# Please Help! Acrylic Paint Stuck on Screen



## yunjoo620 (Dec 8, 2017)

Hi,

My friend borrowed my good screen and needed to use rose gold ink, but that is hard to come by. So, she used a craft store metallic acrylic rose gold paint. 

After washing off the emulsion, acrylic paint is stuck on the screen. I hoped that it was just a stain and that the screen wasn't blocked, but I did a quick test print and it was. It created a negative of the original print. 

I don't know what to do. I've tried all sorts of screen cleaners and I also tried: rubbing alcohol, detergent, and citrus-based paint thinner. Nothing is working.

PLEASE HELP!!


----------



## Industryps (Aug 9, 2016)

You have a couple options:

If you have a power washer- 
Clean your screen with a good ink remover as normal and use the power washer to blast out the old ink. It should come out pretty easily, although you may need to focus on that area of blockage. Just keep the nozzle at least 12" away to avoid popping your screen.

No power washer- You can go to a DIY car wash and use theirs. Clean the screen on site and just blast it out after, making sure to keep the nozzle at least a foot away...

As a last resort you can always try a ghost/haze remover but be aware the chemicals are dangerous and can destroy the fabric of your screen if left on too long. You can always pick up a decent power washer from your local hardware store for about $100 as well.


----------



## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

You're probably not going to be able to get acrylic paint out of the screen once it dries. Acrylic paint is good for permanently painting stuff because it's so durable. Even if you can get the paint to blast out of the screen, you'll probably ruin the screen in the process. You should make your friend pay at least for the new mesh.


----------



## Industryps (Aug 9, 2016)

gardenhillemb said:


> You're probably not going to be able to get acrylic paint out of the screen once it dries. Acrylic paint is good for permanently painting stuff because it's so durable. Even if you can get the paint to blast out of the screen, you'll probably ruin the screen in the process. You should make your friend pay at least for the new mesh.


Nope, it comes right out! (speaking from experience)


----------



## gardenhillemb (Oct 29, 2015)

I've gotten acrylic ink out of screens but the post said she used acrylic Paint. I've gotten inks out of screens blasting but never acrylic paint.


----------



## Industryps (Aug 9, 2016)

When starting out I used to use Golden acrylics and Liquitex, both are super permanent, high quality paints and would use them for printing long poster runs. Every now and then it would get stuck in screen and needed some work to get it out, but it would come out. Even used satin acrylic latex house paints and was able to clean them out as needed. The secret is patience, a good scrubber, and a power washer with a decent PSI.
I imagine that "craft store" acrylic paints means those little Apple Barrel acrylics or something similar... these are not near as pigmented or hard drying as pro series acrylics so there is a good chance it can still be cleaned.


----------



## yunjoo620 (Dec 8, 2017)

Thanks for the advice! I'll try them all out and come back to tell you what worked or what combination worked!


----------

