[LeeBro]

Long time, first time here.

A little background: I decided to start printing my own shirts for my band because we use them as promotional items and give away more than we sell. Even with bulk pricing from local printers, it's too pricey for something that we are more/less giving away. I also have a couple other projects coming up where being able to do a small run of shirts would be nice.

So after learning about screen printing from the local library MakerSpace and knocking out a 1/2 dozen shirts there, I bought supplies to do it at home. I picked up an inexepnsive single color/single station machine, Jacquard ink, screens, etc.

Tonight I started printing shirts and the first few were ok, then after that it went downhill. I started to get excessive amounts of ink at the top of the design and a couple of times, there was coverage issues at the bottom. I read up, watched various videos about flooding the screen (110 mesh BTW), but it seems like I'm doing something (or a couple of somethings) wrong.

I did 9 shirts and realized I had used about 8oz of a 16oz jar of ink. Based on everything else I had read up to this point, I realized my ink is going on way too thick and I should stop. The design is in a 16x20 frame and is a pretty big coverage area so I knew I'd use a bit more ink than a smaller design would -I just wasn't expecting that much!

I was surprised as to how thick the ink was and am now wondering if I should have mixed it w/ an extender. I've attached links to pictures and would appreciate any thoughts and suggestions you guys have.

Some add'l info that may help you help me:
Offset is about 1/8 inch
I was flooding the screen after each print
I was using a squeegee w/ a beveled edge (though I do have one w/ a squared edge)
Even though I used the Jacquard ink, I do have Speedball ink too.
I want the color to be black, not grey -but I'm not opposed to the black not being 100% opaque.
In the picture links, the white shirt is the first one, the orange shirt is when the ink started to get accumulate.

White shirt: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xPHZpkPtltfRDAWrub-KWONAGwXdkiav

Orange shirt: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Yh_0uBMT7VTrf52v8zyedeMClJUZzUXW

Screen: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XfmnZmmqTbzw6MzGBav19ZSzLH-rQ9TV

Ink: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dLv7i9gooxmSdu-EmnWasQzQ-XafLptp

 

[NoXid]

I would use a higher mesh count screen. At least 156. 180 probably better. I use 200 for everything, but that is just me.

Use the square edge squeegee.

You might experiment with no off contact. I do use some off contact, as most of my prints are thick white opaque ink and I'm just too lazy to change it up for the occasional black ink print. Anyway, point being, that most say you don't need off contact with thin water base inks (like black). But this aspect shouldn't be a big issue one way or the other with that ink.

You might also try a dry stroke after your wet stroke to make sure you clear the screen and get the ink pressed into the shirt. This may, or may not, help with getting a more even looking print.

If you go with a higher mesh count, like 200, you can hit the print more than once without getting too much ink on the shirt, so that is more forgiving of poor technique or difficult fabric. The downside is that you may have to hit it multiple times. YMMV.

 

[LeeBro]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm picking up a 180 and a 156. I'll try the 180 first and go from there.

I went back and checked out the shirts from last night and even the ones that turned out good, the ink is definitely too thick. So for now, it's on hold until I get the other screens and try them out. I'll report back when I do.

 

[LeeBro]

Success!

So I knocked out 3 dozen shirts tonight using the harder squeegee and the 180 mesh screen. The only issue I had afterward was that some of the emulsion flaked off during cleanup. The dark blue is what the entire screen looked like after burning the image and while printing. It was only after printing the shirts and cleaning up did this happen. I'm guessing that it's 1 of 2 things: 1) I didn't clean the screen enough after exposure, or 2) Even though the screen dried for 24 hours, it wasn't enough...or a little bit of both.

Any insight would be appreciated. I have a feeling though that I'm going to have to redo the screen.

 

[NoXid]

Success!

So I knocked out 3 dozen shirts tonight using the harder squeegee and the 180 mesh screen. The only issue I had afterward was that some of the emulsion flaked off during cleanup. The dark blue is what the entire screen looked like after burning the image and while printing. It was only after printing the shirts and cleaning up did this happen. I'm guessing that it's 1 of 2 things: 1) I didn't clean the screen enough after exposure, or 2) Even though the screen dried for 24 hours, it wasn't enough...or a little bit of both.

Any insight would be appreciated. I have a feeling though that I'm going to have to redo the screen.

Cool

As to durability. After I expose a screen and wash it out, I let it dry and then set it out in the sun, or re-expose it for like 4 times the normal amount. This is called Post-Exposure, and ensures that the emulsion is fully exposed--which makes it both more durable and less prone to getting chemically locked into the screen such that it cannot be properly reclaimed.

Also, don't go too crazy thick with the emulsion, as it is unlikely to dry all the way through, and thus unlikely to properly expose.

You'll get it sorted out, just takes some flailing around to get a feel for what works.