The Easiway Dip Tank system is the most efficient way of streamlining and systemising your screen reclaim department in your screen-room. It is trouble free, cost-effective and allows you to prevent the mess and avoid the tedious job that is normally associated with the scrubbing of traditional screen reclaiming products. It also contains the process and prevents the waste of your screen reclaim chemistry allowing you to get your screens ready for recoating in a few very simple steps.

Nick Walker, Screen Print Worlds resident Screen Printing expert suggests a few basic points to adhere to, in order to help you get the best out of your Dip Tank and Dip Tank Chemistry.

• Place your tank in the correct location as close to your wash booth as possible to allow easy access to the pressure washer and avoid having to carry wet screens across your screen room. Also, once it’s full it’s heavy, so you don’t want to have to move it once it’s full. 
• Fill your tank to approximately halfway to two thirds with water BEFORE adding the Easiway Supra (the reason for this is if you add the Supra first it foams quite a lot when you add the water) 
• Add the required amount of Supra to the tank – there is a chart in the brochure outlining the ratios, but we recommend 1:7, which would be 5 gallons in a 37 gallon tank or 2 gallons in a 14 gallon tank. This should give you a mix that should soften your screens in about 2 minutes. You can mix at 1:5 which will extend that time, or at 1:10 which will speed it up. 
• Once you’ve added the Supra top up your tank with water to about ½ an inch below the lip of the tank to allow for the level to rise slightly when you submerge the screen/screens. 
• Leave the tank for a couple of hours to allow the distribution of the Supra in the tank.

• Once you have finished your print run, scrape off as much excess ink from the screen as possible and remove all the tape – it is not necessary to thoroughly clean the screen before it is submerged, but scrape as much off as you can. 
• Submerge your screens for 1-3 mins depending on your mix of Supra (1:7 should be at about 2 mins) You will find two nylon rods and holes in the lip of the tank – these rods push through the holes to keep the screens submerged in the tank. 
• What you are looking for is the emulsion and ink to be soft but not falling off in the tank – you can rub your finger on the emulsion and you should see the emulsion moving. NB: If the emulsion is falling off in the tank you’ve left it too long. 
• Place the screens in the Wash Booth and pressure wash them to blast off the soft ink and emulsion. 
• Once the Emulsion is off the screen, you will then scrub the screen on both sides with Easisolv 701 – This will remove the stain from the mesh as well as degrease the mesh in one process. 
• Repeat pressure rinse to clear the stain. 
• You can now leave your screens to dry and they will be ready to coat for the next job.

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Should you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 01562 829009 or at nick@screenprintworld.co.uk.

see video here

One of the questions we get asked most by printers and print shops is, when is the best time to Automate. Dave Roper MD of Screen Print World ltd shares his expert knowledge in this post and explains when to make the leap from manual to auto.

There is no “Magic Formula”. But the decision is not as difficult as you might think.
The time to automate usually comes when one manual is not enough to handle the workload. In fact, there are many one-manual, one-man shops that have an automatic.
If you find yourself needing to add another manual press in order to keep up with production, it’s time to consider the purchase of an automatic press.

• Arms longer than your body! You can only do so many manual prints a day before fatigue hits.
• Letting customers down on delivery times.
• Customer base has grown.
• Need for a quicker turnaround.
• Want more output for less input; space, wages etc.
• Need a more consistent print throughout jobs and for repeat business.
• It’s just the right time.

1. Become available to a bigger market.
2. Provide a quicker turnaround time.
3. Ability to print faster.
4. Last print is same as the first – Consistency.
5. Get the best out of your ink.
6. Print larger areas.
7. More money due to all the above.
8. Frees up time for yourself.
9. Increased value of the business.
10. Registration is spot on.
11. Quicker to set up a print run.

To compare manual press output to automatic press output, we’ll make these following assumptions about setup and production:
The following timings and prices have been arrived at using the years of experience and knowledge from myself (Dave Roper) and the team at Screen Print World.
They are estimates based on a print shop running at its maximum capacity, when running a job of 100 white T-shirts with a three-colour print is priced at £415 in this scenario.

Once you decide an automatic textile press is right for you, you’ll need to decide on the number of colours and the print-area of your new automatic. Plan for the future by using the 80/20 Rule, which recommends a press that will accommodate at least 80% of the work you are currently printing. For example, if only 5%-10% of your business is large format, the cost of a larger press might not be cost effective.

