Chemicals/Screen Setup - Critique Mine and Suggest Alternatives

[ebscreen]

Liquid RenuIt is our dehaze of choice.

It's not Franmar "go ahead and drink this" but it's not super gnar gnar either.

[Gilligan]

We like Franmar d-haze, it's not quite as effective as the Murakami 700 stuff you've been using but you don't cough and choke on it either.  For a friendlier dehazer you need to use it every time as part of the cleaning cycle, the gnarlier stuff can be used as needed I imagine. 

Our ink cleaner had been the CCI envirosolve for awhile now.  It's dirt freaking cheap (if you buy direct) and works well on plasti and wb/dc.

I put a call into my guy at Murakami... 700 is scary stuff.  Only recommended to use it 4-5 times on S-Mesh before it starts to eat into the mesh.  I'll pass.

His advice was to get the ink out of the screen ASAP.

We are also using Franmar's D-haze and it's working ok for us.

[ZooCity]

Huh, we got a gallon of it just to see if I could further consolidate suppliers and it hasn't eaten our S mesh alive or anything.  We do leave it set overnight often too.  Going back to franmar though, the 700 is too nasty. 

[GaryG]

I too have been completely non-plussed with the two in one solutions.  Seems like it's either an ink cleaner with weak emulsion stripping abilities or an emulsion stripper with weak ink cleaning abilities.  Sucks either way in my opinion.

But GaryG, I will say that Kiwo system sounds smart.  If you pair a dehazer/ink stain remover with the tank solution I could see it working out well- still only scrubbing the screen one time and if it can really degrease too that's saving a step for us. 

Zoo- Still have to scrub 2 times -that's the beauty of it- only 2 steps, not 3.
A few mfg's have figured it out the "Dual" strip. Dual meaning -Emulsion and "Degrading Ink" not removing ghost image in the first scrub. That is what the Concentrated Ink Wash is for, the rest of leftover ghost ink. No further labor/costs needed. 

[mimosatexas]

To be clear, the 700 is indeed nasty stuff.  I am brushing it on, letting it sit for 8 minutes, rinsing softly, then pressure washing.  I don't see using it more than once every few months at most.

Will the dhaze from franmar mess with static glue at all? Is it a degreaser as well?

[ZooCity]

GaryG - scrub after dipping?  We just blast after dipping.  Ink remover is scrubbed on prior and rinsed.  Dehaze scrubbed on after and rinsed before going to degrease in the "clean" sink.   I agree, a two step system should be the goal, there is no magic cocktail of chemicals that can do all that in one dunk but a tag team sounds feasible. 

Mimosa- get the D-Haze gel formula, it won't slide around onto your static's glue.  If you keep it off, all's swell but almost any dehazer is going to weaken the super glue used to bond mesh to aluminum at least a little bit.

[mimosatexas]

Anyone know the rough cost of a 55 gallon + shipping of the Kiwo Dual Strip?  I just read that it can be used 1:4 in the tank and I like the idea of the 2 part process.

Alternative would be 701, then gemzyne, then dhaze. 

I will probably end up trying both, but wanted to get an idea of cost.

[GaryG]

No sorry, we just spray on chemical.

there is no magic cocktail of chemicals that can do all that in one dunk
-Beg to differ, Kiwo, Easiway, and a couple of others have developed just
such a "dual" -denoting two processes in one jug chemistry in last few years.
 

[mimosatexas]

Just updated the original post as I have started using the diptank and switched up some of my process.  Old chems are included still under the "Used (but stopped)" section.

Far and away the biggest leap forward with my process has been the addition of the tank and the combination haze/degrease with the 701 after emulsion breakdown instead of split before as ink degradent and after as degrease.  I have gone from a 3 part process with scrubbing during each step, to a 2 part process with one scrub and the rest is pressure washer and nozzle.  Not only is it significantly faster, but I am less worn out after a long session of cleaning screens and the overall screen condition is definitely consistently better than it was before the tank.  I want to specifically thank Evo for suggesting the 701 after the tank.

I am looking forward to trying CCI and Magna inks, and I am going to be testing some other brands of dehaze/degrease after the tank as the 701 doesn't fully remove the ghosts for things like poly white.  Visually the ghosts are all gone, but I can see them when I do my final soft rinse as a result of the water sheeting off the screen differently in those areas.

I will likely try a different diptank chemical once this one has become ineffective, not because the Supra isn't working, but just to be more informed on the other options out there.  I think I am definitely sold on the 2 part ink and emulsion in one chemicals as long as they soften the plastisol enough to pressure wash off easily.

[Rockers]

Xenon Plastiwash for ink removal.  XER 25 or 5 depending on dip tank or not for emulsion removal.  F.S.I.C for haze removal.  Degreaser for degreasing.  OR..... get in line for the industry changing unit coming out in FEB.

You know that February is almost over.

[Doug S]

I can't compare it to any of the ones mentioned but I use ICC ink degradient to remove the ink before I dip them in the tank.  For the dip tank I use Microwash 2 and it seems to do a great job and it's fairly inexpensive compared to others for a 5 gallon container.  For the degreaser I use ICC's brand plus it kind of smells like bubble gum and does a great job.

[Printficient]

Xenon Plastiwash for ink removal.  XER 25 or 5 depending on dip tank or not for emulsion removal.  F.S.I.C for haze removal.  Degreaser for degreasing.  OR..... get in line for the industry changing unit coming out in FEB.

You know that February is almost over.

Yep.   Working on getting the unit down to hopefully one chemical + water.

[Rockers]

Xenon Plastiwash for ink removal.  XER 25 or 5 depending on dip tank or not for emulsion removal.  F.S.I.C for haze removal.  Degreaser for degreasing.  OR..... get in line for the industry changing unit coming out in FEB.

You know that February is almost over.

Yep.   Working on getting the unit down to hopefully one chemical + water.

Send me one, we will field test it for you;)