What am i doing wrong? Ink smudging after first print.

[lazyassboy]

Having some problems with my second print. Im using water based inks on a 130 mesh. Im using red, black and white mostly. After my first print it seems like there is a stippling of ink under the screen where the image is after i flood it. I have about a 1/16 of an inch of off contact and im using a 70 durameter squeegee. About the 3rd time i print the image is pretty blurry. I only do 2 passes without flooding in between.....is my mesh count to low? Am i pushing to much ink while flooding? Am i using the wrong squeegee? all help appreciated.

[Catspit Productions]

Hello there,

It's hard to say working blind from afar. Be sure there isn't any ink on the stencil after the print stroke. Sometimes it can leave patterns or textures in the print.

As for the blurriness or loss of resolution, it may be stencil drag or maybe poor mesh tension. Perhaps the ink is too thin for that mesh count as well. If it's a thin and runny water based ink, then you would want to use a 160 or 200 mesh screen.

I hope that helps out. Good luck!