# I Love Screenprinting...but hate emulsion... What can I do?



## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

Hi Forums
I have been thinking about this for a while but dont know what alternatives are there. I love scrennprinted shirts, how the look and feel and last, etc., but I dont like the messy part of applying the emulsion and the reclaiming the frame, just too time consuming and messy.
Ok there are other options like Vinyl heat trasnfers, or maybe hiring somebody to make the screenprinting for me, there are printer transfers, there is also EZ Screen.

The thing is that I want to do screenprinting, I want to do it myself, but dont want to deal with emulsion. 

What can I do???

***What is capillary film?***

Thanx


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Titere Wear said:


> What is capillary film?


Essentially it's emulsion on a carrier sheet. You'll still have the mess of washing out the image, reclaiming, etc. but it eliminates (most of) the mess of coating, scoop coaters, etc.


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

How do you "stick" , place it or hold it to the frame? Do I need a metal frame? I tried looking on the net, but I stil have questions... Nothing is clear. I tried youtube to see a video but I found nothing...


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

I've never used it, sorry. Some here have though, so someone will be able to answer your question properly.

As far as I know you just prep (wet) the screen and apply the film as a sheet to the screen with a squeegee, then let it dry and proceed as normal.


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## camscam (Apr 1, 2007)

Is film more expensive consumables then emulsion?


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

I only use capillary film, no emulsion. I think it's much easier, faster, and produces better screens, for me. Yes, it's more expensive than liquid emulsions. It costs around $2-$3 per screen. But if you are doing a $300 job, that is not much.

You roll the film around a stick, dull side facing out. You degrease your screen, then roll the film on the screen while it's still wet. I use a product calls Ulano Mesh Prep #25 after degreasing so that the screen will hold more water making the film adhere better.

Once it dries, you are ready to expose. No mess. No waiting for screen to dry after degreasing. No worry about contaminating the screen with dust while its drying. No pinholes. No worries about how many coats to put on each side of the screen. No cleaning the scoop coater. And the images come out great.


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

THANX RUSTY, THAT IS INTERESTING.
Do you have pics of the frame r the procedure?
After you are done, what do you do? Reclaim like usual, is ther anohe method? The film is one time se right? Or there is a way to take it of and store it? Thanx


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

Titere Wear said:


> THANX RUSTY, THAT IS INTERESTING.
> Do you have pics of the frame r the procedure?
> After you are done, what do you do? Reclaim like usual, is ther anohe method? The film is one time se right? Or there is a way to take it of and store it? Thanx


No I don't have any pics. You just use regular frames, wood, aluminum or retensionable. Yes, you reclaim like usual with emulsion remover. Yes, the film is one time use.


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

Thanx Rusty, very useful and informative info


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## commencedesign (Apr 26, 2007)

Silk Screening Supplies .com, screen printing equipment, silk screen printing kits
sales coated screens or they will even burn them for you. but you have to wash them out when your done.


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## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

hi rusty,
is this capillary film similar to the ez photo film, or am i complety out of touch
rgds ino


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

ino said:


> hi rusty,
> is this capillary film similar to the ez photo film, or am i complety out of touch
> rgds ino


Sorry, I'm not familiar with EZ Photo flim.


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## swissarmour (Apr 29, 2007)

hey man... i just got into the stuff myself, check out my posts theres one related theres a guy here who works for "ulano" he posted some links to download videos may wanna try utube also, it seems rael easy but bums me out that most places ive called around who carry it dont really recommend it, i figured it would be super easy, anyway look for my posts its right there video iskinda big tho


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## swissarmour (Apr 29, 2007)

btw let me know how it goes and what u think about it if its easy it certainly looks so but im barely starting dont wanna commit i wrote these notes for personal use about the vid if it helps


use ulano cfm-4
mesh 90t (or 230t in english system)
if sinthetic mesh do abrading
water the framed mesh once its tight on print side
scrub ulano no2 microgrit and scrub with bristle brush

while still wet from degrease adhere the filmwith no25 meshprep both sides give 2 min rinse use for 2 hours 
now use yellow safe light no uv
cut cdf roll to sheet

always use degreasing ulano no3 degreaser with brush leave on 2 min n rinse


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## titerewear (Jan 9, 2007)

Whenever You Are Ready To Try This ,we Have A Roll Of It At The Lab. We Just Have To Cut It With A Plotter And Since You Design In Vectors It Shouldnt Be Any Problem........love You Joe


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

swissarmour said:


> btw let me know how it goes and what u think about it if its easy it certainly looks so but im barely starting dont wanna commit i wrote these notes for personal use about the vid if it helps
> 
> 
> use ulano cfm-4
> ...


