[BecIllustration]

Hey everyone,

I'm totally new to this and have made a home set-up from scratch, everything has been going well and I'm almost ready to print on to my batch of sweatshirts but...

There are a few areas on my screen that print patchy, when i pull the squeegee across you can see the ink does not go through the mesh properly - but there is no dry ink in the mesh and when i hold the screen to a light the areas look the same as any other.

If anyone could give me any pointers I'd really appreciate it! I've been degreasing the screen before emulsioning. Not sure if it needs a longer exposure time as the parts that are patchy are thinner lines and around the edges of the screen??

I've attached 3 images, 1 showing the overall print, 1 showing the centre of the print which has printed well and the other is a patchy area on the right of the print. There is also a patchy bit on the left hand side

 

[AndyandTobie]

Wish I had a tip, but I'm new to this too. But I wanted to say that your design is awesome! I've been spending a lot of time trying different combinations of off-contact, squeegee angle, push vs. pull, and pressure on the squeegee. I'm starting to think it really is "all in the wrist," as changing these things has made a huge difference in our prints.

 

[SpeedColor]

Cool lazer cats. If the ink isn't going through on the sides it could mean you're not applying pressure evenly. If you feel like your pressing hard enough, maybe your squeegee is too soft. Try altering your off contact too, either higher or lower. Pretty much like AndyandTobie said, experiment with different techniques and settings.