New to screen printing, and have noticed there are lots of toxic chemicals used. I am trying to figure out safe alternatives. As for screen opener, could I use rubbing alcohol? It seems to work well cleaning up ink. Will it mess up stencil?
screen opener
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Real screen opener is super nasty stuff, and no, rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol doesn't even touch it as far as efficiency goes. It's not good for stencils, as it will sink in like water will, and make them soft and easily damaged. I think it's great for squeegees, floodbars, and cleaning up tabletops or floors, etc... but not screens.
You'll have a hard time replacing screen opener with something safer that is just as effective--but a good low VOC press wash will be your best bet. Something like Plastisolve 842 from Easiway, one of the TS (or maybe their eco line?) from CCI, or one of the Franmar chems--not familiar with them. Unfortunately, oil bases need solvents to clean them--and even the 'green derived' press washes are still bad for you. Read the MSDS and instructions on anything you use, and follow them.
You'll have a hard time replacing screen opener with something safer that is just as effective--but a good low VOC press wash will be your best bet. Something like Plastisolve 842 from Easiway, one of the TS (or maybe their eco line?) from CCI, or one of the Franmar chems--not familiar with them. Unfortunately, oil bases need solvents to clean them--and even the 'green derived' press washes are still bad for you. Read the MSDS and instructions on anything you use, and follow them.
Yeah, when I first got into this business I had a former printer come to me and talk to me about these chemicals. He said he has had 3 friends die from 20 to 25 years in this biz and attributes it to toluene. He said he came down with a type of leukemia and had to go through serious medical to survive.
On a side note, screen opener is similar to some of the ingredients they used in the BP oil spill to "clean up" the oil. Recent news is reporting mutant shrimp with no eyes and lesions. Lot's of dead turtles keep washing up as well.
We should all be very careful. I will continue my search for something better. Trial and error as usual
On a side note, screen opener is similar to some of the ingredients they used in the BP oil spill to "clean up" the oil. Recent news is reporting mutant shrimp with no eyes and lesions. Lot's of dead turtles keep washing up as well.
We should all be very careful. I will continue my search for something better. Trial and error as usual
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If you're using plastisol, the only really 'good' reason I've ever seen to use screen opener is if you fuse a screen--i.e. you flash white, and try to print it again right away while it's really hot. IMHO, if you don't do this, there aren't any good reasons to use screen opener anyway--a good press wash will do everything else screen opener will.
When I was printmaking we'd clean oil based etching ink off of plates with baby oil and soap, but then you're generating garbage--it's not proper to be running soapy oil down the drain. And besides that, do you know how many babies they have to squeeze to make just one bottle?
Let us know if you find any good 'alternatives' in press washes.
When I was printmaking we'd clean oil based etching ink off of plates with baby oil and soap, but then you're generating garbage--it's not proper to be running soapy oil down the drain. And besides that, do you know how many babies they have to squeeze to make just one bottle?
Let us know if you find any good 'alternatives' in press washes.
I started about about a year ago and use plastisol ink and I tried alcohol and that was a really a mistake. I went cheap for a while with the cheapest minerals spirits and the smell gave me a headache. My helper threatened to quit. We have been using for about a month some stuff from GoodEarth it works fine, smells ok.
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There are quite a few less stinky press washes on the market--the goodearth water rinse ink remover closely resembles the Plastisolve 842 from Easiway (that I happen to use)--aliphatic hydrocarbons, and d-Limonene being the listed active components. It does smell nice compared to many comparable products on the market. (But that does not mean you should inhale a lot of the vapors.)
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