ABOUT DERIVAN SCREEN PRINTING INK
Derivan Screen Ink, a water-based, non-toxic silk screen printing ink formulated for textiles, is available in 28 colours. It is highly pigmented and has superb detail when applied. You can use Derivan Screen Ink on various materials, including tank tops, sweatshirts, hoodies, and t-shirts, in addition to canvas and other materials. It's water-based, so it's safe to use for screen printing projects in schools and at home—Derivan Screen Ink with silkscreen frames and for hand painting fabric and dyeing techniques. The colours are intermixable giving you endless colour mixing opportunities.
Key Features:
- Water-based screen printing ink
- Non-toxic
- Clean up with soap and water
- Excellent rub resistance
- High lightfastness ratings
Perfect for:
- Use on a wide variety of fabrics,
- such as cotton, bamboo and hemp
- Garments and homewares
- Fabric painting
- Tie-Dye Techniques
SCREEN PRINTING TOOLS
There are many ways to screen print, but you must have basic equipment to produce a wide range of images. A screen printing frame is essential to place your design. You will also need a squeegee (or blade) to pass across the silk screen frame. Derivan has two sizes of frames with matching squeegees available in A4 and A3.
How to prolong the life of your silk screen
Aside from washing your screen with a soft cloth like a Chux or t-shirt material rather than using a brush. Another big step you can take to prolong the life of your silk screen is to varnish the wooden frame and areas of mesh that are not being printed with prior to its first use (although varnishing will help arrest deterioration at pretty well anytime). You can use a water-based varnish like Derivan polymer gloss – however for heavy use and longer life we would suggest using MM15 Turps based final finish gloss varnish. This varnish will lock all water out therefore eliminating the degrading effects of water on wood and the adhesives used to attach the mesh.
SCREEN CLEANER
Use Derivan Screen Cleaner to remove the Derivan block from your silk screen frame. After applying the silk screen cleaner, use a damp cloth to drench the screen. Once the silkscreen has been soaked with the cleaner, scrub the silk screen with an old toothbrush., and Scrub the silk screen in a circular motion to remove the block out.
SCREEN PRINTING KITS & SETS
Derivan silk screen sets include all the necessary materials to try your hand at silk screen printing. Learn how to make your silk screen designs using Derivan drawing Fluid and Derivan Block, or have a look at our Complete Screen Printing Sets for Fabric or Paper.
LIQUID STENCIL SET
Creating hand-drawn screen prints using the Derivan Water-based Screen Printing Stencil System is non-toxic and straightforward. This Screen print set is excellent for any age, particularly suitable for art studios, classrooms, or dining tables.
Learn more about Screen Printing T-shirts DIY
SCREEN PRINTING STARTER KIT-
FOR FABRIC
Everything you require to print your design onto t-shirts or other fabric items is included in this Kit for Fabric. The kit consists of an A4 screen printing frame, a squeegee, a palette knife (for blending colours), a brush (for applying paint), screen drawing fluid, and screen block out, along with five tubes of fabric paint.
SCREEN PRINTING STARTER KIT- FOR PAPER
Screenprinting on paper or cardstock is simple, and it's the ideal choice for producing paper bags, handmade cards, and artwork. The kit includes everything you require to get started: a silk screen, squeegee, a palette knife, a brush, screen drawing fluid, and a screen block out in addition to four primary acrylic colours and print gel for silkscreening on paper.
Tie-dying with Screen Ink
Derivan Screen Ink is also the perfect choice to create beautiful patterns using the Tie Dye technique.
Step 1.
Add 1 heaped teaspoon of table salt to a 250ml of Screen Ink of a colour of your choice and stir.
Step 2.
It takes quite a bit of stirring - the mixture should become as thin as water - which is excellent for painting on fabric. Of course, to dye with, you will need to add water; how much water will depend on the choice of colour you are using and how strong you want it to be. Start with 1 part of mixed Screen Ink to 10 parts water for an intense dye colour - or reduce the colour strength as desired by adding more water.
Step 3.
The mixture should become as thin as water! You can add more water to this mix to adjust how thin and intense you would like this dye.
NB - the method of adding salt to thin does not work with the Screen ink White or Fluro colours
And don't forget to heat set once you have finished your project.