Texsource Inc. - How to Prepare a Screen for Screen Printing

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How to Prepare a Screen For Screen Printing

This section starts at the beginning of the screen preparation process and outlines each step involved in producing a quality screen. We have added links to help identify the products needed along the way. Use the arrows on the top right corner of the "more info" pages to follow in sequence.

How to Choose the Screen Frame

Texsource carries a wide variety of Screen Frame sizes and mesh counts. These are available in wood, aluminum and retentionable frames. The most common is the 20x24 wooden frame.

How to Choose the Screen Mesh

The screen mesh count is an important factor in determining the amount of ink to be deposited as well as the amount of detail the screen can hold. The mesh size is measured by how many holes there are per square inch. For Example, an 86 mesh screen has 86 holes per square inch.

How to Degrease a Screen

Degreasing screens is a very important part of the screen preperation process. It's important to degrease your screens prior to applying emulsion or film because new screens or re-stretched screens need to be free of grease, oil and dirt to avoid problems with the stencil quality. Your hands will leave an oily residue while dust and dirt can accumulate during storage.

How to Coat a Screen with Emulsion

Screen Coating is also referred to as "making a stencil". This is done with an emulsion. Emulsion is a thick liquid that is sensitive to UV light. When it dries it forms a photographic type of film. An alternative to screen coating is to use Capillary film or the low cost Ez-Film. (see below)

How To Coat a Screen with EZ-Film or Capillary Film

Ulano EZ-Film is a 50 micron capillary film suitable for all textile printing. It is easy to use, consistent, and durable, but most of all anyone can coat a screen without pinholes, in a few easy steps.

How to Expose a Screen

Proper exposure of a silk screen is very important because the finished product is only as good as the screen used to produce it. Exposure times vary depending on the mesh count being used and the...

How to Washout an Exposed Screen

Washing out an expose screen is a simple process. It can be accomplised with a water hose with a garden sprayer attached or you can use a 1000 psi pressure washer as long as you keep a safe distance from the screen (2-3 ft).

How to Tape a Screen before Printing

Tape off any areas on the sides of the emulsion toward the frame edge where there may be no emulsion present.

How to Reclaim a Screen

Reclaiming a screen removes the stencil from the screen so it can be used for another job. A screen can be reclaimed for approximately 20 jobs before it needs to be re-meshed. Your mileage may vary.