cleaning solvent inks

[gozo]

I did a run of 50 A4 vinyl sheets, and when ready I started cleaning my screen from the ink using Lacquer thinner, however after some time of cleaning a few parts of the emulsion started to give way.
Could this be because of the thinner, or maybe because of exposure problems.

[slakow]

Yes! lacquer thinner and mineral spirits are very agresive for your emulsion.

[El Roacho]

yeah, lacquer thinner will eat your mesh as well.

[NeroInferno]

I believe you'll spend tons of money cleaning screens with the thinner. Use the solvent for those inks!

Fabio

[gozo]

Thanks for the information. Always something new to learn.

[paul204]

Alternative to lacquer thinner for screen cleanup?

[squeegeethree]

Mineral spirits which is often called paint thinner is fairly cheap. Wet all of the inky screen with the solvent on a lint free paper towel so it has time to sink in. This tends to speed up the whole process in the end using less solvent over all. Once all of the ink of the screen is thinned out with this first application wipe all you can off with a paper towel with no solvent on it. Then switch to a new clean towel with a little bit of solvent on it.

I would never use lacquer thinner as it's just plain nasty.

[mysterion]

Lacquer thinner is just fine... when you're printing with lacquer. I do it all the time. Just use the *correct* emulsion. One recommended for solvent inks. Mineral spirits leaves an oily film which never evaporates, so it's a pain in the behind to retape screens, because the tape won't stick.

And the cleanup/reducers made specifically for the inks (NazDar) are hella expensive, and don't do any better than lacquer thinner.

I do now wear a respirator when using these things, though.

[squeegeethree]

Lacquer thinner is not just fine IMO it is one of the worst solvents for your health. What makes Lacquer Thinner work so well and makes it so not good for you is it's generous helping of Toluene and/or Xylene.
That said all solvents aren't good for you. You'll probably die someday anyway of something that has no connection to your use of solvents unless you are around them all day everyday.

[Andymac]

I love the smell of VOCs in the morning....

We used premium grade lacquer thinner (from furniture refinishers) as clean up for a long time. The good stuff, on a rag, will cut through all types of solvent based inks, and like Jim said, it doesn't leave an oily residue. The only time it would wreck a stencil is if we rubbed too hard, or the stencil was weak in the first place.

The trick is to use a lot on the rag, and clean your image areas. I tape in to the squeegee edges, so we scrape the ink first, then pull the tape, which carries away the bulk of the ink residue. If you pulled a thick flood before your last print, then a good print, you should have very little ink to clean up. Typically we could clean a 41x53" screen, plus clean the squeegee, floodbar, and ink knife with one rag.

I was never a fan of cleaning a screen with it sitting on paper. Seems to just spread the ink everywhere.

It goes without saying (but I will) you need to be wearing gloves and a respirator if you are using this shit.

Having said that, I have been trying some citrus based cleaners that seem to do the trick. Not sure the manufacturer of the ones I had in the shop (not there now, think it was Nichols?), but we used some press wash from ICC on epoxy and it was great, also have some biodegradible press wash from Image Technology, we will be trying that soon.