For screen printing, I have always used Speedball screen printing paint. I know there are several brands and they all have different preferences, but I have had a very good experience with Speedball. I have found these paints to be great for screen printing, they blend excellently to make all kinds of shades, and they hold up great in the wash. In fact, I think they are superior to the paints used on store-bought screen-printed T-shirts. Speedball screen paints come in two styles: cloth and opaque. Speedball fabric paint is for light colored fabrics and opaque paint is best for dark fabrics, it covers better so the dark color doesn’t seep through the paint. In addition, the opaque paint has a slightly metallic appearance, they have a shiny appearance. Each style of paint is available in many colors, but I have always purchased the 6-pack of paints. These come with the three primary colors, black, white, and an additional one. You can make any shade of any missing color by mixing the primaries. Although Speedball screen print paint is a great product, I’m not always happy with the color right out of the bottle. The colors are too strong – the fabric is deep black and each of the primaries looks better after mixing with a little white paint.

6 Pack Speedball Cloth Screen Printing Paints:

Black

White

Blue

Red

Yellow

Green

6 Pack Speedball Opaque Screen Printing Paints:

Black pearl

Pearl white

Blue topaz

Raspberry

Citrine

Silver

Mixing paint is most likely an important part of your screen printing activities. Small jars to store mixed paint will be essential so that you don’t have to mix paint every time you prepare to complete a project and save extra paint.

I will go through all the colors and how to make them.

The black Speedball Fabric is dead black, I didn’t like how it looked the first time I projected it. The artist will tell you that to achieve a vivid black you need to mix all your colors. However, I was able to get a black that I was happy with by mixing some white Speedball fabric in it. You can get a gray color by mixing more white.

Dull black doesn’t look black to me. It is more gray or silver. When I wear it, I mix the black Speedball fabric. This gives me a great black, with a metallic look.

You will not need to mix any paint for the white. There is white Speedball fabric and opaque white Speedball fabric. Dull white seems more beige to me, so I haven’t used it much. White fabric has worked great for me even on dark fabrics.

Blue Speedball fabric is a royal blue. If you need light blue or light blue, mix blue fabric and white fabric. Dull blue is also dark blue and has a metallic look. If you need a light blue, just mix up some white fabric.

Red fabric looks nice, but you can add white or black for a lighter or darker shade. The dull red is actually raspberry. I only use raspberry when mixing pink or purple.

I have not used yellow much, but again you can mix it with white or black to get shades.

The 6 fabric pack comes with green so you’re all set. If you need an opaque green you can mix citrine and blue topaz (yellow and blue).

If you need orange, you can mix red cloth and yellow cloth or citrine and raspberry from the opaque set.

Any shade of brown you need can be made by mixing a ratio of red yellow and blue.

To make pink I mix the opaque raspberry and the white fabric paints.

Purple can be created by mixing red and blue. A metallic violet can be made by mixing raspberry and blue topaz.

To make gold, first make brown with the red fabric, the blue fabric, and the dull yellow. Add more yellow and a small amount of opaque silver.