[gumorgen]

I'm not new to silk screen. I've coated screens, exposed screen, printed CMYK, washed out screens, ect.

But all that was done in the printmaking studio at my university.
So now I'm working on a little set up at home to print shirts and bought the whole Speedball Ultimate photo Emulsion kit that came with the emulsion kit, screen, ink, transparency, lamp, ect.

I was reading the instructions and it said to coat both sides of the screen and I'm just wondering why?
When I emulsion screens at school it's only one side once.

Is it because I'm not printing on flatstock?
Is the fabric ink different and you need both sides coated?
Is it just the brand (the brand we use at school is Ulano)?
It it because I'm using a exposing lamp and not a table?

I mean, I'm going to follow the instructions but out of curiosity I just want to know.

 

[sben763]

Textiles require thicker stencils then flat stock. Coat the shirt side first then the ink side. This will push the majority of the emulsion to the shirt side so that the stencil is created to the textile and the ink shears easily from the thin layer on the ink side.

 

[Jaenes]

Standart is coat once the print side then twice the squeegee side. Dry your screen print side down, so the emulsion can go through the mesh and build up a nice layer.
For higher mesh counts and short runs you can coat the screen just once.

The thinner the layer of emulsion the lower the ink deposit