if there is not ink all over the inside of your dryer, I'd say iron it to actually set/cure it, if it's not already cured, this should to it. I would definitely say use another shirt, maybe cut in half so there is only one layer of fabric between the iron and the shirt, and then you can move the iron around, or leave it in one spot for a while without burning your printed shirt...

Once you get through this process, wash the ONE shirt with detergent on a regular cycle and see what happens... I could imagine that it will fade a bit after the first wash, but that's totally normal for a home speedball kit.

Again I can't say that this will work, but it's what I would do in your situation, and I did something similar to this before I had any screen printing experience in my home way back when, and whatever I did worked... Let me know if it works out!!!

 

[[email protected]]

Hello,
I'm new to screen printing and new to this forum as well. As of right now I am just getting in to this for fun, and to make some christmas gifts. I don't want to sell anything (...yet). I am using one of the speedball screeenprinting kits and have some questions about heat setting that the instructions do not really cover. Here they are:

The instructions say 3-5 minutes with an iron, and with something in between..but...

Do I have to do it on the front and then turn the shirt inside out and do the back?


What can I use to put in between the iron and the shirt? Would another shirt work? Or does it have to be thinner?

Can I move the iron around? Someone said I cant slide the iron around as it will smear the ink...but I thought you werent supposed to keep it in one spot or else the shirt will burn? Can someone explain this please.

How long should I iron it for? (What the instructions say or longer?)

And finally, does throwing it in the dryer work as well as ironing...can you even use the dryer?

any help would be greatly appreciated

Hi -- I just did my 1st speedball shirt and had these same questions. I actually scortched a sheet I was using to iron the shirt. Did you decide you needed to iron both inside and outside? Or did the hairdryer do the trick? I have an embossing tool for scrapbooking and was hoping maybe that would work instead of all the time it takes to iron the shirts.

 

[mstonge]

You should ALWAYS iron in the reverse side. Or use parchement paper between the iron and the t-shirt print.

 

[mstonge]

Ok - here's a post in my blog that details a bit more info on heat setting. You must be sure that the ink is completely dry before you use the dryer option and make sure that the ink deposit is not too heavy. I ruined an entire batch when black pigment rubbed off in places on the white areas in the dryer.

Screen Printing 101- Part 3- The Good Stuff! at Print Cut Sew!

 

[[email protected]]

Ok - here's a post in my blog that details a bit more info on heat setting. You must be sure that the ink is completely dry before you use the dryer option and make sure that the ink deposit is not too heavy. I ruined an entire batch when black pigment rubbed off in places on the white areas in the dryer.

Screen Printing 101- Part 3- The Good Stuff! at Print Cut Sew!

THANKS! I love the blog.... I'm hooked.

 

[ashamutt]

Ok - here's a post in my blog that details a bit more info on heat setting. You must be sure that the ink is completely dry before you use the dryer option and make sure that the ink deposit is not too heavy. I ruined an entire batch when black pigment rubbed off in places on the white areas in the dryer.

Screen Printing 101- Part 3- The Good Stuff! at Print Cut Sew!

AWESOME SITE/BLOG!!!!!

I'm hooked as well!!!

THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!