How to Clean a Screen After Silk-Screening

When silk-screening, if you want to use the same image on a screen or keep the screen for use later on, you'll need to clean the screen before storing it or using it again. Cleaning the screen is an easy process but is best done as soon as you're done with the screen, because leaving the paint on it can ruin the screen.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Soap
• Water
• Alcohol
• Rags

1. Wipe up most of the excess ink off the screen with a rag. Try to get as much as you can off the screen.
2. Use soap and water for any water soluble inks. A gentle soap or cleaner that is water-based works well.
3. Work the soap and water into the screen with more clean rags and remove all the ink. If the paint is hard to remove, try hot water to help remove the ink.
4. Try alcohol to remove oil based inks. Take a rag and soak it with alcohol and then use the rag to clean the screen. Clean the screen with soap and water to remove any left over ink.
5. Rinse the screen thoroughly to remove all the soap and any other residue from the screen that may affect the ink the next time you use the screen.
6. Allow the screen to dry completely before using it again.

Tips & Warnings

• If alcohol isn't strong enough to remove the oil based paint from the screen try paint thinner or gasoline. These two materials should be able to remove any oil paint from the screen.