I just bought a SpeedBall Screen Printer

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PseudoJunk
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I just bought a SpeedBall Screen Printer

Post by PseudoJunk »

I just bought a Speedball Screen printer to get the beginning feel of screen printing.
I'm completely novice at all this, so my brain is rife with questions.
One question I have has to do with the photo emulsion.
I burned my image and washed off the emulsion and created a shirt.
Everything worked fine until I began removing the rest of the emulsion that I didn't use for my pattern.
I washed it off right after I printed my shirt, and it came of fairly easily, but now when I hold my screen up to the light, I can faintly see the image I burned.
Is this normal? Or did I not wash the emulsion off enough?


Thanks guys!

-P
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d fleming
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Re: I just bought a SpeedBall Screen Printer

Post by d fleming »

normal, image you see is not from the emulsion, it is from the ink. It is a "ghost" image. Textile inks are made to permanently mark fabric and that is what you see. If you leave too much residue it can be a problem and would require haze remover or an ink degradent to remove. At worst new fabric. Cleaning screens thoroughly after use is one of the most basic and important steps.
PseudoJunk
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Re: I just bought a SpeedBall Screen Printer

Post by PseudoJunk »

So it shouldn't mess up me printing a new shirt?
Thanks. I was hoping it wasn't the emulsion.
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Ripcord
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Re: I just bought a SpeedBall Screen Printer

Post by Ripcord »

If you're going to use the screen for a halftone print it could cause some trouble, but should not interfere with solid prints. If you don't use haze remover your screen will eventually have enough of the ghost images to make printing more difficult...The buildup begins to make the individual threads slightly thicker so less ink can get through. It will get to the point where you need a new screen, or a remesh for retensionables...but if you clean it properly you should be able to use it many times. I have a 110 screen that I've used nearly 100 times and it's still in good shape.
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