 Speedball Diazo Emulsion on 230mesh washing out fine detail - Help!
Hi, I'm using Speedball Diazo Emulsion on a 230 mesh screen. I have been coating the screen with a scoop coat and allowing the screen to dry print side down in a blacked out closet for 24 hours. I then expose the screen on an exposure unit for 2.5-3min.
My problem is occuring when I wash out the screen. I am using a garden hose in a wash out sink. I usually let water run over the screen for about 15-20 seconds before i start to increase the pressure. For the first minute or so nothing seems to happen, the latent image is there but nothing is washing out. Then eventually the image will start to wash out in larger areas. However when it comes to fine line and details those aren't washing out, or if they do they take a big chunk of emulsion out that isn't supposed to wash out. Sometimes the emulsion will just peel off in big sections. Today I had two screens coated and dried and tried the same images at two different times to see if I was over or underexposing them. The same thing happened to both screens. My images are rather detailed, gingko leaf with veins, tree branch with berries.
Could my Emulsion be bad? It's about 2 months old but I've been storing it in a refrigerator.
Any advice anyone might have would be great!
Thanks!!! | 
