# Waterbased inks with for plastisol emulsion ???



## sly goose (Feb 2, 2021)

Hi all, I was in need of long shelf life emulsion and got the Chromatech PL. I only print sometimes and only waterbased - do I need to use Hardenex to stabilize my screen or can I get away with printing waterbased on that emulsion? And If and when a hardener is used - how difficult is it to reclaim the screen?

Thanks.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Never heard of Chromatech before so I did a quick search.
Chromatech PL is not water resistant so it will not work for water-based inks.

If you use a hardener to make it waterproof, you will not be able to reclaim it.
That's my experience at least.


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## sly goose (Feb 2, 2021)

TABOB said:


> Never heard of Chromatech before so I did a quick search.
> Chromatech PL is not water resistant so it will not work for water-based inks.
> 
> If you use a hardener to make it waterproof, you will not be able to reclaim it.
> That's my experience at least.


Thanks for taking the time to reply. Also, from what I understand that's not true for all emulsions. HardenEx is meant to wash out although it can affect SOME emulsions. This particular combo was recommended to me, but I'm hesitant to follow through until I've heard some experienced feedback. I was hoping for some first hand experience, retorts and or suggestions on how to deal with two opposing forces here. I also can't find the guy's contact who made the original recommendation 🙄 I don't do long runs so I'm hoping to cheat the emulsion for a little while....


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

sly goose said:


> Also, from what I understand that's not true for all emulsions. HardenEx is meant to wash out although it can affect SOME emulsions.


It's easy to test...
1. Brush some emultion on a scrap piece of mesh or whatever you have. 
2. Expose it.
3. Apply the hardener.
4. Try reclaiming it.


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## sly goose (Feb 2, 2021)

It's a good idea. I have some mesh sitting around from previous shenanigans. I'd hate to ruin another screen, these days it's cheaper to buy a new one than to re-stretch the mesh. I'm going to try both - printing waterbased with the emulsion first and then using the HardenEx. I'll post the results for future dabblers.


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