Screen printing in Room, health questions

Custommods said:

hey everyone , I have a health question.
I have read around and watched many videos and feel divided on this topic so i would hope some one can give me some Expert advice ^_^.

I noticed that tack's warnings are pretty "scary". In the sense that it seems very harmful, however i see videos of people not wearing respirators and spraying lots of tack.

Another thing is Flashing "haze". Along with other products that create fumes and chemical smells etc.

I want to begin printing either in my room or closet im only missing my exposure unit and paper and was wondering if a Open window, and some fans was going to be enough "safety".

I only plan on screen printing 1-2 times a month for a few hundred transfers, however i am afraid that this many transfers will subject my room to a lot of chemicals which will not all get aired out and i will leave behind chemicals which will linger all month long and pose a health risk. Am i overthinking things or am i right to be skeptical?

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edward1210 said:

You need to be in a room with ventilation, you need a room with windows.

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Wild Squeegee said:

I worked in a shop for 3 years in the early 90's. That was before "health" existed and no one wore gloves, respirators, anything. Today, I wear chemical resistant gloves when I'm handling mineral spirits and wear a respirator whenever I'm cooking plastisol just to be safe.

I printed in a basement with no ventilation once. No more than 15 - 20 plastisol prints under a flash cure created a slight haze of smoke trapped in the room. Afterwards I realized I couldn't print in a room with that little ventilation. I didn't have to sleep there that night thankfully. I considered venting a window, but then decided to move it to the garage.

An open window alone would not be enough. All the smoke will rise to the ceiling. I don't think anyone is going to advise you to print and cure plastisol in your room with one window. It may be possible to engineer a powerful fan like a Vornado into the window connected by a duct to a hood which would sit over the flash cure and suck all the fumes out the window, but... I'd try to see if someone will let you use their garage, and always wear a ventilator.

As for spray tack fumes, if you are printing transfers, look into vacuum tables. You can build one yourself if your handy. It will hold your transfers down while you print and puts no chemical vapor into the air.

Good luck and I hope you find a suitable place to print.

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