• Size of screen – 23” x 31” minimum.
• Exposure unit – does your current exposure unit have room for more than 1 screen?
• Is you screen room up to scratch?
• 3 phase- Compressor is needed with dried chilled air, if not this may void the warranty.
• Flash normally needs 3 phase due to the speed needed, heat given, and bigger area covered.
• Larger dryer needed to cope with max output of the machine.
• Have you got space for the garment storage and machinery.
• Being organised is key.
• Ground floor level is suggested.
• You may need to consider a folder and bagger for large output.

The cost of an automatic press is generally no more than that of hiring an additional employee to print on the new manual. The return, however, is much greater. An automatic press will not call in sick and it will work weekends without overtime pay. The time saved, as well as the extra production capabilities, will allow you to build the business at a much faster pace.

For more information on our automatic presses, you can visit our website www.screenprintworld.co.uk or contact us on 01562 829009, alternatively you can send us an email at sales@screenprintworld.co.uk .

Are you thinking about introducing folding and bagging  garments into your printshop? Dave Roper our CEO and screen printing expert, explains why now is the right time to introduce this into your screen printing process.

Why  do I need to fold & bag?

Its an extra service you can offer your customer, maybe some of your competitors don’t offer this as a service and this might give you the edge against them in a competitive world. You can also earn extra revenue from offering this service, lets break this down into number of garments being folded a day and what is the best route to go.

50-250 Garments a day.

Will usually be done by hand or maybe using a T-shirt folder, which will give you a nice even fold each time. Then it as simple as popping the garment in a plastic bag, job done.

250-1000 Garments a day.

1000 garments by hand will take a while but depending on how much you charge, it could be worth looking at a semi automatic folder. Semi auto folders like the FX23 you pop the garment on & it folds a shirt in 6/8 seconds, you can then drop a bag on it.

You will need a small compressor for this type of machine but its very easy to use. A machine like this will cost in the region of 10k for a new one.

1000 plus garments a day.

With this many garment I would 100% look at a full auto line as it could take up to 10 staff to fold 1800 garments in a hour which is what a Amscomatic K950 with an auto bagger could fold in one hour.

The investment with a bagger could be 50k, it will fold, bag and label the bag all with one person on the machine….. Just think 10 staff could cost a lot more, plus the K950 never calls in sick on a Monday!

Want to find out more about folding and bagging? Contact us for a chat on 01562 829009 or you can send us an email on sales@screenprintworld.co.uk.

The most popular glue on the market is in aerosol cans, lets look at the positives and negatives of running this type of system in your shop.

Positives

• They are quick and easy to use.

Negatives 

• They are expensive to buy.
• They release chemicals into the atmosphere.
• They make your working environment uncomfortable to work in.
• They will knock years of your press, by plastering it in glue and fluff.
• They are dangerous to work with due to them being flammable.
• You have to dispose of them correctly so will cost you more.
• The nozzles clog easily.

So what are the alternative to this flawed method of gluing a pallet?

You can buy a waterbased glue like Tekmar TB HV Waterbased Pallet Adhesive,  which has the following advantage over the aerosol cans:

• Its cheaper.
• Easier to apply and use.
• Its better for your lungs.
• Kinder to the environment.
• Will not age your press by 10 years.

If you want to make it easier to apply the waterbased glue then invest in the Tekmar TB500 or TB1000 adhesive system. This will  make the product even easier to use with all of the benefits of waterbased glue.

An alternative to this is a pre glued pallet mask/paper such as the PMI Dual tack pallet mask. This is a 2 in 1 method of protecting your pallets and gluing them at the same time a win, win! The bottom line Kick the cans!!

For more information on what we can offer you give us a call on: 01562 829009

or you can send us an email on: sales@screenprintworld.co.uk

It is not recommended that you use a flash dryer to cure your prints, you might be able to get the ink hot enough.

By using a flash cure unit you could easily overheat the top of the ink yet under cure the rest. You will be at risk of also potentially burning the unprinted area of the garment due to no movement and direct intense heat. To ensure a proper cure we highly recommended you use a temperature gun to monitor ink temperature.