Screen slid off frame - my fault or bad screen glue?
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:26 pm
Greetings all. I am a new hobbyist screen printer. I mean really new, and really hobbyist. I just want the capacity to make custom t-shirts for gifts for friends and to spruce up my around-the-house multi-pack white Hanes. To that end, I will mostly use stencils, but sometimes I will want to coat, expose, and reclaim the same screen.
I have watched a lot of catspit videos about this and that, but I missed the taping one, and used tape on only the printing side of a screen that I then didn't clean right away (was using plastisol ink and stencils and thought I might do some more with the same area taped off). When I went to clean this screen to put photo emulsion on it, I found that the tape was gooey and really stuck to the screen and when I pulled it off it left a LOT of sticky adhesive everwhere.
Well, I have some Safe-T-Wash from Dick Blick that says it's for screen washing, so I went to town on my screen with that. There was so much adhesive on the screen that I sprayed it down well and let it sit for a few minutes. I sprayed it out with my sink sprayer (this is what I have to work with--I could maybe use a garden hose attachment in my tub if that would really be a lot better, but I'm not going to get a washout bin and pressure washer for 10 or 20 shirts a year), and wiped it with a sponge to pick up the dissolved adhesive, and repeated. As I was working on the screen, the screen slid on the frame, and I realized that the Safe-T-Wash had dissolved the glue holding the screen to the frame.
This whole situation was definitely my fault in incorrect taping, but is the glue that holds the screen to the frame supposed to be soluble in what's sold as a screen wash? I bought this screen off of ebay. Was this a bad screen or do I just have to be more careful when washing screens (or both)? I don't want to order another from the same vendor if corners were cut on the screen glue . . .
Thanks in advance for your input!
-Stephanie
I have watched a lot of catspit videos about this and that, but I missed the taping one, and used tape on only the printing side of a screen that I then didn't clean right away (was using plastisol ink and stencils and thought I might do some more with the same area taped off). When I went to clean this screen to put photo emulsion on it, I found that the tape was gooey and really stuck to the screen and when I pulled it off it left a LOT of sticky adhesive everwhere.
Well, I have some Safe-T-Wash from Dick Blick that says it's for screen washing, so I went to town on my screen with that. There was so much adhesive on the screen that I sprayed it down well and let it sit for a few minutes. I sprayed it out with my sink sprayer (this is what I have to work with--I could maybe use a garden hose attachment in my tub if that would really be a lot better, but I'm not going to get a washout bin and pressure washer for 10 or 20 shirts a year), and wiped it with a sponge to pick up the dissolved adhesive, and repeated. As I was working on the screen, the screen slid on the frame, and I realized that the Safe-T-Wash had dissolved the glue holding the screen to the frame.
This whole situation was definitely my fault in incorrect taping, but is the glue that holds the screen to the frame supposed to be soluble in what's sold as a screen wash? I bought this screen off of ebay. Was this a bad screen or do I just have to be more careful when washing screens (or both)? I don't want to order another from the same vendor if corners were cut on the screen glue . . .
Thanks in advance for your input!
-Stephanie