"He who marches out of step hears another drum." ~ Ken Kesey
I have seen alot of videos and you can see everyone doing it differently . Washing from the ink side first, the print side first, top to bottom, bottom to top, side to side. Is there an actual proper/recommended way?
I love this business because everyone sees the same thing from a different point of view. The results are the same the journey is never the same.Here are some suggestions. Qualifications...I am a one man operation I do all the work myself and I never stop looking at any process that improves the way I work. 1) right after you card out the remaining ink, take an old tee or rag and wipe up as much residual ink you can. This will save you ink chemicals in the wash out booth later as you will be chasing a thin ink film not ink globs and streaks. If you want to accelerate the process spray on sone bug & tar remover, Yes I said bug and tar remover from any department store. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Turtle-Wax-Bug-and-Tar-Remover-16oz/16888962#2 when you add ink degradent stand the screen upright and add the ink chemical only at the top of the screen and clean your way down.Ink wash that you spray all over the screen will mostly run away from you before you can use it. We use Franmar Greenway, but there are many good products out there.Better yet if you can lay the screen flat and lay the chemical on the squeegee side you will get the most bank for your chemical money then flip the screen and hit the back side.We find a 3 inch paint brush with the bristles cut down to about 1 inch above the metal works the nuts to chase ink and will not scratch your mesh.3) reclaim process....WARNING this will bring rain....... first we use Franmar, Strip-ee-doo to remove Ulano QTX emulsion. Here is where the bad weather comes in.....first wet the screen then lay it flat squeegee side up.Add the reclaim chemical only on the squeegee side of the screen and work it in some with a scrubee pad or brush. Be sure to completely spread the reclain juice all over the emulsion and then let it sit there kinda like a thin film dip tank without the tank.Take the next screen and lay it squeegee side up on the first screen and repeat the reclaim . Do this for about 6 screens all stacked up all coated on the squeegee side only.Let them set for a reasonable amount of time based on your reclaim chemical and emulsion but don't let them dry out.When you go to your pressure washer stand up the screen and hit the squeegee side with your pressure washer. If you waited the right amount of time you will find the emulsion will peel off in SHEETS. You can actually pick up an edge with your fingers and peel off a sheet of emulsion but use the pressure washer instead.This method does not disolve the emulsiuon toatlly but efficiently breaks the bond between the emulsion and the mesh. The down side is the sheets that peel off will cover your drain screen and you will have to pick them out when the water backs up. The up side is a large percentage of your emulsion goes into the trash bin and not down your drain not to mention the emulsion jumps off the mesh real fast.4) get some Dawn dish soap and a new car was brush. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Small-Soft-Bristle-Brush/23752078Dedicate that brush to degreasing only, use it for nothing else and hang it where it will stay free from other junk from your wash out booth.Slap on some dawn, suds up your screen with the brush and wash it off with a SOFT flow of water. Don't jet wash the screen you will only make more suds and take more time chasing soap, a soft shower spray will chase the soap quicker and more efficiently.5) stand back and watch the bullets fly on my # 3 recommendation.mooseman
Quote from: Prosperi-Tees on November 17, 2014, 04:24:22 PMI have seen alot of videos and you can see everyone doing it differently . Washing from the ink side first, the print side first, top to bottom, bottom to top, side to side. Is there an actual proper/recommended way?The advice that I've always heard is to clean from "Top to Bottom" when using screen wash to remove the ink. This allows the solvent running down the screen to work longer on the ink as it runs down the screen washing the ink away. By contrast the reccomendation is to wash from "Bottom to Top" when you have applied stencil remover to the screen. The reasoning is that washing from "Top to Bottom" dilutes the chemsitry at the bottom of the screen before it has an opportunity to soften the emulsion