I’m setting up a home studio after working at my school for the past year. My school wasn’t optimized for printing fabric, so I am curious what type of squeegee is best for textile screen printing.I use Permaset Aqua with copious amounts of print past mixed in, so my ink is quite thin.
What durometer should I use? Does a rounded end help significantly over a square one?
Hello,
Like everything in screen printing there are many schools of thought about this topic. For me a prefer a harder durometer (70) sharp squeegee. I sharpen my squeegee blade before every job. (just a little bit) if you are not printng with that sharp edge it is harder to clear all the ink out of the screen. I generally use a 70 durometer to limit the deflection of the blade. if you can get a triple duormeter even better. sharp squeegee blade and stiffer durometer equals lees pressure and effort needed to get sharp prints.
hope any of this helps…
erik
Checked into this as well and just heard from the folks at Colormaker. They kept their answer short and sweet - but it lines up with what Erik is saying:
I believe that 65-70 durometer, sharp square edge is best, this works MUCH better than a rounded edge squeegee.
Thanks, guys! That’s really helpful. How does one sharpen their squeegee edge?
Check out this video
some good squeegee info in there…
erik
Great info. Just what I was looking for. Love watching people speak regarding things they are knowledgeable and passionate about.