[lazerstruck]

Hey guys.

I've been lurking in these forums for a couple months now and (in preparation for the launch of my own business) I've finally registered. You guys have already unknowingly helped me with several issues - at least now I can thank you in the threads!

I've been working in graphic design and illustration for coming up on 10 years now. Finally worked up the nerve to create my own line of t-shirts for toddlers/kids. Doing the whole thing ourselves (designs, screen printing, shipping, etc).

Learned a big lesson today after our first (and successful) attempt at burning a screen and running a few prints. I picked up a gallon of PC 701 emulsion on sale and really like the shelf life and burn time (VERY fast). After running our prints, I took the screen down to go over the cleaning/reclaiming process first hand (up until this point we'd only seen it done in videos). Turns out I mixed up the screen wash and reclaimer spray bottles.

After spraying the reclaimer on (thought it was the screen wash) to remove the ink, I noticed the emulsions melting away. I immediately brushed/sprayed away what ink I could (which was ever harder to tell because the ink was teal and very close to the color of the blue emulsion). I then sprayed on the screen wash (thought it was the reclaimer) and continued to turn everything into a sludge fest. After a trip to the local car wash to use their power washer, I was finally able to clean the screen. We now have a color code system for the bottles posted at our wash booth!

 

[W.E. Productions]

I have my chemicals in spray botles with different color sprayers and label them with markers of the same color to help tell them apart. Welcome to the forum!

Sent from my LG-E612g using T-Shirt Forums

 

[lazerstruck]

I have my chemicals in spray botles with different color sprayers and label them with markers of the same color to help tell them apart. Welcome to the forum!

Sent from my LG-E612g using T-Shirt Forums

Thank you for the welcome!

We actually had labelled the bottles with a permanent marker - and I made sure the sprayers were all different colors. That way we'd have two ways to identify them. Unfortunately one of the chemicals (not sure which) left a residue on the rubber gloves I was using. When I handled the bottles, the "permanent" ink wiped away like it was a washable marker. We're going by a color code system now though.

 

[FullSpectrumSeps]

Hey guys.

I've been lurking in these forums for a couple months now and (in preparation for the launch of my own business) I've finally registered. You guys have already unknowingly helped me with several issues - at least now I can thank you in the threads!

I've been working in graphic design and illustration for coming up on 10 years now. Finally worked up the nerve to create my own line of t-shirts for toddlers/kids. Doing the whole thing ourselves (designs, screen printing, shipping, etc).

Learned a big lesson today after our first (and successful) attempt at burning a screen and running a few prints. I picked up a gallon of PC 701 emulsion on sale and really like the shelf life and burn time (VERY fast). After running our prints, I took the screen down to go over the cleaning/reclaiming process first hand (up until this point we'd only seen it done in videos). Turns out I mixed up the screen wash and reclaimer spray bottles.

After spraying the reclaimer on (thought it was the screen wash) to remove the ink, I noticed the emulsions melting away. I immediately brushed/sprayed away what ink I could (which was ever harder to tell because the ink was teal and very close to the color of the blue emulsion). I then sprayed on the screen wash (thought it was the reclaimer) and continued to turn everything into a sludge fest. After a trip to the local car wash to use their power washer, I was finally able to clean the screen. We now have a color code system for the bottles posted at our wash booth!

Thanks for sharing your experience... I'm just getting started myself on the printing of my own stuff for R&D and training and other purposes as well as doing my own art... similar to you I've been in the design etc side of things going on 10 years or so for screenprint, and I've only just got the basics of a start-up kit for now to do things in my own studio. Been freelance designer/separator for a few years now so I havent' had the luxury of much stuff I could do at full shops, but one of the things I got just recently really cheap was a power-washer at a local pawn shop for about $80.

I need to set up some sort of wash-out booth etc, still need to build my dark-room for screens and actually get my 6-color manual put together bolted into the floor etc, a lot of work still to go, but I plan on doing a full series of videos as I build from the ground up and deal with these and similar issues myself like people here at the forums, so I can share my experience troubleshooting like I have actually done at a lot of shops personally over the years, but now time to get my hands in the ink, etc... so it should be lots of fun! (for those who consider endless frustration and teetering on the brink of disaster to be fun)

First thing is I need to get some running water in this building. That should help a lot with something like reclaiming screens when the time comes, and it will make my power washer much more useful. LOL