Mesh is the most important component of screen printing that plays a crucial role in the quality of the final print. It is a woven fabric made of polyester, nylon or metal wires. It is used as stencil in screen printing to transfer ink onto substrate.

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Mesh Count

Mesh is used based on mesh count. It is the number of threads per inch in the mesh. The higher the mesh count, the finer the mesh, and the more detail the print can capture. However, higher mesh counts require more ink and pressure to push the ink through the mesh which can affect the printing process. The mesh count to be used depends on the design and substrate to be printed. For example, a design with fine details on a smooth surface needs higher mesh count. On the other hand, for a design with bold lines or text on a rough surface, a lower mesh count may be more appropriate. The geometry of the mesh, such as thread thickness can impact print quality.

Type of Mesh

Here are several types of mesh used for screen printing.

• Monofilament mesh: This is the most common type of mesh used for screen printing. It is made from a single strand of fiber, usually nylon, polyester or stainless steel.
• Multifilament mesh: This type of mesh is made up of several strands of fiber twisted together. It is less commonly used for screen printing than monofilament mesh.
• Low-elongation mesh: This type of mesh is made from fibers that are less likely to stretch. This makes it more suitable for printing fine detail and halftones.
• High-tension mesh: This type of mesh is designed to withstand high tension, which allows for more detailed and precise printing.
• Teflon-coated mesh: This type of mesh has a Teflon coating, which helps to prevent ink from sticking to the mesh. This can be useful when printing with certain types of inks, such as metallic or glitter inks.
• Stainless steel mesh: This type of mesh is extremely durable and can withstand high tension and heavy use. It is often used for printing on glass or ceramics.

The choice of mesh will depend on the type of ink, substrate, and design being printed, as well as the desired level of detail and durability.

Mesh Preparation

There are several steps involved in preparing mesh for printing.

• Mesh needs to be stretched tightly and fixed across the frame.
• Then it has to be coated with emulsion and dried. After drying, it has to be exposed to light along with design. The exposed part will be hardened in the area not covered with design.
• On washing the screen, the unexposed part will be washed off and the screen will be ready for printing.

Mesh Maintenance

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This depends on whether exposed screen needs to be reused or used for another design. In both scenarios care should be taken to prevent clogging of screen and chemical wearing of screen threads.

• To reuse the mesh, it should be cleaned thoroughly with cleaning solutions.
• depending on ink used. For example, if water based inks are used then warm water should be used. For UV and solvent inks mild cleaning solutions should be used which will not harm or remove the emulsion coating
• To expose again, emulsion on the screen needs to be removed (decoated) with a decoating solution.

Article by Dr. Mustafa Kapadia

(CÖLÖRs - Specialty Inks and Varnishes)

Choosing Your Screen Mesh Count

General Tip: Lower Mesh = More ink, less detail // Higher Mesh = More detail, less ink

• 60-90 Mesh - Most commonly used for thick specialty plastisol inks, such as metallics, shimmers, reflectives, puffs, etc.
• 110 Mesh - Most common mesh count for printing with white plastisol ink. Not recommended for water base inks.
• 160 Mesh - Our most popular mesh count. Works well with a wide variety of ink types and substrates.
• 200-230 Mesh - Most commonly used for high detail artwork. Also great for printing with water based inks on wood or paper.
• 280-305 Mesh - Used for super fine detail artwork, half tones, CMYK process printing, as well as solvent and water base inks.

1. What kind of ink are you using?

Many people pick their mesh count solely based off the amount of detail in their artwork, but this is wrong. It is more important to first consider the type of ink you are using, since all inks have very different viscosities. White plastisol ink for example is very thick, so you need a more open mesh count to allow the ink to pass through. On the contrary, black water based ink is extremely thin and needs to go through a finer mesh screen to prevent the ink from bleeding.

2. What material are you printing on?

Different materials absorb different amounts of ink, so different mesh counts should be used to achieve best print results. Fleece, for example, tends to soak up a lot of ink, so a lower mesh count like 110 or 160 is often used to allow for better ink coverage. On the flip side, paper is not very porous at all, so you want to print a very thin layer of ink to prevent the ink from bleeding. For paper, you usually want to use a minimum mesh count of 200.

3. How detailed is your artwork?

Now that you've considered the type of ink you will be using and the material you are printing on, it is time to consider the artwork detail. If for example you are printing with white plastisol (thick viscosity) on black cotton shirts (medium absorbency), you'll likely be looking at a range of mesh counts from 110-230. If your artwork is not very detailed and has big blocky portions, you should probably stay on the lower side of this range, so 110. If your artwork is very detailed and consists of a lot of fine lines and small text, you should be on the higher side of this range, so 230.

General Guidelines

Below is a chart breaking down common ink types and garment/substrate types to get you in the right mesh count ballpark.

*As you can see, t-shirts love ink, and will yield good results with pretty much any mesh count as long as the ink passes through the mesh well. That being said, the tighter the knit of the t-shirt, the better the ink will print on top of the fabric allowing you to use a higher mesh screen. If printing on a very plush combed cotton shirt, the ink will typically have trouble matting down the fibers so you will typically want to use a lower mesh count to lay down more ink.

Keep In Mind

There is no "exact" mesh count to use in any situation, often times you can get very similar results using a range of different mesh counts. Screen printing is a craft, and experimentation is key to finding what works best for you.

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