“Hey, did you know you can do screen printing with your Cricut? Yeah, Cricut silk screen projects are totally a thing now! So, I stumbled upon this when I had to tackle this super detailed design job from my husband’s job. I first tried using heat transfer vinyl, then moved on to printable heat transfer vinyl, but neither method really did it for me. The regular vinyl took forever to weed, and the print and cut HTV just felt like slapping on a thick sticker.

Anyway, I got all excited about learning something new, so I went ahead and ordered the Speedball Intermediate Kit off Amazon for next-day delivery. Then, like any good DIYer, I hit up YouTube to figure out what I was getting myself into.

But, word of advice: do your research before you dive in! That kit had way more stuff than I needed. Like, it even came with materials for making the negative, but I was planning to do that with my Cricut.

The screen print kit comes with to Cricut silk screen print

Now if I had known what I do now I would have skipped buying the whole kit. Then just bought the Speedball ink, some silk screens, the squeege and a big pack of popsicle sticks. From what I researched any screen with a mesh of 110 to 160 will do the job. When I need another one I will probably just go with a generic brand one off Amazon.

Simple steps to get started with this Cricut screen printing tutorial

Step 1

First up, pick out your design for your Cricut screen printing project! This shirt is going to be for my 9 year old Leila so I had her take to Pinterest to get some inspiration for a design. She did great, and a super simple (funny) first project!

Step 2

The picture above is also the second step, making your negative. Make sure you MIRROR your design! You are going to be using regular vinyl. I used this cheap removable vinyl from Amazon I bought when I first started Cricut-ing and had no idea what I was doing. I have since learned that Oracal Is the way to go! Cheap stuff definitely works when making a Cricut silk screen print though, so save yourself some money here.

Step 3

Next I transferred my design negative to the bottom of the silk screen. I used painters tape to seal off the rest of the screen so I didn’t accidentally get ink on the shirt that way either.

Step 4

Make sure you put a piece of paper inside the shirt you are working on just in case it seeps through the first layer of material. It should also be noted that it should be done on something you don’t mind getting messy and not on your new hardwood floors your husband just installed. (Oops) the floor is fine though and I read it just washes off with water though I had no spills.

Step 5

Center your design on your shirt or other item and get ready to go. Mix your ink (not sure if you have to mix but it just felt right) I used the included Speedball Black Ink and put a healthy layer above each word with a popsicle stick. You are going to then use your squeegee and pull the ink down at a 60 degree angle.

The font used it is called Ludicrous and it was free (with commercial use) from Font Bundles! Looking for Free Commercial Use SVGs and Free Commercial Use Fonts check out these great resources. Fonts are great for Cricut screen printing since you can personalize each project.

Step 6

I passed over the design 4-5 times going from top to bottom With the Speedball black ink. Once done you immediately peel off the screen print. When I peeled off the screen I also pulled up the frame from top to bottom and just had my daughter Hold the shirt down for good measure but it was probably not necessary.

Step 7

Lastly, and the hardest part for my daughter apparently was to wait for it to dry completely. Since I up and decided to make it at 10 at night we just went to bed and woke up ready for the last step. The last thing you are going to want to do is cure your ink. I cured by using my trusty Heat Press which I love and adore. I pressed at 320 for 15 seconds. Speedball recommends that you put a sheet of computer paper over your design while pressing. That is just in case a little ink transfers, though when I did it none did. If you don’t have a heat press and want to use an iron that works too! Set at the cotton setting and press each section well until it is all done.

Make sure you rinse the screen in the sink when you are all done using it, it can be used for multiple shirts!

Cricut Silk screen printing is seriously the BEST and only one project in and I am hooked! As much as I absolutely love Siser Heat Transfer Vinyl this is WAY better since the feel of it is smooth and doesn’t have that plasticy feel to it. It may not be the right choice for all projects but definitely for simple ones like this. Now that I got my first project out of the way I am ready to take on that super detailed project for my husbands unit! I will update when I get one of those screen print shirts done.

Free screen print Cricut designs

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