Choosing a Squeegee for Screen Printing

Video Transcript

"There are also many different kinds of squeegees. Here are two great examples. This one is really thick polyurethane. This one really thin and flexible. You'll notice when you push down on your squeegee how squishy it is. The really squishy ones are great for heavy body ink. And for smaller mesh holes or for higher mesh holes, your thicker more dense ones that don't have as much give, are great for finer detail work. If you're getting seriously involved in screen printing, you might want to consider getting a trough. In the earlier videos, I demonstrate, demonstrated applying screen filler and photo emulsion by hand with a brush and then smoothing out with a piece of matte board. A trough has a fine edge along the side. You can fill this with liquid, hold it up to your screen and run it over ensuring that an even spread of fluid will come across your screen. There is a huge amount of variation and flexibility in the art of screen printing and have fun with it. Enjoy it. Start out with water-based inks and you really can't make that many mistakes. Oil-based inks, as I mentioned earlier, a lot more technically difficult to use and a lot more toxic. Enjoy."