# what is the right flood stroke?



## jundogg (Jul 20, 2007)

hi guys, 

hope anyone can help me on flood stroking. 

ive been trying to print white on black shirt, but the results are bad. 

on my first print of the job, i put a strip of ink above the design then do a print stroke lightly (flood stroke), then i swipe again for the actual print stroke. 
- this results to a smudged areas in some parts of the design. 

what could i be doing wrong? 

my off-contact is a coin (1 coin on each corner of the frame) 

when i do the flood stroke, im seeing ink in the ink side of the screen hanging. im sure it's the ink that will be printed on the fabric, but smudging always happen.

also, when i do a flood stroke after a print stroke (which is im doing with an opposite direction as print stroke) im not able to flood the whole design. that is why i keep flooding til i cover the whole design with ink. what's wrong with this? 

please help me. im good with printing on light Ts but not on black =(


----------



## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

to get a proper flood, hold the screen off the platen and pull the squeegee over the stencil. Make sure you have a good amount of ink in front of the squeegee to fill the entire stencil.
A proper flood should fill the stencil with ink leaving a minimal deposit of ink around the image on the emulsion. Essentially you should be able to touch the inside of the screen (near the stencil) and not get a ton of ink on your finger. More like a little haze.

A good even pressure and smooth print should deposit the ink from the stencil to the shirt. If you need to flash and apply another print to get the opacity, make sure you flood again.


----------



## jundogg (Jul 20, 2007)

thanks. do you know why im getting smeared or smudged ink though ive flooded before printing?


----------



## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

thats hard to say without actually seeing the issue yet it sounds like your mesh may be a little loose and your probably hitting way too hard.

Make sure you are using the edge of the blade and printing with one smooth, even stroke. 








Make sure you move past the print about 1-2 inches so the screen pops. Don't stop right at the end of the design


----------



## jundogg (Jul 20, 2007)

i see. nice illustration. ill upload the print that ive made soon. so that youll be able to determine my fault. 

in the mean time, what height (in inches) do you suggest for my off-contact? 

just for me, im blaming my flood stroke for smudging it. im getting quite a lot of ink underneat the squeegee side of the screen after flooding. then after printing, there goes the smear effect. darn. =(


----------



## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

about a quarter thickness or a little higher. Not too much. You need enough so that the screen pops off the shirt/platen about an inch behind the squeegee.

Too low of off contact makes printing hard and you usually need more pressure to transfer the ink from the stencil.
Too high of off contact you'll dump way too much ink and registration can be an issue


----------



## jundogg (Jul 20, 2007)

nicely said. thanks fluid. you're a silkscreen genius!


----------



## otalgia (Sep 22, 2008)

Hi I'm new here but have experienced exactly the same problems with smudging. 

I think that the problem maybe your flood stroke is a little too hard and rather than filling the screen you are forcing the ink through the mesh which is causing a grouping of ink on the underside. The other possibility is that the ink is too thin for the mesh count.


----------



## kylerogers (Jul 30, 2008)

I have the same problem if I do multiple flood stroke. Whenever I flood stroke more than once, I can see ink hanging from the stencil on the print side. It always smudges when I can see it hanging like that.

Iy makes a mess too, because the smudging carries over to the next shirt. You have to wipe off the print side of the screen when it smudges so you don't carry it to the next shirt.




jundogg said:


> hi guys,
> 
> hope anyone can help me on flood stroking.
> 
> ...


----------



## Tj Ryonet Tech (Jul 28, 2008)

It seems that one of the most common problems new screen printers run into is printing white ink. I’ve heard a lot of questions like: Why do all my other colors print fine and white is so tough? Why is it that my white ink is so thick? Why can’t I get a smooth white ink? It’s always rough and seems to have texture to it. Is there anything I can do to thin my white ink to make it easier to print? Also comments like: “Our white ink is bad, it comes off after only a couple of washes.” “There’s something wrong with my press, it prints fine when I am printing on white shirts, but when I print on dark shirts the white ink is very blurry.” Let's talk about making a screen for optimal coverage on a dark shirt. There are two main factors that come into play, those are mesh count and stencil (emulsion) thickness. For optimal coverage on dark you'll want to use a 110-156 mesh (156 mesh for more detailed designs). If you would like to print an extremely thick coat of ink (on a jersey for instance) you may consider using an 86 or even a 60 mesh. For most prints, a 110 mesh will work great! One of the main tricks to get great in coverage on a garment is stencil thickness. The thickness of your emulsion directly dictates the thickness of ink laid onto the garment. Picture your screen stencil as a well, it only holds as much ink as the well is deep. With one pass, the maximum ink coverage you will achieve will be the thickness of your emulsion. Coating the screen multiple times on the shirt side or outside of the screen will create a thicker stencil and thus yield more ink and better coverage. You must buildup your emulsion on the outside of the screen, if you coat the inside of the screen, then you'll have to push through the stencil and work against yourself. To make an optimal screen for white, coat the screen once on the outside and once on the inside, let dry, coat again on the outside, let dry, and coat one final time on the outside. Also it is best if you use the round end of your scoop coater to lay more emulsion down. Keep in mind that since you are using a thicker emulsion, you'll have to increase your exposure time in order to thoroughly expose the screen. We recommend using a dual cure emulsion for the easiest results and post hardening the screen after washout.


----------

