It's a pink t-shirt with text printed on it.

How to Screen Print with Vinyl

Written by Coree Casinger

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Reading time for 7 min

It used to be that the screen printing process was an advantage only big companies could afford. Commercial screen printing machines take up a lot of space, and the equipment is very expensive. So DIY crafters did the next best thing and used heat transfer vinyl or HTV. Learn more about the difference between Heat Press and Screen Printing.

HTV didn’t offer the same look or feel that screen printing did, though. Which often left crafters trying to find ways to get the look and feel of screen printing at home. One way, was to use vinyl as a stencil, and place it directly on the material you wanted screen printed.

Once the stencil was placed on the material, crafters would use screen printing ink and paint it on the material. After the screen printing ink was completely dry, crafters would use an iron to heat set the ink into the material, and then cross their fingers it all stayed put through the first wash.

Speedball has since answered the call for DIY crafters with their screen printing kit, allowing even a hobbyist to screen print various items right from the comfort of their own homes. Speedball even offers the ability for home crafters to take their designs and, through the process of emulsifying, create their very own screens to reuse time and time again.

But what if you’re not one to create the same shirt, tote, or pillow a hundred times? What if you are the type of crafter who changes things up, and likes to offer new things each season for yourself and your customers? Or what if you simply do not have the space to hold a multitude of screened designs? Meet your new best friend. 

Quick in
Steps to Screen Print with Vinyl What you will need Step 1: Create your design Step 2: Cut and weed your design Step 3: Apply vinyl to the screen Step 4: Prepare your material Step 5: Line up, flood, squeegee Step 6: Save ink and clean your screen Step 7: Heat set your ink

Steps to Screen Print with Vinyl

Screen printing with vinyl allows the DIY crafter to never have to store screened designs, mess with the emulsification process, or purchase extra materials and equipment. No messy liquids to use, no special lights to purchase, and no need for extra storage space. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Plus, you get the added benefit of being able to change your design as often as you would like, with ease, utilizing a material you are already very familiar with. Vinyl.

Does it sound too good to be true? Let me show you just how easy it is!

What you will need

To screen print with vinyl, you will need a couple of things you might not already have at home. Don’t worry, you can easily find these at most big crafting stores. While creating screen printed items with multiple colors is absolutely possible, it is a little tricky when it comes to lining things up. To keep it simple, we will be designing a shirt with a single color. 

Here is what you will need:

T-Shirt, or other material to screen print on

Screen printing ink (opaque if screen printing on dark colors)

Screen printing frame with mesh

Screen printing squeegee that fits your frame

Permanent vinyl

Parchment paper (white, NOT brown!)

Cricut cutting machine, or other cutting machine

Heat press, or Easy Press

Cricut Design Space, or other design program

Transfer tape

Burnishing tool

Painters tape

Step 1: Create your design

In your preferred design program, create your design. I am making a t-shirt, so I need to create or find a design that will look good when it is smaller, as opposed to if it were going on a sign. Choosing a design to fit the space you are working with is important. So be mindful of sizing as you create your design. Cricut Design Space has templates for a variety of products, which helps you to visualize what your final product will look like. 

Tip: Know the size of your screen printing frame! Your design will need to fit inside the screen printing frame, as well as within certain parameters of your material. My screen printing frame is 11 x 14 inches, so my design should not be bigger than 10 x 13 inches, to allow the vinyl to create a crisp border for your design.

Step 2: Cut and weed your design

Once your design is created and sized appropriately for your screen printing frame and material, use your cutting machine to cut out your vinyl. You must mirror your design before cutting! 

After your vinyl is cut, you will need to weed your design. However, instead of weeding the excess and leaving just the design behind, we are going to remove the design from the vinyl, creating a stencil. Be careful to leave the inner parts of letters, like a, e, and o, so your letters look right when screen printed. When you are done weeding your design, place transfer paper over your vinyl to remove it from the backing.

