Silk screen printing pushes ink through a mesh stencil onto garments and fabric, one screen per colour, which makes it the economical route for bulk runs of crew tees, uniforms and promotional textiles. Exhibition Printing Riyadh screen prints in its Riyadh factory with plastisol, water-based and silicone inks, and delivers across Saudi Arabia.
Screen printing is the oldest garment method still in daily use, and for good reason: once the screens are made, each additional shirt costs very little and comes out identical to the first. That economy is why a 500-piece order of volunteer tees for a conference, or a season's worth of uniforms, usually ends up on the screen line rather than on a transfer.
The ink is the main decision. Plastisol sits on top of the fabric, gives solid opaque colour on dark garments and is the standard for bold spot-colour logos. Water-based ink soaks into cotton for a soft, almost invisible hand feel that suits retail merchandise and light-coloured shirts. Silicone ink stretches with the fabric and holds up on polyester sportswear and performance uniforms; our automatic silicone line handles this at volume.
Every colour in your design is a separate screen, so a two-colour logo is cheaper to set up than a six-colour one, and gradients or photographs are better handled by DTF. Spot colours can be matched to Pantone references. Send a vector file, the garment colour and the quantity, and our Riyadh design team will advise free of charge. Standard runs take 2-5 business days with delivery across the Kingdom.
Who orders this
Conference volunteer and crew T-shirts in bulk
Corporate uniform runs for all departments
Promotional tees for retail launches
Sports kits on polyester with silicone ink
Tote bags and fabric giveaways
Spot-colour logos matched to brand guidelines
Repeat orders that must look identical
How is a silk screen print made?
Your artwork is separated into one layer per colour. Each layer is exposed onto a fine mesh screen coated with light-sensitive emulsion, leaving open areas where ink can pass. The garment is loaded onto a platen, each screen is aligned in turn and a squeegee pushes ink through the mesh. Between colours a flash unit gels the ink so the next layer does not smear. Finally the print passes through a curing tunnel; plastisol and silicone need a full heat cure to become wash-fast. On our automatic silicone line the alignment and squeegee strokes are done by machine.
Screen printing or DTF for my event order?
Count colours and pieces. A one to three colour logo on 100 or more garments favours screen: lower cost per piece, softer ink options and identical results across the batch. Photos, gradients, many colours or fewer than roughly 50 pieces favour DTF, since there is no screen to make. Mixed garment types also favour DTF. When a show needs 400 crew tees and 25 VIP shirts with full-colour sponsor art, we run the crew on screen and the VIP set on DTF, and match the main logo colour between them.
How long does a screen print last and how should it be washed?
Fully cured screen ink is a durable garment print: uniforms and crew tees routinely survive a season of weekly washes. Plastisol can crack if ironed directly or dried very hot, water-based prints soften further with washing, and silicone flexes with the fabric. Wash inside out in cool water, avoid bleach, and tumble dry on low or hang. Do not iron over the print. If a print cracks after a few washes, under-curing is the usual cause, which is why we check cure temperature on every run.
Silk Screen Printing: options compared
Option
Best for
Good to know
Plastisol ink
Opaque spot colours on dark crew tees and uniforms
Sits on the surface, needs a full cure and should not be ironed directly
Water-based ink
Soft-feel retail tees and light cotton
Less opaque on dark fabric; the print softens into the garment with washing
Silicone ink on the automatic line
Polyester sportswear and stretch uniforms at volume
Flexes with the fabric and resists cracking; printed by machine for consistency
Fabric by the metre
Event textiles and garment makers cutting their own pieces
Send the fibre content first so we choose mesh and ink correctly
Screen plus DTF in one order
Shows with bulk crew tees and a small full-colour set
We match the shared logo colour across both methods
What affects the price of Silk Screen Printing
01
Number of coloursEvery colour is a separate screen and print station, so setup grows with the colour count.
02
QuantityScreen setup is a fixed cost, which is why cost per piece drops sharply as the run gets longer.
03
Ink system and garmentSilicone and specialty inks, and dark or polyester garments that need an underbase, add passes.
04
Print positions and sizeA back print or sleeve adds screens and handling; very large prints use more ink.
What to send us
Vector file (AI, EPS or PDF) with text converted to outlines
Each colour as a separate solid layer, no gradients or transparency
Pantone codes for every spot colour, plus the garment colour
Print width per position and the quantity per garment size
Good to know
Silk Screen Printing: common questions
Quick answers about our services, timing, artwork and delivery. Have another question? Call or WhatsApp us.
Screen printing makes sense from a few dozen pieces upward because each colour needs its own screen; below that, DTF is usually the better value. Send your quantity and we will quote both.
Which ink should I choose: plastisol, water-based or silicone?
Plastisol for solid colour on dark garments, water-based for a soft feel on light cotton, silicone for polyester and stretch fabrics. We recommend one after seeing the garment.
Can you screen print a photo or gradient?
Not well; screen printing works with solid spot colours. Photographic or gradient artwork is routed to our DTF line, and we can combine both methods in one order.
Can you match our exact brand colour?
Yes, spot colours are mixed to Pantone references. Include the codes with your artwork and note the garment colour, since the base shade affects how the ink appears.
Can you screen print on polyester or performance fabric?
Yes, with silicone ink on our automatic line or with low-bleed inks. Polyester can release dye into light ink when heated, so tell us the fabric before we choose the ink.
Will a thin outline or small text print cleanly?
Lines under about 0.5 mm and text below 8 pt can fill in or break up on a screen. Thicken them in the vector file or let our design team adjust the artwork.
Can I reorder the same print next year?
Yes, quote your earlier order so we rebuild the same colour separations and ink references. Garment dye lots can vary slightly in shade, so send a piece from the first run if an exact match matters.
