# Why do you apply emulsion to the shirt side of the screen first?



## vai (Dec 24, 2009)

I just found out by reading other posts that I've been applying emulsion on screens in the wrong order. I usually apply it to the squeegee side first and then the shirt side second. What's the benefit of applying it the other way around?


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## bern (Feb 14, 2007)

vai said:


> I just found out by reading other posts that I've been applying emulsion on screens in the wrong order. I usually apply it to the squeegee side first and then the shirt side second. What's the benefit of applying it the other way around?


You are trying to get your emulsion to make a stencil so you do squeegee side last so the emulsion is thicker shirt side . It should work out that you end up laying more ink on the shirt this method .


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

Bernie is correct. The last coating on the squeegee side pushes the emulsion down to the shirt side making the emulsion on the shirt side thicker. I also suspect that this makes the squeegee side emulsion smoother.


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## rockz12 (Feb 4, 2009)

Also, you should dry your screen horizontal (shirt side down). It's also intended for better exposure.


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## Troll (Dec 22, 2010)

Yes - it creates a 'gasket' on the bottom of the screen. You can also do 2 stokes on the squeegie side to make a thicker screen. This give the ink a place to accumulate on the flood stroke..


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## BroJames (Jul 8, 2008)

rockz12 said:


> Also, you should dry your screen horizontal (shirt side down). It's also intended for better exposure.


As horizontal as possible so there won't be those "drip marks" underneath.


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## vai (Dec 24, 2009)

thanks everyone


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## DRing (Nov 9, 2009)

Now the question is how many coats on the shirt side? Round or sharp side of coater?


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## Troll (Dec 22, 2010)

It depends on what you are printing and what mesh. On a 200 - 350 I would do 1 on each side (squeegie side last) with the sharp side of the coater. On a 156 (160) I usually do 1 on shirt side and 2 on squeegie side with the sharp side. On 110 and below I do 1 on each side with the round side - if you do more than that you will have some dripping that causes indents/voids in the screen. If your artwork has fine detail you want a thinner emulsion gasket, but you will also have to use a higher mesh. Hope this doesn't get confusing..


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## DRing (Nov 9, 2009)

Went to an ISS Long Beach seminar on Screen Making with Dave Dennings from KIWO Inc. This guy knew his stuff. I guess after years of just working with emulsions I guess you get to know it. Among what I learned from the seminar were two things. 1st never use the sharp side of the coater, and 2nd coat the shirt side as many times as it takes to get a mirror finish on the inside of the screen. Among the other things he talked about, he also said it is not a bad idea to coat the screen one more time after it has dried, just to make it perfectly smooth. He pointed out during the drying process the emulsion will shrink and make ridges and troughs. This would be filled if another coat is applied after drying. Of all the seminars I went to, this was one of best.


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## Troll (Dec 22, 2010)

I'm not saying I know everything, I've been printing for 15 years and do what has worked best for me over that time. I have to say that if the sharp side of the coater wasn't meant to be used, then they wouldn't make a sharp side. The thing about emulsion is you need to push it through the screen from both sides. Essentially the emulsion sticks to the mesh as well as itself (from each side). If you try to push the emulsion through a higher mesh screen with the rounded side it will not go through the mesh, but rather sit on top of the mesh. This will cause a screen to break down faster, if not blow out in areas. It's like using a softer squeegie to print on a high mesh - the ink won't go through the mesh - you have to clear the ink and/or emulsion through the screen. I do agree that sometimes going back and re-coating is a good idea, but it will make your emulsion thicker. This is where your artwork comes into play. If you have a .25 stroke line with a screen coated multiple times it can be hard to get that to wash out. Or if printing halftones you don't want too thick of emulsion - you will never get the smaller dots to wash out. Try different techniques and use what works for you I guess.. Just my 2 cents..


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