I recently bought a screen printing outfit and have had a few problems when exposing my screens. I use 110 mesh screens and when I blast them out after exposure (approx 12-13 min of exposure) they blast out all the emulsion leaving me with a ruined screen.
I was told when coating your screens to coat a 110 mesh with 2 coats of emulsion on the side touching your t-shirt and the other side only 1 coat is need. But the person I bought the outfit from said she was only coating 1 side each. Which should I be doing?
Also, when I blast the image out after exposure I use a regular garden hose. I tried using a pressure washer but it blasting everything out.
Not sure if the reason they are blasting out now is because the emulsion is to weak, or because I have too much pressure or what...
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm using 3-4 screens each time to shoot an image and I'm wasting emulsion like crazy to keep re-shooting these screens.
What emulsion are you using? You could be over/under exposing it. Make an exposure grid to determine what the proper time is necessary to expose the image.
What are you using to expose the screen, and yeah, how long do you take to expose it? I use a really great halogen lamp and it only takes around 2 minutes for the exposure to happen, and then when I hose it down it pretty much works well. I guess it's down to the timing of the exposure... but then you gotta answer all the questions here before we could actually try and solve the issue with you.
The amount of coats depends on what your printing and will affect your ink deposit. I usually coat 1 and 1 for most screens and for white ink on black I coat 1 on well and 2 on shirt side.Do an exposure test. After I shoot I'll mist with spray bottle on both sides and let sit for about 5 minutes then wash out. Hope this helps.
What is an exposure test and what do I have to do?
Also someone asked how long I let my emulsion dry.... I coat the screens and then let them dry overnight so they are definitely drying a good 12 hours.
When I finish exposing the image I spray it with water and then blast it out right afterwards. Should I be letting the water soak on it for a little while (while in the dark room) or can you blast it out right after exposing it?
Finally, I am curing shirts with a flash dryer. Is there a best way to ensure everything gets cured? I've been drying them under the flash dryer for 60 seconds.
well you cant completely cure using just a flash dryer. they will dry and most likely work for awhile but eventually the ink will come off slowly. also try lighten up on the spraying when you are spraying out the screen. a hose with light to medium spray and itll take you 10 minutes but itll work. biggest key to spraying out the design is patience
And for me I like to let the water soften up the emulsion before I start spraying. And if when your done spraying if you feel like your screen is underexposed(slimy emulsion) dry it again and post expose.
Oh yeah, Yes on keeping the screen in the dark room while soaking and invest in a temp gun. I got mine for $40 at Harbor freight. I cure all my prints with a flash cure and haven't had any problems except when I was using a 100 foot extension cord causing a voltage drop. Just be sure you're getting your ink temp not the fabric to 320 F for 20 seconds. That is for most plastisols so check with the manufacturers tech data sheet to be sure.
Problem With Blasting Out Screens 
I guess it's down to the timing of the exposure... but then you gotta answer all the questions here before we could actually try and solve the issue with you.
