# How much light is allowed in when coating a screen?



## rockinfunzone (Jul 18, 2009)

How much light is allowed in a room when coating a screen? I have seen some people coat a screen in a totally bright room, but in my screen printing class we always coated a screen in a dark room. 

My other question is, when adding the daizo to the emulsion when you first get it, do you have to do it in a totally dark room? And also, will a red light bulb be alright to have on while coating / exposing a screen in a totally dark room? 

Sorry about the noob question but I just need to get these things straight.


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## beanie357 (Mar 27, 2011)

We use one pot, orange qtx, qlt.
We have nothing but covered tubes in exposure room. Plays it safe.


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## Fuzzyfreak (Sep 24, 2013)

rockinfunzone said:


> How much light is allowed in a room when coating a screen? I have seen some people coat a screen in a totally bright room, but in my screen printing class we always coated a screen in a dark room.
> 
> My other question is, when adding the daizo to the emulsion when you first get it, do you have to do it in a totally dark room? And also, will a red light bulb be alright to have on while coating / exposing a screen in a totally dark room?
> 
> Sorry about the noob question but I just need to get these things straight.


Dark room is an over used term in the printing world. Uv light safe is what it should be. I use those regular yellow bug lights, and yes I mix my emulsion in the same light, and also coat my screens there too. If you cant see what your doing than whats the point? Store screens print side down with spacers between them in a light tight cabinet, as they need to dry 12-14 hrs depending on the humidity. I have a fan in the side of my box, helps them dry faster. Good luck!


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## rockinfunzone (Jul 18, 2009)

So a red light should work fine is what you are saying.

Ok, I am trying to find a good emulsion. There are so many and I am having a hard time deciding on which one to get. I am going with Ulano. I have a 500w work light for exposing and printing with speedball waterbased ink. My images have a lot of linework, black and white, with no half tones or anything like that. Which one of these emulsions would you recommend?

Ulano 925WR
Ulano Proclaim EC
Fotocoat TZ


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## Fuzzyfreak (Sep 24, 2013)

rockinfunzone said:


> So a red light should work fine is what you are saying.
> 
> Ok, I am trying to find a good emulsion. There are so many and I am having a hard time deciding on which one to get. I am going with Ulano. I have a 500w work light for exposing and printing with speedball waterbased ink. My images have a lot of linework, black and white, with no half tones or anything like that. Which one of these emulsions would you recommend?
> 
> ...


I prefer yellow because you can see everything plain as day, red is a little dark for me to work with. I use Ulano products and love it. For new trainees in the shop I have duel-cure emulsion. You need to get an emulsion that is water resistant and use a 195 screen for water based ink, that's what I find works the best for the runnier ink.


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## rockinfunzone (Jul 18, 2009)

Thank you for the information! I have no idea which one to get, because on reading the description, they all sound pretty much the same, I can't really tell what the differences are in them.


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## Fuzzyfreak (Sep 24, 2013)

rockinfunzone said:


> Thank you for the information! I have no idea which one to get, because on reading the description, they all sound pretty much the same, I can't really tell what the differences are in them.


duel cure is the easiest most 
forgiving emulsion. only good for short runs with water based ink. Lots of info on the web. You will find it by using tags like, photoemulsion for waterbased ink sceenprinting.


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## foot print (Jun 2, 2010)

I use textilPV emulsion and I coat it with the light on and garage door open. I never have any issues. I dry my screens in a drying cabinet I built and I use a small space heater. Coat/ dry/ burn screens within an hour.


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## Fuzzyfreak (Sep 24, 2013)

Wow that's incredible, being that you are in Cali! The heat doesn't hurt the emulsions?


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## foot print (Jun 2, 2010)

Hurt the emulsion..? Not at all in San Diego County. I live 15 minutes from the beach so it rarely reaches 98 degrees in the summer and in the winter we may get down to 32 doesn't snow in my neck of the woods. FYI the shelf life on textilPV is amazing. I burn screens in 25 seconds with my 1000 metal halide unit.


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## Fuzzyfreak (Sep 24, 2013)

I'm from University City, Moved to Oregon and started love affair with printing in 1979. Who makes that emulsion? I have a xp5000 National exposure unit and can make screens in about 3 minutes here with higher humidity than you have there. Haven't had too many problems with the duel cure emulsion here but don't care to use it when I'm coating screens, use it when training. Seems to be the safest when training. My emulsion is from CCI its the DXP


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## thutch15 (Sep 8, 2008)

foot print said:


> I live 15 minutes from the beach


rough life


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## thutch15 (Sep 8, 2008)

foot print said:


> I use textilPV emulsion and I coat it with the light on and garage door open. I never have any issues. I dry my screens in a drying cabinet I built and I use a small space heater. Coat/ dry/ burn screens within an hour.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using TShirtForums app



Same here, but with Saatichem Textil PV emulsion from One Stroke Ink. I coat in a fully lit basement and have never had an issue. I do have a Vastex Dry Box where my screens stay while drying... between coating, putting the film on, and placing into the light unit my screens may see about 20-30 seconds of light.


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## rockinfunzone (Jul 18, 2009)

There are so many emulsions I just get confused on what does what. All I want out of it is to have a long shelf life and not have the emulsion get exposed while its still in the container. I had Chroma Blue and it was ruined after a couple weeks somehow. So I am trying to avoid that. 

I think I am going to go with Ulano925, unless anyone has any complaints about that specific type?


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## Fuzzyfreak (Sep 24, 2013)

Go with that one! It is a great product.


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## calhtech (Feb 4, 2012)

thutch15 said:


> Same here, but with Saatichem Textil PV emulsion from One Stroke Ink. I coat in a fully lit basement and have never had an issue. I do have a Vastex Dry Box where my screens stay while drying... between coating, putting the film on, and placing into the light unit my screens may see about 20-30 seconds of light.


+1 for Saati PV. I went from 7 minutes (dual cure) to 3 minutes with 500watt halogen home made exp setup.


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## John1566 (Mar 12, 2008)

Has anyone tried Ulano Proclaim EC?


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