Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. - Thomas Edison
So yesterday I again dropped more money into this, well lets call it a hobby......for what seemed to be a great idea! A dip tank and chemicals!! I read several reviews, some great and some terrible. I bought the easiway tank and Supra one step stuff. The first three screens I did, I just lightly carded the ink off and removed the tape. I left the screens in the tank for 20 minutes and when I removed them all the emulsion was GONE, but NOT the ink entirely..
something I missed in your original post too:"The first three screens I did, I just lightly carded the ink off and removed the tape. I left the screens in the tank for 20 minutes and when I removed them all the emulsion was GONE, but NOT the ink entirely.."you don't want the emulsion to come off in the tank... that'll KILL your dip tank chemical really fast. you just want to soften it so it rinses out easily.
I am actually thinking about buying a new screen for every job and chucking it in a pile for craigslist when I am done. That seems more efficient than spending 5 hours cleaning and prepping them. Perhaps I am terribly mistaken here and need to understand how to do things correctly. Do you guys have any advice for me? I really hate cleaning all these damn screens. Its like I am a dishwasher in some seedy cafe somewhere....As always thank you for your time and advice!
Yes I do have a pressure washer. If I do it correctly as the instructions say to..I still have to scrub. It IS easier than before...less scrubbing, but I am still scrubbing.I card off all inkremove tapewipe as much ink off as possibletoss in the tank for 20 minutesremove from tank and pressure washAt this point there are still areas with small amounts of ink AND speckles of OTHER screens ink on the screen The image area still has light ink too.Apply ink degradant and SCRUBHigh pressure rinseREPEATREPEATApply dehazerHigh pressure rinseBlow out with compressed air and stackEach one seems top take about 10-20 minutesI just checked Mclogans and I can get a 225 mesh wood framed 19x22 screen for $15.99Being so close to Mexico, I bet I can get them for half that if I search a littleSo lets just say $10.00 a screen...Almost makes sense to me to toss them or sell them after the job for $1.00 each on craigslist. The time saved for me at this point would be huge. I value my own time at a minimum of $20.00 hour so just in labor last night I spent $100.00 cleaning screens. Then theres the chemicals which are very nasty and they are expensive. Then finally the MESS! Hmm. I dont know.
I am using aluminum screens. I would only buy wood if I were only going to use it once.It just seems to me that with the dip tank and a pressure washer I should be able to drop a screen and then 5 minutes later blast it and be done. I guess I am expecting too much.