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Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Screen printing is a set, not a material. There are two routes: the traditional one needs emulsion and UV exposure, while a polyester fast-engrave screen has the stencil lasered straight into the mesh and skips both. Either way you need a frame, a screen, a squeegee and the right ink. Mesh count decides how much ink lands on the garment, and ink type decides how it cures.

xTool screen printing supplies — coloured ink jars, an aluminium frame, coated mesh screens, blank canvas and a jar of plastisol ink
Browse screen-printing material records

Mesh Count Is the Setting That Decides Everything

The tested set is four coated screens: 100 mesh and 200 mesh, in both coated and polyester fast-engrave versions.

That is not a small catalogue by accident — mesh count is the variable. A 100 mesh lays down a thick deposit for opaque prints on dark garments; a 200 mesh holds fine detail and halftones but passes far less ink, and several ink families are restricted to 100 mesh. Everything else in the workflow follows from that choice.

Browse screen-printing material records
A screen-printed t-shirt by an Atomm maker — a multi-colour camper van design with fine script lettering on heather grey

Four Ink Families, and They Do Not Cure the Same Way

Plastisol sits on the fibre and needs heat to cure, and is the family listed for fabric. Water-based sinks in for a soft hand. Acrylic is listed for paper, wood and cardboard rather than washable garments. Oil-based is for non-porous stock.

The shop block below lists the ink sets, screens, frames and remover currently in stock for your region — individual bottles and multi-colour sets are counted separately, so start with one family and add the others as the work demands.

See this print run
Six can koozies screen printed in opaque white ink across red, orange, yellow, green, blue and pink stock

Pick Your Mesh Count

The single decision that shapes the whole print. Everything downstream follows it.

A 100 mesh coated screen printing screen — the coarse mesh that lays down a thick, opaque ink deposit

100 mesh — thick deposit

Opaque coverage on dark garments, and the right choice for bold blocks of colour. Passes the most ink of any screen here.

200 mesh — fine detail — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

200 mesh — fine detail

Holds thin lines and halftones, and passes much less ink. It is also an ink-compatibility choice: xTool restricts water-based, acrylic, thermochromic and photochromic inks to 100 mesh, because they clog a 200.

Polyester fast-engrave — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Polyester fast-engrave

Made to have the stencil lasered straight into it, which removes the emulsion and exposure step entirely.

Frames and squeegees — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Frames and squeegees

An 11.5 x 16 inch aluminium frame and a squeegee are the reusable half of the kit — the part you buy once.

Which Ink for Which Job?

Ink family decides durability, hand feel and what you can print on.

Plastisol ink — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Plastisol ink

Sits on the fibre and cures with heat. xTool lists it for fabric, and it is the family to use when a garment has to survive washing — durability still depends on reaching the cure temperature.

Water-based ink — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Water-based ink

Sinks into the fibre for a soft hand with no plastic feel. Better on light fabric than dark. Air-drying is not the same as being wash-ready — follow the ink maker’s heat-setting instructions if the print has to survive washing.

Acrylic ink — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Acrylic ink

xTool lists it for paper, wood and cardboard — a water-based ink with good covering power on those. It is not the pick for garments that have to be washed; plastisol is.

Oil-based ink — Screen Printing Supplies for xTool Machines

Oil-based ink

For non-porous stock — glass, metal, coated board — where a water-based ink would never key in.

Shop Screen Printing Ink, Screens & Frames

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Why Start From a Tested Setting

Mesh count is not interchangeable

A 200 mesh will not lay enough ink for an opaque print on black, and a 100 mesh will clog fine halftones. Buying the wrong count wastes the screen.

Emulsion has a shelf life and a light problem

It is light-sensitive by design, so it needs a dark space and it expires. This is the consumable people forget to reorder.

Ink family decides the cure

Plastisol needs heat to cure and will stay wet forever without it. Water-based air-dries. Mixing up the two ruins a batch.

Laser-engraved stencils skip two steps

A polyester fast-engrave screen has the stencil cut straight into it, which removes emulsion coating and UV exposure from the workflow.

