Don’t panic! If you rip your screen you don’t necessarily have to have it re-meshed. If the rip or hole is small enough you may be able to work around it in the future and a small repair job can save you lots of money.
Here’s what to do if you rip your screen.
If your screen is clean without emulsion you can tape up the screen right away. Pinholes or small rips in mesh can be carefully taped on both sides with clear tape, solvent resistant tape or thin gold Mylar decal material will make good patch material. When it comes time to put the emulsion on your screen for your next project just coat directly over the patched hole. Then when you shoot your screen make sure that the hole is positioned in a spot that won’t be part of the image area- where the mesh will be open.
And if your screen has emulsion on it when you rip it then place tape of the rip on the underside, the substrate side and finish your printing job.
Once you have finished then carefully remove the tape and strip your screen of emulsion and be careful not to use the pressure washer too much in ripped area as you may cause the rip to open up or run.
Once it’s cleaned and dried then put a more permanent patch over the hole with the gold mylar decal material or a solvent resistant tape.
In the future try to not print over sharp edges of plastic, metal, glass, or paper, or you will wear out the stencil, and the screen mesh. You can tape over wear points on the underneath side of your stencil to protect screens from ripping.
Also, avoid pressing against the mesh along the frame and glue joint, as this can cause the mesh to delaminate from the frame. The adhesives are very strong side to side, but will give way when pulled up.
With regular cleaning and good storage your screens should last you for quite a long time. Happy printing!
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That was really useful. If you wanted to create a permanent fix what would you reccomend to use? Are there any special glues?
That’s as good as you are going to get as far as a fix goes. Once ripped it can never be totally repaired. But I have used screens with taped holes for years, you just have to replace the tape every once in while.
how do i get those ghost images off my screen left from the previous printing?
i use water based inks but they still leave their color? should i be using a solvent with my water based inks?
You don’t need to remove them- they will not affect the next print. But I have a post on stripping and using haze or ghost removers that will show you how to use those products when you need them.
http://www.printcutsew.com/1438/using-strippers-and-banishing-ghosts/