The reclaimed silkscreen
Some time ago I bought some second hand silkscreens. They had photochemical stencils on them and needed to be cleaned so that I can re-use them. They had been originally coated with Speedball Diazo photoscreen emulsion so I had to use Speedball’s remover.
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- putting on the remover
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- spreading it onto both sides
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- after a minute and a half, scrub it
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- rinse both sides
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- with hot water and a stiff nylon brush
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- wash until it’s really clean
I poured a little remover onto one side and quickly spread it over with a small, stiff nylon scrubbing brush. I turned it over and did the same on the other side then let it stand for one and a half minutes, no more as the screen remover mustn’t dry out. Then I scrubbed both sides with the brush before scrubbing again with hot water pouring onto it, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies until it was perfectly clean. Then off into the garden on a sunny afternoon to dry. And ready to use again.
Health and Safety notes: I used protective glasses, thick rubber gloves and old clothes.
Ifeel your ‘pain’. I am currently cleaning two screens to prepare for exposure. One was easy and the second I haven’t been able to prepare in time for my session at the print studio. It’s my oldest screen and still has duct tape on it! Definitely a case for the acetone.
Oooffff smelly 😀