Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Hello All
My wife and I will be starting a screen printing project in the next few weeks. I have ordered one of the table top machines built by Lee Wyke of Youtees ( he is a forum member) and it will be on its way soon.
We live in an apartment building and the more I read about cleaning up and reclaiming screens the more concerned I am getting about becoming a toxic offender. I am only planning on printing about once a month, my max colors will be 3 at first, maybe 5 later on. I am planning on washing out the screens in my bathtub with a shower massager and doing all the coating and printing in the kitchen.
I am interested in comments and advice on anyone who is doing or has done work like this in their home. Lee tells me not to worry, there are a lot of things on the market these days that make printing much cleaner and safer than it used to be but I am really looking for some real world examples of how folks deal with this in a home situation.
Thanks and please let me know there's any more info you need to help me out.
Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
my shop is in the garage, so it can be messier and "chemical-ier" than in the actual house, but if you're careful, and for as little as you're planning on printing, it shouldn't be a big deal.
easiway products are pretty safe, low to no odor, not harsh on your skin.
franmar makes soy and corn based cleaners that work surprisingly well.
some people try to go the cheap route and use stuff like paint thinner and bleach, use professional chemicals that are safer, less smell and work much better.
exposing screens and rinsing in the bathtub should pose no problems provided you rinse the tub out well.
Take the screens to a carwash to reclaim them since your in an apartment.
if you plan on printing the same designs over and over, just clean the ink out or at least the image itself, so you don't have as much post press type clean up to deal with.
Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Congrats on picking up screen printing. I actually wanted to buy a kit from youtees before but he never replied to my emails
Anyway, in addition to franmar, there's also ryonet's enviroline of chemicals. Most are soy-based cleaners like franmar. When cleaning up inks, try to see if you can save as much of it as you can. Whatever you can't scrape off and save, wipe it off with a paper towel. This will ensure that you'll get as little ink in the tub as possible. Less ink down the drain and a smaller chance to get a colored tub
Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Thanks for all the encouragement so far.
I especially like the idea of washing out the emulsion at one of those self service car washes. A screen printer I worked for last year had an 1800 dollar repair bill for cleaning dried out emulsion from his clogged up drain pipe.
Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Quote:
Originally Posted by macmiller
Take the screens to a carwash to reclaim them since your in an apartment.
WHAT???? did you really just say that
DO NOT DO THIS!!!
They recycle the water and all the junk from your screen cleaning contaminates the system.
To the OP:
Use the proper cleaning chemicals designed for down-the-drain clean up and you'll be fine in your bathtub. Ink degradent, emulsion remover and haze remover are all drain safe. The biggest problem you may have is the dye from the emulsion (red - blue) can stain your tub.
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Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Quote:
Originally Posted by srabadan
I especially like the idea of washing out the emulsion at one of those self service car washes. A screen printer I worked for last year had an 1800 dollar repair bill for cleaning dried out emulsion from his clogged up drain pipe.
How much do you think it would cost for the owner of that car wash to fix his machine..
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Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Quote:
Originally Posted by John_Sheridan
WHAT???? did you really just say that
DO NOT DO THIS!!!
They recycle the water and all the junk from your screen cleaning contaminates the system.
really? oops!! i've never done that personally, but I know of people who have. I just can't imagine stripping screens w/ a pressure washer in an apt. bathroom.
Re: Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals)
Quote:
Originally Posted by John_Sheridan
WHAT???? did you really just say that
DO NOT DO THIS!!!
They recycle the water and all the junk from your screen cleaning contaminates the system.
To the OP:
Use the proper cleaning chemicals designed for down-the-drain clean up and you'll be fine in your bathtub. Ink degradent, emulsion remover and haze remover are all drain safe. The biggest problem you may have is the dye from the emulsion (red - blue) can stain your tub.
I don't think Macmiller was telling them to not use emulsion remover, just to use the emulsion remover in combination with a pressure washer available at the car wash. There is nothing wrong with washing fully liquified de-stencilied emulsion down a drain that goes to a treatment facility.
As far as a carwash goes, there are worse things that you wash off your car (gasoline, coolant, oil, etc) that the system is capable of handling. I'd be willing to bet that whatever is in the "tire/engine cleaner" setting on the dial is worse than anything SP's use.
Cleaning up the mess (nervous about the chemicals) 
