I’m on break now so I decided to try to screen print again. When I tried to do this before there was always something wrong… First the lightbulb wasn’t bright enough- it needs to be at least 250, preferably 500 watt photoflood bulb, and DONT plug it in to a regular lamp because it WILL start to overheat and emit smoke (not that I did that!) It was tricky figuring out how to do everything and getting the right materials but I am happy with the result.

The chemicals used to “reclaim” the screen (if you are tired of your design and want to reuse your screen) are horribly toxic and can cause cancer, however. If you want to have babies someday or just want to live a long time, avoid them! I have heard that Mr. Clean cleaner can work too, but I’m not screenprinting enough stuff for it to matter too much, and I want to keep my designs anyway so I’m not going to bother with reclaiming screens. What I want to do is figure out how to make my own screens using a staple gun and wooden frame. Screen printing is hard to figure out at first but once you get everything you need and experiment for awhile you will have the freedom to print on whatever you want!