Discharge and Emulsion

[ericheartsu]

I've been doing discharge prints for over two years at this point, and have a pretty good grasp on how to handle it!

But we are about to do a 1600 piece run, and i'm wondering if i should double up on emulsioning my screens? right now i do a 2/1, but i was wondering if should do a second coat for these, once they are dried?


will the thicker emulsion work better? or worse?

[pwalsh]

I've been doing discharge prints for over two years at this point, and have a pretty good grasp on how to handle it!

But we are about to do a 1600 piece run, and i'm wondering if i should double up on emulsioning my screens? right now i do a 2/1, but i was wondering if should do a second coat for these, once they are dried?


will the thicker emulsion work better? or worse?

Eric:  If I were selling you emulsion I’d love you to double coat every screen, but in this case I don't think that doubling up on the emulsion would help out with increased stencil durability when printing water based discharge inks.  In fact the heavier emulsion deposit will likely cause other issues with correct exposure and other on press issues due to the thicker stencil profile. 

The key to getting durable stencils for water base discharge printing are to use a good quality water resistant diazo emulsion that is fully exposed, and for a longer run the application of a hardener and post exposing are recommended.  Additional points to be considered are to look at the pressure / wear points where the squeegee contacts and runs up and down the screen and tape those areas securely.   

[ericheartsu]

We typically expose, dry, harden, expose for even longer.
then we tape up our screens pretty good inside and out!

but i just wasn't sure if we should double coat, but this more or less answers my questions!

thanks!

[Prosperi-Tees]

Thicker screens have no advantage when discharge printing. You just don't need the EOM. You are driving the ink into the shirt so a thicker stencil actually makes it harder to do so.

[jsheridan]

Thicker screens have no advantage when discharge printing.

Quoted for truth. 1x1 or 1x2 depending on viscosity of emulsion.

Have a nice day.