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Gocco Fabric Screen Issues Part II
On 24, Oct 2008 | No Comments | In Design Life | By Lorraine
Alas! I think my first attempt at burning a screen is now officially a flop. When I left off my tale, I had attempted to burn my first screen: a PG-702 fabric screen flashed in 2 sections. The first section appeared to work best, but on closer inspection (Thanks, Violet!) I noticed that the carbon from my photocopy had adhered to the emulsion on the screen. The second section didn’t look like it had burned through all the way to me.
So after everyone’s suggestions, I thought I might as well try making a print from a test area like Elaine suggested: afterall, maybe it worked fine like Tina mentioned. So first I tried to clean off the carbon per Jan’s instructions. The flickr discussion group also suggested either screen cleaner or turpentine. I opted for trying the screen cleaner because I didn’t have any turpentine on hand. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to do the trick:
So I attempted a test print anyways, but sadly nothing came through on either the half with the carbon on the screen or the bottom half. :- And then, when I went to clean the ink off, I tried to use the screen cleaner on fabric ink instead of soap/water right away. So by the time I tried water, I had a harder time getting it off:
By the time I got the ink off, the exposed part of the screen looked like it has haze. 
I wasn’t able to photograph it well, and haven’t had time to go back and look at it since. Suffice it to say, I gave up trying to print this one. Even if it is ruined, the screen’s not a total loss though: at the Very least, I plan to use the frame again.
But I just don’t know what went wrong. I photocopied it on a light setting, ironed it right before flashing, and hypothetically, it Should have printed Something. It looked like Some of the image at least burned correctly. I think I’ll have to go back to square one and reread my Gocco Guide again before another attempt. And this time I’ll probably try a regular B6 screen before attempting one of the fabric ones.
But enough of the problems, I’ll be posting the results of the t-shirts soon: because they did turn out great after all.
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Sorry to hear that your first print was a dud. Hang in there. I’ve had a couple duds (screen problem, bulbs not flashing) but most of the time it’s a success. When it’s a success, it’s so much fun! I’m going to burn an image with big solid areas … *cross fingers*… hopefully it doesn’t end in frustration.
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