I use CDF-5 on 156 mesh all the time. I have never abraided the mesh with the microgrit. It doesn't need it, and it just weakens your mesh.


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

titerewear said:


> Whenever You Are Ready To Try This ,we Have A Roll Of It At The Lab. We Just Have To Cut It With A Plotter And Since You Design In Vectors It Shouldnt Be Any Problem........love You Joe


Scissors work fine. No need for a plotter/cutter. You are just cutting a big rectangle.


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

rusty said:


> Scissors work fine. No need for a plotter/cutter. You are just cutting a big rectangle.


I talked to titerewear, my partner at the company (note the difference between our names [upper and lower caps]) and what he was talking about is the old fashioned way to do silkscreening, with the green film you had to cut with a knife. He has a roll of that in his house, so maybe that would be a solution for it. It would be easier than old fashioned way, when it was cut by hand with a knife, because we could use a plotter, ,then just apply the green film to the frame as the old way. Sounds cool and it eliminates the emulsion and as far as I can remember, reclaiming the frame with that style was easier. hmmmm Ill consider that.

Now, back to the capillary film, the process of "applying" the image to the frame is the same as using emulsion, am I right? Just get your capillary film, with the emulsion already applied, then attatch it to the frame and then expose it to the light. Print, then reclaim as usual. Is that right? 

So the benefit is only being able to do silkscreening without ever touching or applying emulsion yourself? No messy rooms, no messy floors, no messy hands.

So capillary film is a good option for lazy people as me, wanting to produce line art AND halftones, but if I choose the old fashioned green film and cut it with a plotter, then I would only create Line art (vectors).


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

Titere Wear said:


> Now, back to the capillary film, the process of "applying" the image to the frame is the same as using emulsion, am I right? Just get your capillary film, with the emulsion already applied, then attatch it to the frame and then expose it to the light. Print, then reclaim as usual. Is that right?
> 
> So the benefit is only being able to do silkscreening without ever touching or applying emulsion yourself? No messy rooms, no messy floors, no messy hands.


Yes that's right. And of course another benefit is that you get a perfect stencil every time. You don't have to worry about some areas being thicker than others. And the process is faster than liquid because there are less steps.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

I think capillary film is also much better if you want a really thick stencil (like for high density printing).


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

This is what my partner was talking about:

Ulanocut Green Water-Soluble Film










This can really solve emulsion headaches, ( I mean if they can be cut by plotter, cuz doing it by hand would be en even bigger problem)


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

Titere Wear said:


> ... with the green film you had to cut with a knife. He has a roll of that in his house, so maybe that would be a solution for it. It would be easier than old fashioned way, when it was cut by hand with a knife, because we could use a plotter, ,then just apply the green film to the frame as the old way.
> ===
> 
> ..... capillary film, the process of "applying" the image to the frame is the same as using emulsion, am I right? Just get your capillary film, with the emulsion already applied, then attatch it to the frame and then expose it to the light. Print, then reclaim as usual. Is that right?


I posted some pictures of applying capillary film. 
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing/t21311.html#post132893

You need a vacuum frame and UV-A exposure lamp to expose photo films. 

Knife cut films are cut and applied directly to the mesh and cannot be reused. No exposure, no washout.


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## Titere (Sep 14, 2006)

RichardGreaves said:


> I posted some pictures of applying capillary film.
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing/t21311.html#post132893
> 
> You need a vacuum frame and UV-A exposure lamp to expose photo films.
> ...


Photo films = capillary films? 
Capillary films are not reusable either, right?


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

Titere Wear said:


> Photo films = capillary films?
> Capillary films are not reusable either, right?


No, capillary films are not reusable.
Knife cut films are not photosensitive.

Because of the similarity of Masking film and Knifecut films, I mentioned that they can't be used again, because it is a mistake I have had to explain in the past. Printers in the past thought they could attach and remove and attach the next time like a paper stencil.

Sorry for the confusion.


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## swissarmour (Apr 29, 2007)

capillary films are not reusable to what extent? so then, what about costs, what is the cost of running maybe 50 diff. designs on capillary as opposed to using liquid? i pick fifty because for me thats something more tangible i know sheets arent offered in 50.. 
of each design how many times can u reuse? when you say reusable does that mean what they only go for one shirt? please go a little more thorough i doubt this is the case so what do u mean by 'not reusable'


besides the mess what are disadvantages to liquid because most people ive talked to wanna sell me liquid instead theyre all like 'oh nah u dont want capillary what u really want is liquid its just better' mainly they say its cheaper but by how much? if its something understandable id rather go the easy route with film.. 

finally a question about th grit, thanks alot rusty for ur info... then is it necessary to use degreaser still or do u not use that either? whats the diff. between cfm 4 and 5 ?? which is thicker or what


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

swissarmour said:


> what do u mean by 'not reusable'


Same as liquid emulsion: you can use it to make one screen. When you reclaim it, there's no way to capture the emulsion and re-use it. It's one use.


