How do you coat a screen with emulsion?Updated 2 years ago

When you're coating screens, make sure you're in a light-safe area. Here's a basic overview to coating screens:

1. Degrease the screen.

2. Dry the screen.

3. Select an emulsion and prep if needed.

4. Select a scoop coater. It's recommended to use a scoop coater that's 4" smaller than the outer dimensions of the screen you're going to coat.

5. Pour the emulsion into a scoop coater. Pour enough to cover the bottom of the scoop coater. Do not completely fill it up. 

6. Hold the screen vertically with your non-dominant or lean it against a wall. It should be facing shirt-side out.

7. Pick up the full scoop coater with the other hand, placing your chosen edge along the bottom of the open mesh about an inch above the frame.

8. With your dominant hand, lower the screen and scoop coater to allow the emulsion to make contact with the mesh, all the way across the length of the scoop coater. Then slide the scoop coater evenly up the open mesh, as you slowly raise the tilt of the screen, stopping about an inch before the top of the frame. Your screen should be in an almost vertical position again, with the scoop coater held securely against it.

9. Tilt the scoop coater back, keeping the bottom edge in contact with the mesh, and allow the extra emulsion to fall back into the trough of the scoop coater, away from the mesh.

10. Once you’ve done that, you can remove the scoop coater and flip your screen around to the other side.

11. Repeat the same process for the squeegee side of the mesh, making sure that you are evenly applying the emulsion all the way up.

How many coats you apply on a screen depends on the design, the inks you're using, and the effects you're looking for. To learn more about coating screens, read this blog.