Screen Printing Projects From the Community

Real jobs pulled by makers, with what each one was printed on.

P2 screen printing fixture — a community project by an Atomm maker

P2 Screen Printer Fixtures

P2 screen printing fixture

Screen printing on a balloon — a community project by an Atomm maker

Screen Printing on Balloons

Screen printing on a balloon

Screen printed laptop lid — a community project by an Atomm maker

Laptop screen printing

Screen printed laptop lid

Two-colour hummingbird on canvas — a community project by an Atomm maker

2 Color Screen Print

Two-colour hummingbird on canvas

Floral multi-colour fabric print — a community project by an Atomm maker

Floral screen printing

Floral multi-colour fabric print

Pulling a print on a navy shirt — a community project by an Atomm maker

Screen Printing

Pulling a print on a navy shirt

Explore the Materials Lab

Nine printing consumables

Printing materials and supplies

UV and DTF ink, film, powder, screen printing consumables and printable blanks.

Nine heat transfer vinyl finishes — PU, glitter, holographic, chameleon, puff and metallic foil rolls

Heat transfer vinyl

Finishes from plain PU to 3D puff. Cut, weed, press — no ink at all.

Nine DTF and UV consumables — film rolls, adhesive powder, cleaning fluid, gold and silver foil, UV ink and primer wipe

DTF and UV printing supplies

Ink, film and adhesive powder as matched sets, plus what UV DTF does that plain DTF cannot.

Nine fabric and felt items — a felt square stack, a denim tote, a felt colour range, a two-tone tote, denim sheets, a canvas tote, coated engraving canvas, a drawstring bag and a black canvas tote

Fabric and felt

Felt, canvas, denim and tote blanks. Synthetics seal their own edge; cotton does not.

Screen Printing Guides & Ideas

Mesh count, emulsion, ink choice and curing — the whole workflow, plus designs worth pulling.

What Is Screen Printing? Process, Costs and When to Use It

Screen printing explained: how ink is pushed through a stencil, why cost per shirt is highest at one and lowest at 500, and how it compares to HTV, DTF and DTG.

2026/08/11573

What Is the xTool Screen Printer? Laser Screen Printing Explained (2026)

What is the xTool Screen Printer? A full guide to xTool’s laser-based screen-printing kit: how it works, specs, price, what you can print, and setup.

2026/07/30863

Best Printer for Screen Printing: It Prints Film, Not Shirts

The best printer for screen printing prints film positives, not garments. Which inkjet to buy at $199.99 or $699.99, why laser printers fail, and how to skip film entirely.

2026/08/25535

DTF vs Screen Printing: Where the Cost Curves Cross

DTF vs screen printing decided by quantity: why screens are expensive once and free afterwards, why DTF costs the same every time, and where the two curves cross.

2026/08/27400

DTG vs Screen Printing: Detail and Feel, or Punch and Volume

DTG vs screen printing compared by how each builds a colour: halftone CMYK dots versus flat spot colours, and what that means for detail, feel, volume and cost.

2026/08/27332

Best Heat Transfer Vinyl for Shirts (2026)

The best heat transfer vinyl for shirts compared on thickness, weedability, application temperature, and peel type, with buying advice by situation.

2026/08/04623

FAQs

What do I need to start screen printing?

A frame, a mesh screen, emulsion (or a laser-engravable screen), a squeegee and ink. Plus a way to cure. Plastisol and puff plastisol need heat; oil-based cures either by air-drying or in about ten minutes on a heat press at 80–100°C; water-based dries in air but may still need heat setting for wash durability — go by the label on the ink you bought. Kits bundle the reusable half; ink and emulsion are what you reorder.

What mesh count should I use?

What is the difference between plastisol and water-based ink?

Can I laser engrave a screen instead of using emulsion?

How many prints does one screen last?

Is screen printing worth it for small batches?

Screen printing? Get the whole set, not half of it

Open the screen printing catalogue