What is the best emulsion remover?

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vitalsignstexas
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What is the best emulsion remover?

Post by vitalsignstexas »

We have been screenprinting for about a year - using a pressure washer to blow out screens during reclamation. It is a laborous process. Recently we hired someone who had helped someone reclaim screens using some type of emulsion remover that was just sprayed on and then washed out with a garden hose. Does anyone know anything about this? We've burned up several inexpensive ($100) pressure washers and spent lots of time trying to get emulsion out of our screens. If there is such a product that works as easy as spraying and hosing out, we'd love to know about it. Thanks for any pearls of wisdom.
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Post by adline »

Are you using an oxidizer to break down the emulsion or are you just using high pressure water to blast away at it???
The traditional chemical to oxidize the emulsion is sodium metaperiodate - Any screen printing supply company would carry it. It's a powder that you mix in water. Use a sponge to wipe the screen untill the emulsion breaks down the use water to wash it away. An alternate is to have a tank filled with the solution. Submerge your screen in it for a couple of minutes then wash it out. A pressure washer gives a better result, but regular garden hose pressure is possible.
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Post by vitalsignstexas »

We are using an emulsion remover in powder form that we mix with water. Then we scrub with a "screen scrubbie" and wash out. The problem is that the emulsion doesn't want to come out. It is roughly a 2-hour process of putting emulsion remover, scrubbing and blowing out. I am on the hunt for this "miracle" emulsion remover that my employee said he used that sprayed on the screen, washed out with a water hose (no pressure, no heat) and the emulsion came right off - he washed out 20 screens in minutes.
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yaleteamsandtees
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Post by yaleteamsandtees »

We use ZimStrip.

www.zim-intl.com

It comes in powdered form.

Add 1.5 - 2 oz. by weight to a gallon of water.
Shake it up real good to dissolve.
(Think sugar in ice tea)

We spray it on a horizontal screen on both sides,
rub it gently with a scrubbie pad and wait 2 min.

Don't even need the pressure washer really.

We also add a couple of drops of dish washing
liquid as a wetting agent to the gallon AFTER we've mixed the powder. :lol:
It helps to cut through any screen wash residue.

The main reason we might have a hard to reclaim screen
is if they are under exposed.
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bath

Post by nils »

I put my frames into Kiwo decoater bath. This is much more safe than spray .
If you forgot to wash your screen after a spray and it dries - it is almost impossible to clean.
nils
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