Step 3: Apply vinyl to the screen

Place transfer tape over the vinyl design, burnish, then remove the backing from the vinyl, making sure all little pieces stick to the transfer tape. Lay your vinyl face up, then center your screen printing frame over your design. Place your screen printing frame on top of the vinyl, and burnish from the top, being sure not to press and scrape too harshly, as we do not want to tear the mesh screen. I like to use a rubber brayer to push from the top of the screen. 

Once you have burnished from the top, turn the screen printing frame over, and lightly burnish from the back. Then, slowly peel the transfer tape off. Moving slowly will allow you to ensure none of the little pieces move, and that the vinyl is adhered to the screen well. 

Use your painter's tape to tape around the edges of your vinyl, being sure not to cover any part of your design. You will want to cover the remainder of your screen with painter's tape, so the ink does not go anywhere but where the design is showing through.

Tip: I have found that most transfer tape is too strong, and will not release the vinyl to the mesh screen. Because of this, I use Duck Craft Adhesive, often referred to as contact paper. This adhesive acts like transfer paper brilliantly, and easily peels away from your vinyl when placing it on your screen printing screen.

Step 4: Prepare your material

I am making a shirt today, and because we do not want the screen printing ink to get through to the other side of the shirt, we are going to place some parchment paper between the layers of the shirt. 

I have preheated my heat press to 320º, and am going to press my shirt for about 20 seconds. Doing this not only irons the front of the shirt but also pulls out some of the moisture. After this pre-press, we are going to lay our shirt on a flat surface and use a lint roller to remove any lint from the front of the shirt.

Step 5: Line up, flood, squeegee

Now that your shirt is prepped, line up your design where you want it to be on your shirt. Above your design, pour screen printing ink across the top, being generous. Do not let the ink onto the part with the design. Once the ink is on the screen, carefully lift the frame at an angle, and pull the ink over the design. This is called flooding the screen and will allow the screen printing ink to flow through the mesh more easily. 

Gently place the frame back down, then, with one hand holding the frame, use your other hand to pull the ink from top to bottom, in one fluid motion, over your design. Lift your squeegee, bringing the ink with it, and pull from top to bottom again. Repeat this motion a few times to ensure the ink is transferred well. 

Once you have pulled the ink over your design a few times, leave the squeegee on the screen at the bottom, and gently lift the screen printing frame off the shirt. Set the screen to the side, and make sure your shirt is lying flat.

Step 6: Save ink and clean your screen

While the shirt is set and drying, pick up as much ink as possible from the mesh screen using your squeegee. Then, using a scraper or the back side of a butter knife, scrape the excess ink back into the screen printing ink jar. Be sure to tighten the lid so the ink doesn’t dry out. Peel the vinyl off the back of the mesh screen, and throw it away. 

Next, take your squeegee and screen printing frame over to the sink. Using warm water, spray as much of the ink off as possible. They make screen cleaning soap that you pour over your mesh screen rub all over the screen with your fingers, and then spray off. 

Alternatively, you can put a drop of dish soap on your screen and rub it over the mesh. Just be sure to thoroughly rinse the dish soap from your screen. When everything is washed, set aside to air dry.

Step 7: Heat set your ink

Allow your shirt to dry for 24 hours to ensure the ink is thoroughly dry. Heat your heat press to 320º. Place your shirt on the heat press, put a piece of parchment paper on top of your design, then press your shirt for 45 seconds. Open the heat press, lift the parchment paper, and check your design. For added security, I will do a second press for 20 seconds.

Tip: Speedball Screen Printing Ink sets at 320º, so a heat press or Easy Press is preferred. Using a household iron requires moving the iron over each section for 3-5 minutes to ensure the ink is heated to the proper temperature and set into the material. I prefer a traditional heat press because it automatically applies pressure while heat setting the shirt. 

Voila! You have now made your very own, super cool screen-printed t-shirt! If you’re anything like me, you feel super accomplished and on top of the world right now. This is only the beginning! Now that you know how to screen print with vinyl at home, the sky’s the limit! You now can unleash your imagination in a new way, and we cannot wait to see what you create using this technique.