# how to reuse screen with same design



## benz1995 (Dec 2, 2014)

hi, at the moment i am using a heat press to run my clothing brand and using plastisol heat transfers. I am now looking to begin screen printing my designs for higher quality designs. at the moment i have around 10 designs that i sell and i would need to reuse the same screens with the same designs on the daily. My concern is, do i have to clean off the emulsion after every use or how do i preserve my image in the screen to keep reusing the screen everyday. thanks


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

You don't have to remove the emulsion. All you should do is clean the screen at the end of the day when you are finished printing. The burned in image and your emulsion will last a long time, years possibly.


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## benz1995 (Dec 2, 2014)

splathead said:


> You don't have to remove the emulsion. All you should do is clean the screen at the end of the day when you are finished printing. The burned in image and your emulsion will last a long time, years possibly.



thanks for the quick reply. what would you advise me to clean the screen with and how do i store the screens. do i have to leave them in an area with no light?


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

If your using plastisol you don't even need to clean the screen especially if your using them daily. My guess since you using plastisol transfers this is what you would use. After the screen has been burned there is no reason to worry about light sensitivity. 

Plastisol doesn't cure till is heated. I sometimes leave screen with ink for weeks. The only thing I worry about is trash getting into ink. I put the screens back to back to prevent dust and trash getting into ink.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

benz1995 said:


> thanks for the quick reply. what would you advise me to clean the screen with and how do i store the screens. do i have to leave them in an area with no light?


Buy screen cleaner from the same place you bought your emulsion. A couple of squirts and a dry paper towel and you're good.

As Sean said you don't necessarily have to clean them after every use, especially if you use them daily. But if you are working in a hot or dusty environment, like a garage, it's a good habit to clean daily.


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## KaiKM (Jun 15, 2015)

If you're using the same colour then I wouldn't bother cleaning them - especially if you are reusing them frequently. I have a 3 colour job that I do most weeks and have kept the same screens for about 6 months now. Over the weekend I remove the ink from the screen just to prevent dust building up but otherwise you won't have an issue - as long as the screens were burned for long enough!


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