Screen Printing Process
Screen Printing for a Greener Approach to Fashion
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We now screen print all of our fabric products in house at the CFW headquarters and Her Space on Yugambeh country in Underwood, Queensland. This is the CFW hub where the operations team are based and where we provide training for other organisations and the community around Domestic and Family Violence and mental health wellness. |
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It's been a journey to learn this new process and there was, and still is lots of trial and error but this new model allows us to purchase stock instead of in bulk. It also allows us to cater for alternative sizing requests. We cover the screens in a special light-sensitive emulsion and leave it to dry.
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We then print out our design and stick it on the screen. We then expose it to UV light to harden the emulsion around the design. We like to pop on a bit of deep house while we do this!! |
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We then wash off the screen and the design creates a stencil on the screen which is now ready to print use for printing. |
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We then attach the screen to the rig, pop it down on the t shirt, add some paint and pull it over the stencil. We leave it to dry and print the other side and then heat press to make sure it doesn't wash out. We reuse the screens so we don't need to go through the first part of the process every time we print. |
Thank you to Polygon Cowboy for showing us the ropes.
This process has allowed us to cut down our outlay costs for different editions and create a greater variety of products. We'll also be using the equipment to provide screen printing classes to our community as part of our community engagement program.