Cleaning out the unexposed emulsion to make the design

[Fleetee]

So the process I have of cleaning out the un-harden emulsion:
Is that after exposing the screen I put the screen in a large black garbage bag (b/c the washout booth is not free of UV), take it to the the washout booth, take the screen out of the black garbage back, put it in the washout booth, and quickly wash the un-harden emulsion, leaving the design on the screen. What do you guys think about my process? Totally wrong? Or completely fine as long as I wash it out quickly after taking it out of the large black garbage bag. Thanks guys 

[xcelr8hard]

Your conditions are not ideal, but neither were mine when I first started. I used to expose the screens in a spare bedroom. After the screen was exposed, I would spray it down with a spray bottle and then carry it outside in full daylight and hit it with the hose. After a couple of minutes I would then hit it with the pressure washer.
Should be alright as long as you are not doing fine halftone details.

Butch

[mk162]

You probably don't need the garbage bag.  If your lighting is fluoro or LED it takes a bit to expose a screen.  We rinse ours outside of the dark room and never had a problem.

If you are rinsing them where there is a lot of sunlight...that's a problem.

Try one without the bag, see if you can save a step.

[im_mcguire]

We have about a 10 step walk from our darkroom to our washout whichis right next to our roll up door. We alwaysspray with a squirt bottle of water the exposed screen before we leave the dark room.
We have never had a issue doing it this way.

[Frog]

I also travel for a few seconds in normal light with no issues.
And, by the way, this step of rinsing out the image is often called "developing"

[Prince Art]

We put a box on a luggage cart so that we can wheel up to 8 screens at a time from the screen room to the washout area. We throw a piece of heavy black fabric over the top as a lid. We also put a black plastic curtain behind the washout area to block most ambient light. We mist the screens as we pull them out of the box to let them pre-soften, rack them, return the cart, and then come back & spray them out. Works well.

[mk162]

I would recommend that price keep doing what he's doing since he has more than a few to work through, but frog is right, for a few seconds, they will be fine.

I would recommend skipping the water and plastic bag on a few and see if you notice a difference.  Every step you save saves a little time.

[Fleetee]

Appreciate all the high quality feedback guys! I will try to do it with the garbage bag and spray bottle first to see if it's even necessary. Also will make sure there is no sunlight. Thanks again guys~

[Sbrem]

We always had plenty of daylight leaking into our screen room, the sink is in there too, but remove the film and into the sink to wash out. Never had a problem, and we do lots of fine detail work. It's not like a real dark room in the old days, when opening the door ruined everything inside. You have the time to walk to the sink and soak it down...

Steve

[screenxpress]

I must be doing something very wrong. 

The only time my screens are in a no-light environment is when stored in a screen rack with top, sides and a door to block the light during storage.

I setup and affix my films to screens in normal florescent lights and that might take several minutes.  After exposing, I simply carry the screen, again in florescent light, to the washout booth and start the rinse process.  I don't race to the booth and I sure don't use a black garbage bag.

Andy.  I think this goes along with past posts about how fast room light affects emulsions, but I don't have any links.

[Frog]

I must be doing something very wrong. 

The only time my screens are in a no-light environment is when stored in a screen rack with top, sides and a door to block the light during storage.

I setup and affix my films to screens in normal florescent lights and that might take several minutes.  After exposing, I simply carry the screen, again in florescent light, to the washout booth and start the rinse process.  I don't race to the booth and I sure don't use a black garbage bag.

Andy.  I think this goes along with past posts about how fast room light affects emulsions, but I don't have any links.

Yep, Brad and I and maybe others as well mentioned that we all briefly handle our screens in normal light conditions with no ill effect. Folks erroring in favor of extra caution is understandable as they don't yet have any gauge on how much light is needed to screw it up.

[mooseman]

we coat in front of a North facing 5 foot x 8 foot window under fluorescent lights. Transport dried screens in open light under the same fluorescent lights no filters and whatever sun enters the room. Often times set the screen on the floor against the exp. unit while straightening the film I screwed up. In route to my washout i have one very close window facing South letting in direct sun light, I walk right by it.

In short I break every rule in the book when it comes to light exposure to a screen. Maybe I am SPECIAL my wife says I am but I simply have no problems . Been doing this for better part of 11 years

BTW we use Ulano Orange on Newmans and always "walk toward the light" just don't have any issues even with hals tones.
So take a chance ditch the black trash bag, screw the light supression dance in the moonlight and give it a try . You may find all the hoopla about light is way over rated. Then again we are just dumb thumb sppot printers and like to buck the system at every opportunity
mooseman

[screenxpress]

I must be doing something very wrong. 

The only time my screens are in a no-light environment is when stored in a screen rack with top, sides and a door to block the light during storage.

I setup and affix my films to screens in normal florescent lights and that might take several minutes.  After exposing, I simply carry the screen, again in florescent light, to the washout booth and start the rinse process.  I don't race to the booth and I sure don't use a black garbage bag.

Andy.  I think this goes along with past posts about how fast room light affects emulsions, but I don't have any links.

Yep, Brad and I and maybe others as well mentioned that we all briefly handle our screens in normal light conditions with no ill effect. Folks erroring in favor of extra caution is understandable as they don't yet have any gauge on how much light is needed to screw it up.

Little follow up on light vs emulsion.

A long ago, before I had the drying cabinet, I used to coat 12 - 14 screens at night and stack them all, shirt side down, on a work table separated by 1x1 blocks for air circulation.  I would turn off the lights and close down.  In the morning I would unstack the pile and store in cardboard boxes for light protection.

One night, I forgot to turn off the lights.  Duh.  The stack of screens went up near the lights.  About 2 foot short and there were 4 sets of 2 bulbs across the ceiling.  In the morning, seeing my goof, I assumed all the screens were pre-exposed and that I had wasted all the emulsion.  But, before I got ready to reclaim and recoat, I decided to see if my assumptions were correct.  I started with the top screen, slapped on a film and attempted to burn an image.  1st screen was pre-exposed, 2nd screen was pre-exposed, 3rd screen was pre-exposed, but a faint image.  I got a correct image on the 4th screen and was able to use all the rest, about 8 or 9. 

So, for me, inadvertent (or stupid) light exposure, can be a little (maybe a lot) forgiving.

   

[StinkyDaddy]

Just have a screen cabinet here too. I coat, set up film and everything else with fluorescent and window light. I do try to be quick when handling screens in the light. Here it takes 4 mins to burn a screen with UV florescent bulbs a few inches away from the screen. I'm not sure regular fluorescent bulbs have a significant amount of light in the range that exposes screens, and with that small amount in the range and the lights several feet away, I'm assuming it would take a long time for a regular fluorescent bulb to expose a screen. Maybe someone else knows more about that.

[Doug B]

  I have actually used a regular florescent light table when my exposure unit
was down. Took 15 minutes and not a great exposure but it worked. That was
way back in the Stone Age.