[kenjin]

I am a UK guy located in Thailand. I decided to have a go at screen printing so I went to a screen printing supplier in Bangkok called Scala99.

The screens they supplied me are made of wood and state they are 53T, I'm not really sure if that is the correct size thread for T-shirts.

Also the Ink I was given is water based. Screen printing is pretty big business over here so I went along with their recommendations.

I seem to be having no end of issues.

I have watched all the videos and it looks really simple but I seem to be having problems with too much Ink running through the screen, so I try to be gentle and not press down too hard then the print is patchy.

Any suggestions? I have attached a link to my latest mistake.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zC4M1HVL3UjQOFR83

 

[kenjin]

Actually, what i think may of been happening is on this shirt I printed once flashed it then printed again. I think that when I loaded the screen to stop it drying out, it may of pushed ink through the screen? Could it be that?

 

[robstercraw]

ive had this problem once in the past. i believe it happened because i used too much pressure when i was flooding the screen and the ink spread onto the garment side of the screen, just as you suspect. i have been being more aware of not putting any pressure while flooding and it hasnt happened again.

 

[PatWibble]

I am assuming that 53t is metric ( threads per centimetre) not imperial ( threads per inch)? 53t per cm is about 135t per inch - way too low for waterbased ink, but ok for plastisol.. You need to be up around 80t/cm (205t/inch) or higher, depending on how thin the ink is. Some printers use 120t/cm ( 300t/inch) for thinner ink.

The problem you are having is that the mesh count is so low that too much ink is coming through. Reducing presure won't help things much, so you need a finer screen.

Also waterbased ink needs no off contact. Put the screen in contact with the fabric.

 

[Twisted Grafix]

Definitely check your off contact. It may be too high.

 

[kenjin]

I watched video of the local Thais printing, no off contact, much thinner Ink, no flooding the screen. So i gave it a go , thinned down my Ink and didn't flood, came out pretty good. I still need more practice.