Screen Printing Labels

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Sir Humpsalot

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I plan on reusing my bottles a bit. I'm not creative enough to make fancy labels for every brew. Having something on the glass would be nice though to encourage people to return the bottles to me. Generic brown bottles can easily be thrown away by people receiving my brew. I could even have a line on there that reads "return to brewer" or "Deposit 6 empties for 1 beer" or something.

I've seen permenamel which claims to be dishwasher safe and I think it would be pretty easy to do this with some cardboard or flexible plastic, tack down some gauze or silk (got an old shirt that I could cut up), wrap it around the bottle, and slap some paint down. Obviously, multiple colors would be difficult, so maybe two at the most.

What do you all think? Has anybody done this? I have no screenprinting experience at all, but don't think it would be terribly involved for a small logo on a bottle... maybe just use a stencil instead...



Or maybe acid-etch the outside to give it a frosted look. That's something that can get complicated though, I'd imagine.
 
A designer friend and I are working on the same thing.

Rather than use a T-shirt, because the fabric can stretch, I thought it might be easier to make a template out of some kind of light plastic material, fit it into a tube around the bottles and spray paint the bottles. You could have more than one template, so as to use more thna one color, bring out the design better.

I haven't experimented with the spraypaint yet and your post makes me wonder how well the paint will adhere to glass. Judging by the graffiti around LA, it doesn't just run off or anything, but may in fact not be difficult to wash off.

Stone brewing company now uses that permanamel stuff on their bottles and it bums me out. I can't save their bottles for rebottling anymore. They just go into the trash. Such a waste.
 
Prez said:
Stone brewing company now uses that permanamel stuff on their bottles and it bums me out. I can't save their bottles for rebottling anymore. They just go into the trash. Such a waste.

i really like to drink Stone beers, but i find myself shying away from buying them because i cant reuse the bottles.
 
Prez said:
A designer friend and I are working on the same thing.

Rather than use a T-shirt, because the fabric can stretch, I thought it might be easier to make a template out of some kind of light plastic material, fit it into a tube around the bottles and spray paint the bottles. You could have more than one template, so as to use more thna one color, bring out the design better.

I haven't experimented with the spraypaint yet and your post makes me wonder how well the paint will adhere to glass. Judging by the graffiti around LA, it doesn't just run off or anything, but may in fact not be difficult to wash off.

Stone brewing company now uses that permanamel stuff on their bottles and it bums me out. I can't save their bottles for rebottling anymore. They just go into the trash. Such a waste.

I think you will have a hard time finding paint that will stick and not scratch off with relative ease. That's why I'm going with a paint intended for glass.

As for using a stencil, I'm not sure, but I think one of the advantages of screen printing is that you don't get brush marks. The same is true for spray, of course, but using spray will restrict your color choices and the type of paint you can use.

I'll probably use mylar as my barrier material.
 
I have a great article from an old Zymurgy about screening bottles. It involves making a screen in which a flat screen is pulled across a stationary bottle that rotates as the screen moves. A stationary squeegy directly ave the bottle spreads the ink. It looks cool and I have wanted to build one for years. The article leaves out some details but I do think it has ink recommendations. I will see if I can dig it out.
 
Brewpastor said:
I have a great article from an old Zymurgy about screening bottles. It involves making a screen in which a flat screen is pulled across a stationary bottle that rotates as the screen moves. A stationary squeegy directly ave the bottle spreads the ink. It looks cool and I have wanted to build one for years. The article leaves out some details but I do think it has ink recommendations. I will see if I can dig it out.


I'd be interested in that article... My artist buddy and I were thinking of something of the sorts..
 
Brewpastor said:
I have a great article from an old Zymurgy about screening bottles. It involves making a screen in which a flat screen is pulled across a stationary bottle that rotates as the screen moves. A stationary squeegy directly ave the bottle spreads the ink. It looks cool and I have wanted to build one for years. The article leaves out some details but I do think it has ink recommendations. I will see if I can dig it out.

Yes, BP, if you would be so kind as to dig it out at your convenience, it'd be greatly appreciated.


:mug:
 
I looked last night and will try again later today. It really wasn't that hard of a design. I actually talked to the authot and he said the real trick is multi screen printing. Anyway, I will see what I can dig up.
 
I've worked in screen printing for 25 years. the bottle printer uses a catch pin that rotates and catches a groove on the bottom of the bottle. The bottle rotates as the screen drops and then the squeegee move across the image surface. If you're not concerned with an exact position the bottle can roll freely and do the same thing. If you have a setup and want to buy a machine, and have a place to air dry the prints......
What I would do if I were to screen print labels... I would use a clear vinyl stock. usually it's mounted on a white backing sheet. Use Nazdar multipurpose inks, print the image and adhere the "clear everywhere except where printed" label to my bottle. That's just the end part...
First your art has to be separated into it's component colors...1 screen per color, 1 color at a time...or done as a 4 color process..CMYK, in which case you need fine screens like they print CD's with....Any questions just ask...
 
I've found that gouache paint scrubs off dinner plates (that I use as pallets) with relative ease, so I'm sure it would scrub off glass, I may have to experiment with that. The paint also has a really high pigmentation, so in theory the colour should come out pretty vividly. Again I would have to experiment with this.

I may do this for my next batch, I have access to a laser cutter so I'll be able to make a template from some sort of this flexible plastic. Ooooh why does this get me excited I need to get out more :cross:
 
Prez said:
I can't save their bottles for rebottling anymore. They just go into the trash. Such a waste.

I don't follow, I still use em. You could use them for storing wort for starters like Papa says.
 
Toot said:
I plan on reusing my bottles a bit. I'm not creative enough to make fancy labels for every brew. Having something on the glass would be nice though to encourage people to return the bottles to me. Generic brown bottles can easily be thrown away by people receiving my brew. I could even have a line on there that reads "return to brewer" or "Deposit 6 empties for 1 beer" or something.

If I were giving beer to friends, I would probably make it clear that the tap stops when the bottles don't come back, rather than go through the expense marking my bottles permanantly. I guess I'm naive, but I figure I'm doing THEM a favor by giving them something special. If I ever get to the point of giving beer to friends, I'll make it contingent on THEM supplying ME with bottles first ;) No bottles, no beer...
 
MariaAZ said:
If I ever get to the point of giving beer to friends, I'll make it contingent on THEM supplying ME with bottles first ;) No bottles, no beer...


good idea...
 
My friends and I are trying to figure out how to screenprint labels. We have a vinyl cutter which we did a test with, but we are afraid the vinyl will fall off after several washes. If anybody has any ideas how to screen print that would be great. If we figure out anything I will be sure to post a how-to here.
 
worxman02 said:
My friends and I are trying to figure out how to screenprint labels. We have a vinyl cutter which we did a test with, but we are afraid the vinyl will fall off after several washes. If anybody has any ideas how to screen print that would be great. If we figure out anything I will be sure to post a how-to here.

http://www.skateandannoy.com/features/diy/screenprinting/basics1.html
Here would probably be the way to do it...only on a smaller scale
They use a curved silk screen to print on skateboards. You could make maybe a 1 foot by 6 inch screen the same way to print on the curved surface of the bottle. We used to print with sonething called screen etch. Gives a sandblasted look, it's clear, but I bet you could add color inks to tone it. That would be an interesting label, might try it myself...OR if you're independently wealthy, you could get one of these
http://www.inkcups.com/dotNet/pages/2f_equipment_screen.aspx
 
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