Speedball Opaque Fabric Screen Printing Inks

Iridescent Opaque Fabric and Paper Inks -

10 Iridescent opaque colours. Ideal for use on dark fabrics, paper or cardboard (not for use on nylon). Wash fast when properly heat-set. Non-flammable, no solvents and no offensive smell. It can be screen printed or painted on with a brush and cleaned up easily with water. Archival qualities.

Five Important Notes for printing with fabric inks:

1. The screen frame is usually detached from the base and used alone. Usually, two (2) people should work on the printing process – one holding the screen frame tightly against the fabric and the other doing the printing.
2. On articles like T-shirts, a piece of foamboard, cardboard or paper must be put inside each garment to act as a barrier.
3. To improve the lubricity (slipperiness) of the ink, you may add the Transparent Base. Add the Retarder Base (1-2 tbs. to 8 oz. of ink) to slow drying or prevent screen clogging.
4. Wash-up of screens and tools must be done immediately after use. They are difficult or impossible to remove if they are allowed to dry on your screen or tools.
5. After the fabric ink dries on the fabric, set a household iron at the highest dry heat (no steam) that will not scorch the fabric and with a cloth or paper between the iron and printed material, iron on each side for 3 – 5 minutes. This will make the ink withstand repeated washings.

IMPORTANT: PRE-TEST SAMPLES BEFORE ALL PRODUCTION RUNS. If wash fastness is inadequate, the print needs to be heated longer.

MULTI-COLOUR PRINTING Multi-color signs can be easily achieved by making one screen with the entire message. Prepare the screen by any method you prefer. Once the screen is ready, simply block the words you do not want to print with your first colour by putting masking tape or paper on the bottom side of the screen fabric.

• After making your first print run, wash the ink from the screen and let it dry. Follow this by blocking out the words you just printed and unblocking words you want to print with your second run of colour. After you have made this second run, again wash the screen and let it dry. Continue to repeat this process until you have completed your multi-colour print.
• Making multi-colour prints of detailed artwork requires making a screen for each colour to be printed. These screens should be prepared before you start to print. Additional Speedball® frames are available for purchase in many retail locations.
• One interesting effect can be made by having a two-colour print on overlapping areas. These overlaps can add a third (darker) value to the print. Speedball® Transparent or Extender Bases are formulated to enable screen printers to achieve this.
• Registration guides are essential when printing with more than one colour. Details on registration guides are given in step A in the “Making Prints” section.