Dont know if you would even call it "re-claiming"

Tagg3r · Post by **Tagg3r** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:53 pm

hired a production person that did something to our screens that to be honest, never seen anything like this before..... What I think he did is spray our screens to kill the emulsion. And thinking he just left them sit in the back...... Well now I cant even get close to getting the emulsion off the screens..... For our last resort, I blasted them with our HP washer, and that didnt even cut it. So wondering if there is some manufacter out there that has a chemical out there that will cut this rock hard emulsion. Big deal cause we now have 15 screens that are garbage.......$$$

Hope someone out there might have the answer!

Thanks in advance,

jklaflin · Post by **jklaflin** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 4:09 pm

I understand sometimes accident happen, but if possible explain to the former worker that the price to replace the screens will be deducted from whatever pay they have coming because they did not perform their job as told and ruined $x.xx worth of equipment.
Other than that, you are probably looking at a lot of scrubbing! A good place to start would be to call whoever you got the emulsion from and ask them. If they don't know, go right to the source and ask the horse (emulsion manufacturer).

Post by **d fleming** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:23 pm

Get new screens. You won't save $$ versus the time it takes to reclaim screens that have had remover applied and then let dry without washing out. If you manage to reclaim a few, they will be very weak from the abuse it took to reclaim them. Hopefully they are t-shirt screens and not large format like most of ours with a hundred or so bucks worth of fabric in them apiece. If you keep the employee, train him/her more thouroughly. The person I would be aggrivated with is whomever is directly over them for not training your staff proper before turning them loose with tools and chemicals. Perhaps a nice sign with pictures explaining the process step by step in the washout area. I also use training "modules" teaching different tasks on paper and then have the employee perform the task supervised once. If done correctly, the employee signs off on training for that task. Anything after that which ends up at a loss for that task comes out of responsible party's paycheck.

Tagg3r · Post by **Tagg3r** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 10:30 am

Great advice, and it will be well taken. I like all the recos/ideas.

I thank you for the time explaining some of your ideas.

Experienced or not, I like the idea of doing the task correct, with supervison, signing off on the task. Then be respossible for it! Great Idea... this guy had a great resume, and talked the talk so we "kinda" cut him loose. So this is one of those business learning experiences.....

Take care,

DTGPrinting · Post by **DTGPrinting** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:35 pm

Just to confirm, yes spraying the reclaimer on the screens and letting it sit will destroy your screens. I did this once. Thankfully it was only 1 screen and it took a 3000 psi pressure washer to get it out. Even then, it took a while. You just can't let that stuff dry, it becomes body armor....

ASAPScreenprinting · Post by **ASAPScreenprinting** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:14 pm

There is a chemical that takes it out. Give me a call Tomorrow and i'll let you know what it's called. Because it escapes my mind right now. It's non toxic and we had 2 screens that had the same problem. Just rub some of it on there, and use a pressure washer and it takes it out. Takes a bit, but it's well worth it. I saved 80 dollars with a 10 dollar chemical.

My number at the shop is. 352-505-7574 i'll be in around 9am est.

corradomatt · Post by **corradomatt** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:14 pm

D-Haze works for some emulsions. It's a chemical made by a company called FranMar. It's soybean based, and pretty powerful stuff. It is meant as a haze remover, but I have used it before to get out cemented emulsion.

I just sprayed it on the screens, let it soak in for about 5 minutes, then scrubed them for about 2 minutes or so and blasted the emulsion out with a pressure washer. It work like magic.

I've only used it with 1 type of emulsion. It was a photo polymer made by Murakami.

Post by **ROADSIDE** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:51 am

I hate it when that happens....!!
Every now and again I will leave a screen sitting to long with the emulsion remover on it. Usually when I am working alone and a customer comes in and takes up HOURS of my time.

I did make a little sign and mounted it to the wall. It has screen cleaning instructions and times to leave chemicals on.
I also color coated all the spray bottles and scrubbers so that people use the correct chemicals with the correct scrubber in the correct order.

Dip tanks are a nice investment if you have the space