To expose film, purchase our light kit or simply use a DAYLIGHT FLUORESCENT bulb with high kelvin ie. orange emulsion) to the correct DAYLIGHT FLUORESCENT lighting so that the light sensitive orange emulsion hardens (NOTE.the orange emulsion protected by the black ink of your design will NOT harden and will rinse away thus creating your custom screen stencil). **EXPOSURE - the process of revealing film (ie. Wear protective gloves and eye/face protection when handling. Only when the Emulsion on Mesh Film has been made into a screen stencil is it safe to turn on regular UV lighting. Film could cause an allergic skin reaction and/or serious eye irritation. WARNING: All handling of Emulsion on Mesh Film before exposure should be done with safe lights on in a darkened room. Since all emulsion is UV light sensitive, it ships in a UV light protective baggie. For ease of use, our emulsion has already been applied to a stretched mesh fabric. sunlight & fluorescent bulbs, tubes & lights have high amounts of UV rays) SmallDogPrints' emulsion is orange. The phrase 'screen printing' is a more accurate description of today's process and is gaining in popularity.Įmulsion - a UV light-sensitive substance that hardens when exposed to UV light (ie. Even so, the phrase 'silk screening' is still heard but mainly by an older generation. Today, mesh is typically made of more durable, synthetic fibers such as polyester.

Previously, silk was mainly used as a raw material in the manufacturing of the mesh. Silk Screening - often used synonymously with screen printing, silk screening or silk screen printing is a much older term. Screen Printing - the technique of pushing ink through open areas of a screen so that an image or pattern is printed onto a substrate. Start by running warm water on both sides of the screen to loosen the emulsion.Q: Can you review some basic terms used on your site? Once your timer dings, turn off the light, remove your artwork and bring the screen to the sink. The next step will be to wash unexposed emulsion from the screen. When it runs down to about 1 minute, turn on the kitchen faucet and let the water warm up. Turn on your timer and hang out for a while. You can tape the acetate sheet down with clear tape if you don’t have glass or plastic, but make sure the image is flush with the screen or it could burn blurry. On top of that we place our acetate sheet and on top of the acetate place a clear piece of glass or heavy plastic. We want the side of the frame that has the screen attached placed flat onto the table. The acetate image is placed on the screen and a heavy plastic sheet is placed on top to prevent movement.Īfter everything has been set up, grab your screen from its dark hiding spot. My simple set-up: a 120W Equivalent Daylight (5000K) R40 CFL flood bulb in a clamp light reflector placed 12″ above the screen. Basic household bulbs are too weak to bother with, and the sun is too unpredictable. Different intensities of light will alter the exposure time, so I recommend using the light I’ve listed. Once the light is in place, set a timer for 12 minutes. Clamp the light 12″ above the table top and make sure it is pointed straight down, tilting it could create an uneven burn. Find a table where no animals or people will bump things around and prepare the area. A clamp light fitted with a powerful outdoor wall light works well for this process. Now that the screen has been prepared with photo emulsion, we are ready to burn our image. Once it’s dry to the touch I blast it with heat for a few more minutes just to be safe. You can lightly touch around the edges of the screen to see if the emulsion is tacky. If you chose to do this, be sure to dry both sides of the screen in a dark room. About 5-8 minutes is enough to dry out the emulsion fully (if it has been applied thinly). I use a blow dryer to dry the screen for immediate use. Remember, the emulsion is light sensitive, so prolonged exposure to excessive light will prevent you from burning your image properly. A fan blowing across the screen will speed up drying times. Put the screen in a dark, dry place where very little to no light will reach it.

Screen flipped and emulsion applied evenly to the back side.Īfter the emulsion has been applied, it’s time to let the emulsion dry.

Speedball photo emulsion rinse