How To Use Your Thermofax Screen (PDF) - Thermofax Screens

Setting up your workspace<br />

<strong>How</strong> to use your <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong><br />

• You need a printing surface that is not too hard, not too soft. A piece of plywood covered with two layers of<br />

acrylic/polyester felt (stretched and stapled to the back) makes an excellent print surface. It can be as big as<br />

you like (or have room for). If this is not possible, you could improvise by taping felt or an old blanket to your table<br />

or kitchen work surface. Make sure the surface is smooth as any creases will leave their mark on the fabric.<br />

• Cover your print surface with a drop cloth to absorb excess ink/dye and to help prevent the image from blurring<br />

(calico, cotton drill or an old bed sheet would all be suitable). N.B. The drop cloth should be washable. Plastic<br />

drop cloths can be used but can be slippery and excess ink/dye can ‘pool’ under the fabric, spoiling your work.<br />

• You will need access to water for washing the screens immediately after use. In an ideal world this will be a<br />

nearby sink but if this is not possible, a couple of large plastic boxes or washing-up bowls of water and some old<br />

towels will be fine.<br />

Gathering tools and materials to get started<br />

The basics:<br />

• <strong>Thermofax</strong> screen(s)<br />

• Lightweight squeegee(s)<br />

• Print media – eg textile screen ink/fabric paint, thickened procion MX dye, discharge media (see separate page,<br />

Choosing Print Media for further information).<br />

• Cloth or paper to print on<br />

• Pins to secure the cloth/paper to the print surface<br />

• Plastic container eg cat litter tray to keep your workspace tidy and to protect your work from unwanted drips<br />

and marks - place containers of media, squeegees, etc in the tray.<br />

<strong>Use</strong>ful extras:<br />

• Kitchen paper and masking tape – these are useful for temporarily masking part of a screen or to avoid picking<br />

up ghost images (see getting the most out of your screen on page 2).<br />

• Freezer paper or sticky backed plastic – these can be applied to the fabric to make positive or negative<br />

temporary resists (see getting the most out of your screen on page 2).<br />

• Ruler / measuring tape - useful if you need to print images in particular position.<br />

• Thread - stretch between two pins to create a guide line for the edge of the screen if you want to print rows of<br />

images.<br />

Printing Technique<br />

• Place the thermofax screen in position with the shiny plastic-coated side of the mesh face down (you should be<br />

able to see the words THIS SIDE UP on the frame).<br />

• Spoon or pour a ‘bead’ of the print media onto the taped area at one end of the screen (the end furthest away<br />

from you).<br />

• Hold the edge of the screen with your left hand (if right-handed). Pick up the squeegee with your other hand,<br />

and position it behind the print media. Draw the squeegee towards you for the best results, using a smooth<br />

action and keeping the squeegee almost upright - if you angle it too much you may get blurred prints. Light to<br />

medium pressure is generally sufficient. Practise on spare cloth or the drop cloth to perfect your technique.<br />

• When you get to the bottom of the screen, scoop up any unused media with the squeegee and deposit it back<br />

at the top of the screen. Sometimes one pull of the squeegee is sufficient, and at other times, two will be<br />

necessary. If the squeegee is narrower than the design you will need two or more pulls.<br />

• Lift up the screen carefully and reposition it for the next print.<br />

• Keep the print media flowing across the screen and don’t let it dry in the mesh. Take particular care with screen<br />

inks (especially opaque and pearlescent inks) and glues as they can dry very quickly, especially in warm<br />

conditions. If allowed to dry they will seal the mesh permanently, spoiling it for any further printing.<br />

• If you want a layer of printing to dry before printing the next layer, you should wash and dry the screen while you<br />

wait (see Cleaning your <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong> below).<br />

Cleaning your <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong><br />

• Wash <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong>s in cool running water with a soft sponge – avoid power spray-washers and never use<br />

brushes or abrasive scourers as they will damage the mesh. <strong>Screen</strong> inks and dyes may cause staining of the mesh<br />

but as long as the water is running clear the screen should be clean.<br />

• Squeeze the edges of the tape to make sure none of the media has crept underneath and then wipe the edges<br />

of the frame thoroughly.<br />

• Pat the <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong> gently with an old towel to remove excess water and then leave to dry thoroughly.

