Preparing Silk Screens For T-Shirt Printing

By Gal Firth

The key to a perfectly printed t-shirt is a perfectly coated and exposed screen. A badly cleaned screen can lead to breakdown in emulsion and ink leaks onto your t-shirts, leading to lots of ruined garments, and lots of stopping to climb under your screen and repair any pinholes. If you follow these simple steps you will achieve a near perfectly coated screen. To get a 100% perfect screen ideal for t-shirt printing every time you need lab type conditions. Obviously for most people this isn't an option, so keeping the area where you are recycling your screens as tidy and clean as possible is essential to eliminate any dust in the area. Sweep and mop your cleaning area daily, it is best to do this at the end of the day so any dust particles will settle overnight.

Remove Ink Tape And Stencil

A screen washout booth or a large sink and a pressure washer are a must for this process. The first step is to remove the ink and tape from your screen, make sure there is no residual tape left on the frame then apply screen wash generously over the mesh and frame. Use a tough nylon non abrasive brush to get into the mesh then blast with the jet washer until all ink has been removed, pay attention to the inside of the frame by wiping with an old cloth ensuring all ink is removed. Remove the frame from the booth, and wash out the booth ensuring all ink has been washed away.

Remove the stencil with a stencil strip chemical. Most stencil strips need diluting to around 1 part stencil strip to 25 parts water. Use a dedicated brush to work the stencil strip into the mesh and leave for a few minutes, do not leave for too long as this will damage the mesh, then give the screen another blast removing the entire stencil. Hold the screen up to the light to check for any ink, tape or stencil blockages. If there are any marks that are blocking light then use screen wash or stencil strip and blast again with the pressure washer. Repeat this process until the screen is completely free from blockages.

De-Grease

Again use a dedicated brush so as not to contaminate the degreaser if the degreaser does get contaminated with ink or screen wash throw it away as it will cause more problems than the good it will do. Work the degreaser into both sides of the screen mesh then leave for a few minutes. Rinse off with the pressure washer ensuring the washout booth is clean so no grease or ink will splash back onto the screen.

Dry

When the screen is completely washed out and free from grease, ink and any other waste it is time to dry the screen.

If you don't have a drying cabinet it is best to have a dedicated room or cupboard to dry the screen in. Again it is essential to keep this area clean and dust free, dry the screen flat and face down. Use a small electric fan to heat and circulate the air.

Coat

There are a lot of different opinions as to the best way to coat screens, especially the amount of applications to each side of the screen. My preferred choice is 2 on the outside and 1 on the inside. Do not coat the screen on the floor this will get dust particles in the emulsion. Try and coat the screen on a clean table. Fill the coating trough and coat the outside of the screen from top to bottom keeping the screen at an angle of around 45 degrees, then turn the screen and coat the inside remember to keep the angle the same and try and keep the pressure even from bottom to top, apply a second coat to the outside and then run the coating trough on the inside of the frame without applying any emulsion and pushing the emulsion through the mesh. Place the screen back in your drying area face down. Do not dry standing up this will cause the emulsion to run down the screen and will give an uneven finish. Make sure the screen is completely dry before exposing.

Summary

Most reasons for screens failing are to do with dust and ink contaminating your cleaning area. If you follow these steps and keep cleaning area and tools clean you will have perfect screens ideal for t-shirt printing every time.

The author has been involved in the t-shirt business for over 20 years and is the managing director of T-Shirt Printing company Buytshirtsonline Ltd. Buytshirtsonline are located in Runcorn Cheshire and offer great rates for t-shirt printing.

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