# Waterbased Ink not going through screen



## girlwithshirts (Oct 20, 2016)

Hello! I'm printing with waterbased ink but when I try to print, the ink does not fully go through the screen. Only parts of the image gets painted on and you can barely see it. I've checked my frame but it looks fine. I don't see any residue and the image is burned perfectly. What can I do? Also would switching to plastisol be better?


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## AMotivation (Jul 15, 2016)

Waterbased is thinner than plastisol so plastisol may make it harder. 

It could be number of things 

You may not be pressing the squeegee hard enough. So not all of the ink is connecting with the shirt. 

You may not be pressing the squeegee evenly as to have a solid print the squeegee needs the same amount of pressure from both hands. 

Check your off contact. It may be too high as your squeegee may not be connecting with the shirt. 

May need to check if your screen is parallel with the platen 

May need another pass with the squeegee with more ink under 

Screen Printing takes practice. Through trial and error you'll figure it out 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## sinGN (Oct 12, 2016)

Hi,
yes, your right AMotivation. the water based inks are always thinner.the pressured applied while printing is not enough i think.


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## Alexisgirl (Sep 16, 2016)

I have the same problem but only with one frame. I washed it out twice and seemed to of gotten better. But still parts of it won't print perfectly. I asked the question last week a day someone suggest that it could be part of the emulsion that stayed on. Apparently it's clear so you can't tell. Anyway. I'm going to reclaim my screen and try exposing again. Hopefully yrs is just technic. Good luck


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## moorecorporation (Aug 9, 2016)

Try diluting the ink with water. Use a cup with a spout to control the water.


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## sinGN (Oct 12, 2016)

Hi,
Is it ok if the Waterbased Ink is diluted using water?


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

sinGN said:


> Hi,
> Is it ok if the Waterbased Ink is diluted using water?


yes BUT if it's too thin you have to worry about ink bleeding on your garment. waterbased ink is just that....WATER based.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

girlwithshirts said:


> Hello! I'm printing with waterbased ink but when I try to print, the ink does not fully go through the screen. Only parts of the image gets painted on and you can barely see it. I've checked my frame but it looks fine. I don't see any residue and the image is burned perfectly. What can I do? Also would switching to plastisol be better?





Alexisgirl said:


> I have the same problem but only with one frame. I washed it out twice and seemed to of gotten better. But still parts of it won't print perfectly. I asked the question last week a day someone suggest that it could be part of the emulsion that stayed on. Apparently it's clear so you can't tell. Anyway. I'm going to reclaim my screen and try exposing again. Hopefully yrs is just technic. Good luck


it's either emulsion that wasn't washed out thoroughly or you are not back flooding and the ink is drying in print area.


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## WGiant (Oct 15, 2015)

Photo emulsions seem prone to sort of running out into the image after you think it's all washed out. It's difficult to see if you don't have a backlight or don't know what you're looking for, the simple way to handle the problem is to wash the image out fully, give it a few minutes, wash it a little more, and then dry it quickly, put a fan on it.

I think keeping the humidity low on your screen while the emulsion dries after coating can help prevent this from the start.


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## miktoxic (Feb 21, 2008)

WGiant said:


> Photo emulsions seem prone to sort of running out into the image after you think it's all washed out. It's difficult to see if you don't have a backlight or don't know what you're looking for, the simple way to handle the problem is to wash the image out fully, give it a few minutes, wash it a little more, and then dry it quickly, put a fan on it.
> 
> I think keeping the humidity low on your screen while the emulsion dries after coating can help prevent this from the start.


yes. some of my earliest mistakes in screen printing were due to not washing out the emulsion top to bottom. i thought then that just getting the image area clear was good enough.....no, you have to wash out top to bottom both sides of the screen until the water runs clear in your wash out area and then quickly turn horizontal to let dry to make sure no residue leftover will run into the print area.


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