It is very difficult to diagnose problems in screen printing without seeing what is going on but I will try to point out a few things that may be a problem when reclaiming screens for screen printing.

First of all you need to make sure your stencil remover is compatible with your emulsion. In some instances, certain stencil removers will not work on specific emulsions due to chemical incompatibility.

Next, it is possible that the screen is very old and the emulsion has been on the screen for years. If this is the case, the screen may be ruined, especially if it was well used and exposed to many solvents over a long period of time, (years).

Another reason emulsion refuses to reclaim is when someone sprays the screen with stencil remover with the intentions of reclaiming it but forgets to do it. The screen dries with the emulsion and stencil remover on it and hardens to such an extent that it will not reclaim after that.

You could try soaking the problem screen in household bleach. Many emulsions can be removed that way. Also, you will need a pressure washer for problem screens. Garden hose pressure is most often not enough to do the reclaiming job. I would recommend using a pressure washer for all of your reclaiming needs. It will make things a lot easier.

Make sure to explore the entire Catspit website for more articles about reclaiming screens. There are also several videos which cover reclaiming screens. The videos contain tips and advice for reclaiming screens and the articles on the website supplement and support the videos.

So make sure to search the Catspit website using the Search Catspit Site function to find more specific information you are looking for. If all else fails, contact me and I will point you in the right direction.

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