# What am I doing wrong during emulsion of screen and exposure? (Newb Question)



## JohnnyFive (Nov 9, 2015)

Okay, so...here's what I've got. Have one of the DIY kits from Ryonet. Have emulsified screens (and they're decent...they're dry to the touch before exposing)....

Have the UV light/exposure lamp 13 inches above screen...using supplied film from ryonet kit and am using a piece of glass for good contact.

Cleaned screen prior using degreaser. Not sure I washed it out very well because when developing screen I can still see some suds.

None the less, when washing out/developing screen it bubbles up on me (the emulsion). It got a bit better on one screen and only happened around the edges. Not exactly sure where it's coming from. I did wash out from both the substrate side and ink well side, so not sure if it's due to that. Maybe emulsion layer wasn't thick enough of a side. 

Anyway, has anyone ever had this happen before? Would love to attach the images I have but can't figure out this site. My first post.

Any and all help is appreciated and will link images if I can figure out a good way.


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## dustinlamar (Aug 25, 2015)

Looks like you aren't exposing your emulsion long enough.


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## amdivoff (Jun 6, 2012)

Get an exposure calculator to help you tweak your times


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## JohnnyFive (Nov 9, 2015)

Thanks guys.

Did a bit of research yesterday and troubleshooting and found out the following:

For info, had the *Ryonet WBP Dual Cure Water Based Plastisol Hybrid Emulsion* brand of emulsion.

- Biggest issue I think was reabsorbing of water after developing screen. To solve this, used newspaper after washout to absorb excess water and made sure to air dry after washout.
- 4 hours of curing the emulsified screen
- 11 minutes of exposure
- At washout, wet screen for 2 minutes before washout and allow to sit.

This process worked really well, and it's pretty much described in the instructions. Not really been one for reading ALL the words in instructions. Guess I'll have to get better at that.

*Other things to note with this emulsion*
I'm using a 156 mesh, and I'm not sure if it was the fine detail or what, but a black ink I was pressing last night was missing a few details in the screen. Almost like it was overexposed and didn't come out during washout. I'm going to toy with 10 minutes exposure and see how that works. As another note, I post cured each screen under the UV for 5 minutes each after washout to completely solidify.

Now if I can get my flood stroke down (sometimes pushing too much ink through) and my general press stroke down to where the prints are clean then things should be on the up.

Got jury duty today so will be reading through the forums in the quest of INPUT.


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