Emulsion for the Yudu, Emulsion Problem Solving
Please read this article and watch the videos for help best using photo emulsion for both the screen exposure and the reclaiming process!
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Preparing your Screen: When it comes to getting ready to start screen printing you need to make sure that all of the pre-press steps are taking correctly.
Starting with your screen:
First we must degrease the screen to remove any contaminants such as dust, chemical residue, or fingerprints. The emulsion or capillary film needs to stick to the mesh, and if there is grease in the way, then it will not stick that well.
1. Spray both sides with the degreaser. Such as, Enviro Clean Screen Degreaser.
2. Scrub both sides working the degreaser into the mesh.
3. Rinse thoroughly to remove the degreaser.
4. Set screen off to dry (this can be done using a fan or the YUDU machine itself.)
Now that the screen is dry, it is time to emulsify the screen.
It is very important whether you are using direct or capillary film to apply the emulsion in a light safe environment. This can be as simple as putting a yellow bug light in a bathroom. It is very important to coat and keep your screens in this dark environment until you are ready to expose the screen with your artwork. Exposure to room light will cause the screen to begin to pre-expose and make the emulsion unusable.
http://screenprintingvideo.com/darkroomsetup.htmView all compatible YUDU frames
For capillary film:
Open tube and lay out film (in your darkroom)
Cut capillary film to size for your screen
Place the film, emulsion side up, on a raised pad and lay the dry degreased screen on top.4. Using a hand spray water bottle, spray water onto the mesh until the film is completely wet.5. Squeegee off the excess water from the inside of the screen. Wipe water from the perimeter of the frame, and then proceed to drying.6. Peel off the plastic carrier sheet when it's dry and allow the capillary film to stabilize for 5 to 10 minutes. This keeps the positive from peeling off on the film since the surface under the plastic carrier sheet is still semi-moist.7. Wash gently as you normally would with a garden hose; avoid using a pressure washer unless it's absolutely necessary. Only use high pressure from the shirt side of the film.
For Direct Apply Emulsion:
Mixing Emulsion
Locate the small bottle of Diazo powder that cam with your emulsion.
Fill bottle ½ ways with distilled water and shake.
Open black bucket of emulsion.
Pour in Diazo and mix thoroughly.
Let stand 1 hour to allow bubbles to rise to the surface.
Coating a screen. See the video above to best coat the screen!
Pour emulsion into aluminum scoop coater, if you are using a Yudu frame use a 10" Scoop Coater.
Press edge of scoop coater tightly to screen mesh of the t-shirt side of screen.
Pull scoop coater up to top of screen.
Tilt scoop coater back to remove excess emulsion from screen.
Repeat on ink side of screen.
It is important to note that you want to put some pressure on the scoop coater, the thinner coat of emulsion you get the better the screen will expose!
Screen Coating Stand that works with Yudu frames:
Only $19.95!Drying the screen
Place the screen in the YUDU machine for drying. This may take several heat cycles to complete. OR place screen in front of a fan to dry emulsion completely. Do this in a light safe environment as well. Now that the screen is coated it is time to expose.Your Film. It's extremely important that you have a dark positive film during the screen exposure process, if your positive film is not dark you can see from the video's above that your screen may have a hard time exposing, a dark positive film solves so many problems! We recommend using Ryonet Water Proof R-Film, check out the video below to see how to get a great positive film!
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WaterProof Film Positives 8.5x11" 25 Pack Item No. WP8.5X11-25PKY |
$22.95 |
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WaterProof Film Positives 8.5x14" 25 Pack Item No. WP8.5X14-25PKY |
$31.95 |
Proper exposure is KEY to a good stencil.
If the screen is under-exposed then the emulsion will wash out completely, design and all. The presence of soap bubbles when washing out will be the first clue to an under-exposed screen.
If it is over-exposed, then you will not be able to wash out the stencil area leaving the screen unusable. See this video for help trouble shooting exposure.
Using your YUDU machine, you can expose:
Direct Emulsion in approximately 10-12 minutes.
Capillary film will be approximately 8 minutes.
How do you know that your screen is properly exposed?
1st. Your image should wash out within 2 minutes, if it does not
wash out, then your film me not be dark enough or your screen is under
exposed.
2nd. Your if you screen has a lot of slime on the back of
it then this means that it is not exposed long enough.
Once the screen has been exposed and the image area rinsed clean it is suggested that you post harden the screen to extend the life of the stencil from wear due to use. This is done by placing the screen back on the YUDU machine and exposing again for a 8-10 minutes. This will make for a tougher stencil.
You are now ready to print!!!
Once you have completed your project it is time to reclaim the screen and get it ready for a new design. Make sure that your screen cleaned after each project, here are some great products to use if you are using water based ink for your printing.
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Water Based Screen Opener, Great for cleaning Yudu Screens
Item No. S032-Y |
$4.95 |
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Ink Cleaner Enviro Solv QT Item No. CCESVQT-Y |
$15.99 |
To reclaim.
Wet screen and spray both sides liberally with emulsion remover.
Scrub remover into emulsion both sides. You should see the emulsion remover start to degrade the emulsion. (NEVER LET emulsion remover dry on screen. This will lock in the emulsion and make reclaiming impossible). If you need a screen scrub brush, you can order them here.
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Reusable Scrub Pad and Handle Item No. SPHRSP |
On Sale: $2.25 |
Rinse out the emulsion remover and emulsion. The best way to do this is with high pressure, a strong hose works but ideally use a pressure washer. If you are using a kitchen sink it may work but it may be difficult, if you can use at least strong hose with squirt nozzle this should work out ok. When using water resistant emulsion it is more difficult to reclaim, therefore the pressure washer is your best defense.
What happens if you try to reclaim your screen and it is not coming out?
If the exposure was incorrect or the chemical dried onto the screen then the screen will not wash out. At this point, you can "save" the screen by taking it to a high pressure hose such as an outdoor car wash and "muscle" it out of your screen. This is great if you don't have a pressure washer!
After your screen is washed out, you are now ready to degrease and start the process over.
There are videos available for the whole process at:
www.hobbyscreenprintingmachine.com