Yes, PERMASET Inks are suitable for use on automatic machines. To print most effectively and particularly to prevent drying in, you should:

  1. Ensure that the emulsion you use is both:
    • Water resistant and
    • Fully cured
  2. Leave the screen image area FLOODED between prints. It only needs to be 2–3 mm over the image area. Failure to do this will result in drying in within minutes if not seconds.
  3. There is a blog post on our website about converting from plastisols to water-based inks. That will give you a lot of good tips. See https://permaset.com.au/converting-from-plastisols/
  4. To slow drying in the screens you may also use PERMASET Print Retarder at 1–3% BUT whilst improving open time on screen, it will significantly increase the drying burden in the curing oven and is to be discouraged to the maximum degree possible. It is preferable to ensure that humidity in the workplace is greater than 40% R.H. and ideally above 50%.
  5. When cleaning the screens at the end of the run, it is advisable to leave them on the carousel flooded until ready to clean. If you have many people available to clean screens, then by all means have them wiped at the same time. Otherwise, the recommended approach would be to leave them all flooded and manually scrape them only as you are ready to clean each one.
  6. If flashing between prints, minimise heating of platens as this will exacerbate drying in and hot pick-up issues at down-stream print stations.