Indigo Resist Screen Printing

Q: I have some questions about indigo resist screen printing. What type of screen do you use? What density? And what types of resist are you using? I’ve seen the rice paste recipe on your website. Do you ever screen print with other resists like mud or flour/water?

A: For indigo resist screen printing I use a 40 mesh screen, create my designs with cut vinyl (make sure you get the stickiest kind) which I place on the bottom of the screen (the print side not the ink side) and print with a traditional Japanese rice paste recipe. You can use photo-emulsion for preparing the screen but I find that it tends to get pixelated when using 40 mesh, which is why I create my designs using adhesive vinyl. You can still get incredibly crisp lines and points when working with a very open mesh.

I've tried a couple mud recipes and found the rice paste to hold up much better over repeated dips. I've never tried wheat flour/water, just the rice flour/water. Just make sure to sieve your dry ingredients through a 60+ mesh screen to ensure that they all properly fit through a 40 mesh screen when you're printing. I've found that it is hard to find rice bran that is milled fine enough.