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Storing your <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong>s<br />

• The screens are best stored upright and out of direct sunlight. Extreme heat (eg leaving in a car on a hot day)<br />

can cause the frames to warp.<br />

• Wait until screens are thoroughly dry before putting away. Storing damp screens can cause the plastic coating<br />

to peel off.<br />

<strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong> Maintenance<br />

• With care you will get many hundreds of prints from a <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong> but they do not last forever. The design,<br />

the media you use, how they are used (eg for a few prolonged sessions or frequent short) and how carefully they<br />

are washed and dried will all affect their longevity.<br />

• Minor repairs can be made if the plastic coating starts to lift or break down around the edges of the design. The<br />

repairs can be made with small pieces of duct tape or by filling in an edge with acrylic paint (paint on the rough<br />

side and allow to dry thoroughly before using again).<br />

• Occasionally a screen will start to break down in an interesting way and will take on an extra lease of life as a<br />

fractured or distressed image!<br />

• Once the image is beyond further use, the mesh can be cut out and the frame reused. You can order<br />

replacement imaged mesh from <strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong>s ready for you to tape into your old frame(s). Instructions for<br />

taping are supplied).<br />

Getting the most out of your screen<br />

Try some of the following ideas to get started and then tweak them to develop your own style. Continually ask<br />

yourself “what if ….?”.<br />

• Print single images as focal points.<br />

• Print repeat images to form patterns.<br />

• Rotate the screen to print the image randomly all over the cloth.<br />

• Print and overprint in layers, with one or more colours.<br />

• Combine two or more screens in the same piece – this could be small and large versions of the same image for<br />

variety of scale, a ‘texture’ screen as a background with a feature image overprinted or two or more screens<br />

with related imagery like spiders and webs.<br />

• If images are printed close together or overlapping, you may find that you have picked up medium from an<br />

earlier (still wet) print on the back of the screen. This will cause a ‘ghost’ image to be laid down on the<br />

subsequent print. Sometimes ghost images can be a unexpected bonus, adding texture and an extra dimension<br />

to your printing, but if you need perfectly clean images, you can lightly cover the wet print to avoid picking<br />

media up on the back of the screen. The easiest way to do this is to take a double layer of kitchen paper and lay<br />

it gently over the wet print without pressing it into the ink (the kitchen paper can be trimmed if the image is small<br />

or the space is tight). You can then print close to the first print and if there is any wet media it will be picked up by<br />

the kitchen paper rather than the screen.<br />

• If you want to print a small part of the image, you can mask off the unwanted area with a double layer of<br />

kitchen paper. Tape the kitchen paper to the back of the screen with a couple of pieces of masking tape<br />

(attach the masking tape to the frame not the mesh). N.B. the mask may need to be replaced at intervals if you<br />

have a lot of printing to do.<br />

• A partial image can also be achieved by applying a temporary mask to an area of the cloth with something like<br />

sticky backed plastic, freezer paper or masking tape. If the mask is a positive shape eg a leaf, then the printing<br />

will be on the negative space. If the mask covers the negative space eg a largish piece of sticky-back<br />

plastic/freezer paper with a leaf shape cut out of it, the printing will be in the positive shape.<br />

Suppliers<br />

<strong>Thermofax</strong> <strong>Screen</strong>s - www.thermofaxscreens.co.uk - info@thermofaxscreens.co.uk - Foxley Farm, Foxley, <strong>To</strong>wcester,<br />

Northamptonshire NN12 8HP UK - for ready-made screens, custom screens made from your own designs,<br />

textile screen inks, lightweight squeegees, books etc.<br />

Kemtex Educational Supplies Ltd. - www.kemtex.co.uk - Chorley Business & Technology Centre, Euxton Lane, Chorley,<br />

Lancashire PR7 6TE - 01257 230220 - for Procion MX dyes, Manutex, Soda Ash, Ludigol, Urea, Synthrapol / Metapex 38<br />

etc)<br />

Fibrecrafts - www.fibrecrafts.com - Old Portsmouth Road, Peasmarsh, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1LZ - 01483 565800 - for<br />

Procion MX dyes etc, Speedball inks, Pebeo Setacolor and other paints, Jacquard Discharge Paste, Fibre-Etch etc)<br />

Art Van Go - www.artvango.co.uk - The Studios, 1 Stevenage Road, Knebworth, Hertfordshire SG3 6AN - 01438 814946<br />

- for some of the above plus Jacquard Professional Quality <strong>Screen</strong> Printing Inks and also for metal leaf, glues etc.