Can I use Screens over And Over?

This section is all about how to reclaim screens by removing the stencil with emulsion remover. Topics include working with emulsion removers, pressure washers, trouble shooting and waste disposal concerns.

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Catspit Productions
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Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by Catspit Productions »

Yes, you most certainly can. This part of the processes called reclaiming or stencil removal. You should be able to easily remove old emulsion and stencils with a chemical called emulsion remover. Sometimes it is referred to as stencil remover. Many screen printers start their careers in this department of the screen printing shop. It’s the last task anyone wants to do in the the shop but you can take a few measures to make this step easier to handle. I always recommend using a pressure washer for reclaiming screens. It will make the job much easier. You can check out some of my picks from Amazon here: http://catspitproductionsllc.com/screen ... shers.html

Check out these videos about reclaiming screens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzxWlrm0zo0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxXhbx3rhpE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5DV39cY9L0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbO1qDoZngI

How do you reclaim your screens? Do you use a washout booth? What type of pressure washer do you use and where did you get it? Do you have any of your own tips on reclaiming for others?
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!

http://catspitscreenprintsupply.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatspitProductions
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ppdlao
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by ppdlao »

Ppdlao from México...

I do it in the back yard of my house :P , I often get some meshes with ink haze before doing carefully all the reclaiming process, for example when cleanning 7 messhes in a day, almost 3 or 4 of them still have ink haze, and didn´t know why, I started to have doubts about the products I was using, and so I´ve tried another one, it cost me like $10 dlls plus antoher $10 from shiping and handle, I got desapointed cause didn´t worth it, therefore I though maybe because I was wrongly using "teflon fibers" the ones used to do dish washing for scrubbing the meshes, because they started to leave like little fibers that where only seen in the emulsion process, you could see all that littles craps there in the mesh. Then I sat down one day and tryed to do everything in order, even tryed to wash out meshes the very next day I used them to print, and still have ink hazes, almost unseen but still ink hazes, so I stop using the teflon wash fibers, bought like 3 differents brushes, and giving 10 mins to the product instead of the 5mins the seller recomends, or 20 instead of the 10mins recomended, even there´s a haze remover product, and it´s the best, but they recomend to wait 30 mins before removing the product off the mesh, and dind´t work for me that way, I should give it 50-60 mins, and the it does well it´s job, so the reclaimming process it´s about 2:30 hours for me (cleanning either 2 or 8 meshes) so when I´m in a hurry I often leave the less seen ink hazed meshes like that, and avoid the haze removing part :P

I wish I coul afford a washout booth for christmas, for now I´m using the "regular" water preassure of the house and a garden hose with a garden pistol, but I´ve seem the washout booths and I think almost or all of them brings a water pump, I´m I right? If so, could I repleace its function with a Karcher preassure washer for example? this preassure washer offers between 1400-1500 PSI (pounds per square inch) and 300 l/hr (liters per hour), do you think this could help the job done? How does the water preassure could affect the Mesh reclaming and the stencil wahsout after exposing the positives?

I don´t know for sure what PSI and L/hr a standart washout booth offers, can you help me to decide either to wait until I get a washout booth or a preassure washer could help Jon?

Thank you Jon! keep teaching us! :)
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Catspit Productions
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by Catspit Productions »

Yes, you problem here is that you are not using a pressure washer. You need a pressure washer to reclaim and especially to de haze and remove ink stains form between the mesh. All you need to do is get a pressure washer and use the products you have and I bet it will work fine.

Washout booths do not have any pumps or water fixtures except a drain. The pressure washer will need to be hooked up to a garden hose. Even a 1500 PSI would help you. I think mine is only like 1700 PSI. But you don’t need a washout booth, you need a pressure washer. But for washing out the stencil after exposing a screen you should only use garden hose pressure, follow?

Check out my thoughts and picks form Amazon.com here:

http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/sc ... shers.html

I think that will solve the problem. Good luck and let us know what happens. Thanks for posting!
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!

http://catspitscreenprintsupply.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatspitProductions
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ppdlao
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by ppdlao »

damn I knew I needed one! jajaja, thnks for the answer and the advice buddy!!
HeroZero
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by HeroZero »

Adding on to this conversation can I just clean the ink from a prepped screen, keeping the stencil on it, to reuse at a later date? So that I do not have to re-crerate the stencil? Is this advisable? If so, how long would the stencil last on the screen?
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ppdlao
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by ppdlao »

HeroZero wrote:Adding on to this conversation can I just clean the ink from a prepped screen, keeping the stencil on it, to reuse at a later date? So that I do not have to re-crerate the stencil? Is this advisable? If so, how long would the stencil last on the screen?
Hi HeroZero, I´ve just read a post of CATSPIT talking about that, I´ll paste it for you:

"That’s right; you can print the job and walk away from the press to go to bed. Then you can get up in the morning and start printing where you left off. Plastisol inks will never dry or cure until heated to about 330 degrees F. Sometimes when left out on a screen for a long time they may get a little stiff and adhesive from tapes on the substrate side of the screen will cause the ink to gum up". -CATSPIT

If you ask me, I´ll tell you, if I´ll leave those screens for more than 2 or 3 days I usually clean them, without "moving´em" from the press, with a sheet of flannel and a little bit of Xylene which is a derivative of Benzene, here in México is what we use for that, so you clean it (just the stencil area), and dry it with flannel too(this substance dries at room temperature), you should be able to re-use them and continue printing. I have left screens like that almost for a week, then I´ve started printing again with those screens and worked fine, the thing is the longer you keep your screens like that, the harder it would be for you to clean'em and wash the ink away from 'em, but I think Jon from CATSPIT will read this and give us a propper substance and a proper material in order to clean the screens for this purpose of leaving the screens on the press for a couple of days and returning and continue printing. This works for plastisol inks, But I´m not sure about water base inks! :idea: And always keep an old tee for testing before re-using those screens, it will save you money and time! :)



See you HeroZero I hope this post could help
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Catspit Productions
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by Catspit Productions »

Yes, it’s true plastisol inks need to be cured at 330 degrees F. And you can leave them on the screen for days and it will be fine. The longer you leave the ink on the screen the harder it will be to clean off.

Here in the States we tend to use solvents designed for plastisol inks like press wash or ink wash:



But yes you can clean the ink off and out of the mesh and then reuse the same stencil later. You would want to use a press wash for that:

Septic and leach field safe chemicals - http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/rh ... plies.html

Drain safe chemicals for city water systems - http://www.catspitproductionsllc.com/sa ... icals.html
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!

http://catspitscreenprintsupply.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatspitProductions
iKate
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by iKate »

Question.....

I purchased several USED screens. Having little to NO knowledge of what products were used on them I began the process of reclaiming them. On two there are black markings from the positive that will not remove. I have even tried Mineral Spirits figuring that they were pretty much garbage. On the third, there is what appears to be a cream colored print on them. It is NOT emulsion and does not respond to emulsion remover. I really believe someone printed the image on the screen. What if anything could be done in either of these cases. They are fantastic taunt screens despite the small (hopefully) issues.

Kat
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by Catspit Productions »

If emulsion remover and a pressure washer or de hazer for inks doesn’t work then you have either what is called screen lock or ink dried in the mesh. In either case the mesh is ruined.
Jonathan Monaco
Catspit Productions, LLC
Learn how to screen print tee shirts!

http://catspitscreenprintsupply.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/CatspitProductions
nekkron99
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Re: Can I use Screens over And Over?

Post by nekkron99 »

Great questions and answers. I was wondering just this about washing ink off the stencil to store and reuse again. Knew I'd find the answer here.
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