# Small tear in mesh



## JMCSN (Oct 29, 2016)

Hi all, I'm a complete newbie and since a couple of weeks trying to get the hang of screen printing.

Today I noticed my coated screen had a small tear inside the 54T mesh where the design is. This was a new screen. In my opinion there could be two reasons:

1. I always dry my screens using a heat gun about 4 to 5 inches away from the mesh for time saving reasons. Could this be a reason for tearing? I'm pretty sure I did not burn/melt it by coming to close. I've got no idea at what temperature the mesh gets damaged.

2. The last week, when I removed the emulsion, I cleaned the screen and ghost image using a spot remover product, this one: https://www.vanish.co.uk/products/powders/vanish-gold-oxi-action-powder/

Anyone tried this? It removed all remaining inks and pretty much removed all of the remaining ghost image but I think this product damages the mesh. I used a soft sponge to rub the product in.


The tear is in the lower half of the screen so I could still use it for learning purpose but what should I do to reinforce the mesh and prevent it from tearing further? I'm using water based ink so any tips on removing ghost images with other cleaning products are welcome...


Screen printing seems to be about messing up, figuring out what I did wrong and starting all over again...


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## AMotivation (Jul 15, 2016)

Hmm it could be s number of things

Does anything sharp ever touch your screen? Ie. I was using a spatula that hard sharp corners to get ink off my screen. Put a coupl of holes in. I made dots with a permanent marker so I would always know where the holes are and just used other parts of the screen. Put a little extra emulsion and some tape over the holes and the screen was still working fine. I know it's days are limited though. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## anf (Nov 16, 2016)

Hello im new to dont use heat gun to dry screens. Put aside or outside or fan. Friend came over print also new taping screen was using razor blade to cut tape. WRONG ended up slicing screen about a good inch. I got some of my wifes clear nail polish put all around cut screen is still good. Putting clear polish prevents cut from spreading. Hope this helps


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## moorecorporation (Aug 9, 2016)

Mesh screens very delicate, so the slightest issues can damage the material. For example, if paint dries on the mesh, the thick, stiff coating could ruin the material.


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