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

swissarmour said:


> capillary films are not reusable to what extent? so then, what about costs, what is the cost of running maybe 50 diff. designs on capillary as opposed to using liquid? i pick fifty because for me thats something more tangible i know sheets arent offered in 50..
> of each design how many times can u reuse? when you say reusable does that mean what they only go for one shirt? please go a little more thorough i doubt this is the case so what do u mean by 'not reusable'


Not reusable just means it's good for 1 screen. Once you reclaim it, it's gone. The Ulano film I use is about $2.50 per screen. I believe liquid is probably around 0.75 cents per screen. You could do the math on how many screens you get out of whatever liquid you use.



swissarmour said:


> besides the mess what are disadvantages to liquid because most people ive talked to wanna sell me liquid instead theyre all like 'oh nah u dont want capillary what u really want is liquid its just better' mainly they say its cheaper but by how much? if its something understandable id rather go the easy route with film..


I honestly think suppliers that try to discourage people from using capillary film just don't really know much about capillary film. There seems to be very few people using it. Kind of like Mac's vs PC's. Everybody uses PC's because everybody else is using them. But are they better than Macs?



swissarmour said:


> finally a question about th grit, thanks alot rusty for ur info... then is it necessary to use degreaser still or do u not use that either? whats the diff. between cfm 4 and 5 ?? which is thicker or what


Yes, you still have to degrease the screen, right before applying the Mesh Prep #25 and the film itself.

CDF-5 (50 microns) is thicker than CDF-4 (38 microns). As you go higher in mesh count you want to go thinner on film to to CDF-4... CDF-3 (30 micron), etc.


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

swissarmour said:


> .... what about costs, what is the cost of running maybe 50 diff. designs on capillary as opposed to using liquid?
> 
> i pick fifty because for me thats something more tangible i know sheets arent offered in 50..
> 
> ...



*Costs*

Raw material costs are more for capillary film.
Time to press is less for capillary film, because you don't have to wait for a liquid stencil to dry.
Liquid stencil shrinks as it dries taking on the texture of the mesh - rough
Capillary film requires no face coats for a smooth surface
Mess is less with capillary film
Capillary should have no pinholes from dust because you pull the backing sheet off just before you attach the positive.
Repeatable, instantly available stencil thickness and EOM.
Low skill level required for professional results
*50 Sheets
*Who told you sheets aren't offered in boxes of 50. There must be some confusion as that's the packaging Ulano offers.

*how many times can u reuse? *
Again, I am very sorry for the confusion above. Only one stencil per coating of any emulsion or capillary film or knife cut film.

*does that mean what they only go for one shirt?*
Properly used, a stencil can be used for 10s of thousands of prints. I would have no problem using a capillary film stencil for a run of 40,000. Some screens I have used to print Olympic designs or the California classic In-N-Out Burger designs I printed once a week for years. Cleaning and reusing them over and over.



swissarmour said:


> people ive talked to wanna sell me liquid instead theyre all like 'oh nah u dont want capillary what u really want is liquid its just better' mainly they say its cheaper but by how much?


Who? What people?
The raw material is cheaper. The time is not cheaper unless you have plenty of time? Use the time to make liquid emulsion screens, but this thread is called 'I Hate Emulsion', so you don't have too many other choices if you want photo stencils.

Faster, repeatable stencils, with little skill is like a frozen, or a restaurant dinner - it costs more for convenience.

Focus on making money selling shirts. Worrying about saving money in the screen room is always important, but printing 50 more shirts negates any extra costs you might incur for convenience.


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## ftembroidery (Nov 25, 2006)

I don't hate emulsion, I use it all the time, BUT.....my work has all been spot color with little or no halftones. I'm gearing up to do 4-Color Process which is nothing but half-tones. My first set of screens (not for a customer, but "experimental" to learn from so I can reliably offer a good product) were inconsistent, because the EOM (emulsion over mesh) was inconsistent. This was due to my application of the emulsion. I will most likely be using capillary film on all my 4CP screens for the sake of consistancy.


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## Charms4all (Jan 29, 2007)

Are their links to buy this capillary film??


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## rusty (Feb 9, 2007)

Charms4all said:


> Are their links to buy this capillary film??


Go to www.ulano.com and click on "Capillary Film"


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

Charms4all said:


> Are their links to buy this capillary film??


http://www.ulano.com/dist/distUSA_West.htm#CALIFORNIA1


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