T-Shirt Printing For the Holidays

T-Shirt Printing For the Holidays
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Marie_Claire_Ponsaran]Marie Claire Ponsaran

With the recent recession that hit the world's most influential economies, people are not rushing towards spending for the holiday season. They will surely try to save money with the gift giving and holiday dinners. Wrapping up the gifts yourself is a way to save money this holiday season. Another way is to make the gifts on your own. One of the best gift ideas for friends and family is a custom printed t-shirt. This is easy enough to do using t-shirt printing methods.

Printing T-Shirt Designs Using Screen Printing

Screen printing t-shirts require a fine mesh covered with photoemulsion that has been hardened through exposure to ultra-violet light. The hardened emulsion forms the stenciled image of the t-shirt's design. Ready-made stencils can be bought from stores or online. Brands like PhotoEZ and StencilPro are made for silk screening and can withstand repeated use. They are easy to use and perfect for children.

Place the silk screen with the stenciled image on top of the t-shirt's fabric where you want the design to be printed. Be careful to put enough screen printing ink for a consistent color throughout while being careful not to bleed through the t-shirt printing process.

To avoid bleeding of the print, hold the squeegee at a 40 to 50 degree angle while applying the right amount of pressure. Also, make sure the rest of the t-shirt is protected with a cardboard.

If you are using water-based inks, the ink from screen printing stencils is easy to wash off with water. However, if you use plastisol ink, you must clean the mesh with thinner or acetone, or a special textile ink remover. You must be careful not to let any ink dry up on the screen.

Printing T-Shirt Designs Using Spray Printing, Brush Painting Or Bleaching

Screen printing is not the only method that you can use in t-shirt printing. Other methods that are easy to follow include spray painting, brush painting and bleaching. These do not require too many tools and materials.

For spray painting, all you need is a spray bottle, a set of textile inks (preferably water-based), some stencils, and thinner to mix with the ink and to clean it off your work area. You can also choose to use ready-made stencils for spray painting and brush painting.

Brush painting is simply printing the image by hand using paintbrushes like an artist. The t-shirt is your canvass. You can use ready-made stencils and cardboard cutouts, or you can use nothing but your imagination to paint the image directly on the t-shirt.

Bleaching, on one hand, is easy when you use bleach pens that are premixed. The bleach is strong enough to print patterns and lines on the fabric without hurting your skin or ruining your t-shirt design by bleeding through or down the fabric.

T-Shirt Printing With Thermal Transfers

Thermal transfers are easy to apply, especially ready-made heat transfers that you can iron on t-shirts. Use Teflon sheets to prevent transfers and decals from slipping or moving, and to protect the transfers from the heat of your iron.

You can make your own heat transfer design using either an inkjet printer or a laser jet printer. The type of printer will determine what type of thermal transfer paper you should buy.

You also need to be careful in weeding out the extra plastisol coating at the back of the vinyl. Use a scalpel or small knife to peel off the coating.

These three choices for t-shirt printing projects for the holidays are easy to do. In fact, you can watch online hundreds of how-to videos that demonstrate how the processes were done. Just be careful in executing the steps and using the tools in t-shirt printing, especially when you have kids around.

Marie Claire Ponsaran is an experienced Internet researcher, independent blogger and freelance writer for various topics, such as [http://www.tshirtprinting.net/personalised-t-shirts/]personalised t-shirts in UK.

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