HOW TO SUCCEED AT SILK-SCREENING

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The procedure for printing on cloth is the same as that for paper ... with the following exceptions:

You'll have to use a coarser (6XX silk, if possible) screen mesh to allow more ink to pass through, as well as special fabric inks ... which must then be heat-set for permanence. (Full directions for this setting process will come with the ink.)

Then—to assure a clean, single-color print—a "slide" of cardboard must be inserted into the shirt and the fabric smoothed over it.

Multicolor shirt printing will require a free-arm printing board (something like an ironing board). The piece of clothing is slipped over the device and various screens (one for each hue) are arranged around it ... so they can be lowered and printed in sequence—one color after the other—without moving the shirt.

BUSINESS WISE

If you enjoy silk-screening and would like to turn it into a source of income. you'll discover that posters featuring the bright colors and strong graphics possible with this medium result in good (and salable!) publicity for any organization's event. Furthermore, a "screener" is able to charge less than commercial printers and still come out making a quite reasonable profit!

You can also produce mail flyers, such as Susan's, for individuals and groups ... and the same fold-and-mail format can lead you to printing custom stationery and greeting cards, too!

And, as noted before, screening T-shirts can easily turn into a lucrative full-time endeavor. Many businesses, clubs, labor unions, and so on like to use such clothing for promotional purposes or to sell to customers and members. (You can cut your "raw material" costs by dealing with T-shirt wholesalers ... who sell—at reduced prices—in minimum lots of a dozen per size and color.)

Or, like Susan Shutt, you can simply use the silk-screening technique to promote whatever home business you're already engaged in.

However this art form is utilized, you'll find that the "poor person's printing process" is economical, creative, effective ... and fun!

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