# How to remove dried Plastisol ink from screens:



## rema (Aug 7, 2006)

Hey all I am well excited a few day ago I completed my hand made press thing (table conversion) and I have some screens that’s where given to me buy some nice lady the only problem is that’s they got ink still dried in them after I de-coated them at university. But some of them have dried in ink stuck in the designs this ink has be there a long time I think I was trying to use white spirit and it seemed to be working a little but doesn’t seems very effective can any one suggest anything chemicals and methods that’s quite cheap, seeing as I still need to buy other equipment,

My original plan was to cover the screen with white spirit then go at them with a garden hose.

Any ideas and suggestions welcome,


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## identityburn (Feb 24, 2006)

You might want to try some screen opener, it's pretty potent stuff and may help get some of the ink out of the screen.


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## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

Get yourself a pressure washer. 1500-2000 psi will work wonders when cleaning and reclaiming. Using a true Plasticol Ink degradent and emulsion stripper will save you tons of time as well. Mineral Spirits will work but not as good.


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## PrintMonkey (Jul 15, 2006)

Haze remover or simple green cleaner or acetone.
Power washer or the local coin operated car wash.

Mark


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## rema (Aug 7, 2006)

thanks for the suggestions guys






identityburn said:


> You might want to try some screen opener, it's pretty potent stuff and may help get some of the ink out of the screen.


What’s is screen opener and where would i buy that from like a screenprinting suppliers how expensive is this




Fluid said:


> Get yourself a pressure washer. 1500-2000 psi will work wonders when cleaning and reclaiming. Using a true Plasticol Ink degradent and emulsion stripper will save you tons of time as well. Mineral Spirits will work but not as good.


Can you recommend a plasticol dertergent or emulsion stripper and if said these names to a screenprinting supplier would they know what i was taking about




PrintMonkey said:


> Haze remover or simple green cleaner or acetone.





PrintMonkey said:


> Power washer or the local coin operated car wash. Mark


What is haze remover or a green cleaner someone suggested paint stripper but thought it might eat the mesh they where asking what material the mesh was made out of and i was clueless the coin operated washer idea is great there a place near me

Hope that makes sense


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## PrintMonkey (Jul 15, 2006)

Screen opener, haze remover you can get at the screenprinter supply.
Might be more then you need at this time.
Acetone is a paint thinner. get at paint/hardware store or also at the screenprinter supply.
Haze remover & acetone need to wear gloves and watch out with the fumes.
Simple Green is a cleaner you can get at most hardware, food stores.
Never tried it but heard about other people using it.

HTH,
Mark


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## Fluid (Jun 20, 2005)

> Power washer or the local coin operated car wash.


This is not the way to go. Yes it can be done andyes a lot of people do it but frankly its horrible for the environment. Get a good drain safe industry geared product and dso it the right way.


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## zagadka (Jul 6, 2006)

Fluid said:


> This is not the way to go. Yes it can be done andyes a lot of people do it but frankly its horrible for the environment. Get a good drain safe industry geared product and dso it the right way.


i use murakami 7500- i believe it says "drain safe" on it if any one needed product info.


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## Boullette (Mar 21, 2009)

New reply to an old post
DIY way of screen removing.
Might be useful to anybody else
I just discovered that bathtub cleaner mixed with bleach can soften the coated screen.
But this will only apply if u don't have anything else around and u don't really care about your mesh as long as u can use it back for maybe about 2 more designs.
Mix both of them together and immersed the screen in it for about 10 mins.
Scrub with plastic brush in circular move.
Repeat as necessary.
Rinse well with water.
Use rubber gloves and do it in open area where there's air ventilation around because u dont wanna breath the smell of the mixture.
Throw away the mixture properly.
Try at your own risk.


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## mudturtle (Jun 23, 2009)

Use the proper supplies from screen print supplier. There are a ton of do it yourself techniques but they take longer, and time is money, and are not usually safe to breath, and bad for the environment. The proper chemicals from a supplier will only run you $20-$30 US. What is your time and health worth to you? Plus learning to do it right now will help down the road as your business grows.


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## ratdaddy (Sep 25, 2009)

Seems to me if you have to go out and buy all new stuff to get old screens clean....why not just have the frames rescreened? My local supplier does it very cheap and they do a PERFECT job. Then you don't have to worry about the tension of an old scrubbed out screen ruining your next master piece.


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## shirtsari (Mar 15, 2011)

Excalibur inks respond well to soap and water when the ink is "wet" be sure to try soap and water first, then move on to different solvents.


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## shirtsari (Mar 15, 2011)

Are you sure the ink in the screen is Plastisol?


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