The cyclical nature of screen printing is best demonstrated with one of the most basic of its processes. Screen cleaning and reclaiming is symbolic in that it closes the loop between the end of one project and the beginning of the next. It controls the quality of a print and the efficiency and flow of one’s business.

“When reclaim is done properly, a shop will produce more,” Jason Ballash of Print This Inc. says. “If it is done poorly, it’s like trying to climb a tall brick wall with bare hands and no nails. It can be done, but using a rope is a lot faster.” Here, Printwear throws out a rope, looking at how to clean and reclaim efficiently and effectively.

Beginning again

This end-and-beginning stage of the screen-printing process is one of the most essential parts of the cycle. “What happens pre-press directly effects what happens on press,” Barry Bravman of Albatross says, stressing the importance of cleaning and exposing screens thoroughly. As far as how to get there is concerned, he tells us that there are many paths, but all converge with the basics: ink, emulsion and haze removers and a degreaser. From there, most screen printers will stick with the way they were taught when they first got into the business. The process, he says, “Really matters as far as the cost-time-space relationship—the amount of space people have to reclaim and how quickly they have to turn screens over. If they have a large inventory of frames, then they have a little more flexibility over the process. If they don’t and have to turn them quickly, then that will affect their process.” 

Pressure washers and old-fashioned elbow grease work with chemicals and solutions to remove tightly bonded emulsion and inks from the screen.  (Images courtesy Print This Inc.)

Sources recommend thorough training of employees handling this piece of the cycle. Representatives from suppliers are a good resource in the learning process. (Image courtesy Print This Inc.)

The range of processes and procedures within this step are unanimously said to vary, which begs the question: Is there a right way to do it? The quick answer is that there are many right ways to go about the process of cleaning and reclaiming a screen depending on that space-time variable. To make up for this ambiguity, we are told that there are definitive wrong ways to go about it.

“Printers generally create their own challenges by making two errors,” EasiWay Systems Inc.’s Sara Broghamer reports. “First, by not correctly exposing the screen emulsion or film, and second, by using commercial products such as paint thinner, xylol and bleach to clean the screen. When using these commercial products, the result is an extreme difficulty getting the ink and emulsion to come loose from the mesh. The use of well-suited chemicals and proper screen exposing and tape marks make screen cleaning and reclaiming simple and fast.”

To go about finding those well-suited products, most modern professionals would turn to the Internet. But Ryonet’s Nick Wood proposes screen printers should click with caution. “One of the biggest hurdles screen printers faceⁱ when just starting is the lack of accurate information. The Internet can be your best resource or your worst enemy. Make sure the information you seek is credible.”

Wood also makes the point that it’s not just the Internet that can lead you astray, but the sins of our industry’s fathers that are passed on to younger generations. “Most screen printers have been taught by mentors who used caustic chemicals and dangerous techniques. Do your homework on the person you are entrusting to give you accurate information.” To gauge whether someone is credible, Wood says to make sure they are using up-to-date software and that they know how to properly test products. “The ‘you can just use Simple Green’ days are over. To keep up in this industry you have to know what to use and when to use it.”

Ballash agrees, citing poor training in the reclaim rooms as the biggest error in the process. “Sad but common, shops will take all the time needed to train their printers, but will just put the new guy in reclaim with no training. That guy learns from the guy who had been there for two weeks, and he learned from the guy who was promoted after doing it for a month.” 

Luckily, Ballash sees an easy fix. He says that sales representatives that supply the chemicals are a great training source. “He wants to sell you more product, so he shouldn’t have a problem spending a day in your back rooms and trouble-shooting any break downs you may have.” 

Cleaner chemicals

While the industry may have come a long way from the gasoline-and-bleach method of the past, the chemicals used in this particular part of the screen-printing process are still under scrutiny. Ink cleaners, which tend to be solvents with VOCs, emulsion removers, which tend to be acids, and stain/haze removers that tend to be caustic/alkaline, are known to be hazardous to the environment. However, Broghamer says that many of today’s products are replacing conventional products and are extremely safe. “Many cleaning/reclaiming supply companies are entering the market of creating alternatives that are safer for the workplace and for the environment,” she reports. Many of these new products are getting back to what she calls the “good old soap and water” technology.

A common-held assumption among screen printers is that products that are gentler on the environment are not tough enough to clean their screens. But the demand for safe products that work well has been answered. “Most print shops are under the assumption that the more caustic the product, the better it works. But those days are over,” Wood enthusiastically reports. “With the advent of highly-advanced testing equipment becoming the standard, chemical manufacturing companies have been able to make chemistry that acts the same as the caustics using soy, citrus and natural enzyme bases. Most companies offer an eco-conscious chemical of every step of the screen prep and reclaim process. Make sure to ask your distributor to suggest an eco friendly substitute the next time you place an order.”

Broghamer agrees, telling us that consensus is these products do work, adding that they are not only ecologically friendlier, but economical as well. And with the savings on the consumables, screen printers can invest in a more sophisticated drainage system. 

“For a few thousand dollars, depending on what level of filtration you want to go with,” Bravman estimates, “you can filter the wastewater down to five microns which is more than adequate to be handled by most water treatment facilities.” He goes on to stress the importance of researching local laws, as there are no set standards, acceptable levels vary by municipality. 

Green is definitely the new black, but as long as it’s a life-long trend, we are told that the future for faster, better and cheaper solutions will continue to be developed. The market is what drives the suppliers to make what they make better. So the future really is in your hands.