# Urgently need newbie help



## rapidmenace (Jan 5, 2016)

I need to get a couple screens print-ready in the next 24 hours. I have a container of Ulano Blue, a blank screen, an exposure box and six blanks screens. My exposure box is a simple cardboard light-proofed container in my kitchen (see picture). I also have photo positives (printed to transparency) ready to go. I don't know what kind of light to put into the exposure box, or how to coat the screens/how long to leave them exposed. I have done this before but not with commercial materials. Do I coat both sides of the screen? Do I let the screen dry before exposing it with the positive? Please give me a step by step if you can. Thanks!


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## hawaiianphatboy (Apr 28, 2008)

You are asking for a lot of information. First of all, yes you should coat both sides of the screen, the outside first, than the ink side. let it dry laying it flat but off of a surface in a light safe room or drying box. If you dont already have a light for exposure, you could use the God provided one, the sun. lay your screen, once it is thoroughly dried, ink side down and place and secure the positive onto the bottom of the screen. If you have a piece of glass put that over the positive to hold it in place to ensure a good clean exposure. Doing all of this in a light safe room, than i would cover the glass with a black towel or a large black shirt. Take the screen into the sun and than remove the shirt. if the sun is out, the screen should expose within 30-45 seconds. After that, time cover the screen back up with the black towel and take it back into a light safe room. Once you are there, remove the positive and using a wet sponge, wet both sides of the screen rubbing lightly on both sides thus stopping the exposure process. You can than take the screen back outside and spray it with water to clear out the image on the screen. If you are intent on using your light box, a simple halogen light, like a workshop light would do. you just have to have some way to keep the light centered over your image and screen for a few minutes as this will take a little longer to burn in the image. I would still use a piece of glass to hold down the positive to make sure light doesnt get underneath it. There are a lot of videos on Youtube, and if this makes no sense to you at all, I would suggest looking there for piece meal instructions, starting with the proper way to coat and dry a screen, than exposing your screen and cleaning the image. Good luck and Aloha


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## rapidmenace (Jan 5, 2016)

Thanks for the reply, it was super helpful. I admit that I am in over my head and fairly unprepared. I ended up getting some help and my screens look good. Now I'm trying to get the shirts printed, and it's going alright, but I think my flash dryer might be too close to the shirts, because the seem to be burning/creating smoke. I am using a 1575 Watt 13.3 amp EF1600 Ryonet, how much space should I leave between the flash dryer and the shirt? I also need to clean my screen, is it okay to use mineral spirits or will that damage the emulsion?


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## socceronly (Jul 22, 2012)

I would just dive into the pile of screen printing videos on Youtube. It really is good (at least for me) to see things done.

I would be very careful with your cardboard box. Most of the cheap lights are hot. Metal halide, work lamps ect... The safest would be some fluorescent light fixtures.

If this is DIY, make sure your glass allows UV light to pass through it. Most glass does not do this, and you must make sure yours does, or your screen will not expose.


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## hawaiianphatboy (Apr 28, 2008)

rapidmenace said:


> Thanks for the reply, it was super helpful. I admit that I am in over my head and fairly unprepared. I ended up getting some help and my screens look good. Now I'm trying to get the shirts printed, and it's going alright, but I think my flash dryer might be too close to the shirts, because the seem to be burning/creating smoke. I am using a 1575 Watt 13.3 amp EF1600 Ryonet, how much space should I leave between the flash dryer and the shirt? I also need to clean my screen, is it okay to use mineral spirits or will that damage the emulsion?


As far as the distance for the flash dryer, I would adjust it based on the amount of time it takes you to print each shirt. What I mean by that is if you can screen the next shirt pretty quick, I would lower the dryer a little. If it takes you a little longer, than raise it. You should only have to dry the very top layer of the ink prior to pulling it out of the flash. You need to work on your timing to adjust the dwell time under the dryer. When I do polyester shirts, the dryer is always higher than when i do cotton shirts, and it is adjusted based on the amount of time i need to make sure the next print is ready to go. Good luck... Aloha


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