Screen Printing Forum

Hello 1st of all im Callum and i come from england, about a year ago i decided i wanted to start screen printing. so bought a lot of equipment and have sucessfully printed 3 t-shirts!
i am using plastisol inks.

my problem is exposing the screens and reclaiming them.

im using a 500w halogen lightsource.
i coat the screens on both sides and (using coating trough) skim the surface of the screen to ensure there are no runs in the emulsion. i will then either leave the emulsion to dry on its own or use a hairdryer and evenly dry the emulsion. then expose the screens (from 40") using a dark peice of foam and piece of glass, for up to 10 mins(all done in a dark room). the guide that came with my emulsion tells me i only need to expose it for 3 mins, but the emulsion washes straight off when i do this.

to reclaim the screens and wash emulsion out i use a household power shower.

i have been able to fully reclaim some screens, but fear i have over exposed some and cannot reclaim them. i am going to send the screens off to be re-meshed. but dont want the same problem to occur again.

can someone pleasetell me: -
a) what im doing wrong
b)a different emulsion to use
c)what light source i should use.

Thanks in advance.
Cal.

try playing with your exposure time. Also, You may not be able to reclaim your screen with a shower head, i've had some that are hard to clean that will only reclaim with a high pressure washer, an idea and I've never had one I couldn't relcaim. just my 2 cents.