It is inevitable that there will be open regions on your screen, which is why screen printers utilize tape of some kind to cover those areas. There are a few different options of tape available from Screen Print Direct®; selecting the one that best suits your needs is most important when choosing the tape you work with. One is not necessarily better than then other.
You can use a R-tape, a tape more similar to a scotch tape to cover your open areas or you can use a liquid tape that hardens and blocks holes. First we will discuss these different tapes pros and cons and then give you our personal insight.
R-Tape
The traditional tape that more closely resembles a scotch tape is called R-Tape. R-Tape is long-lasting, resistant to solvents, and removes cleanly.
PROS
- Leaves no residue
- Solvent resistant
- Very durable
CONS
- Must peel off screen once finished using
- Need to cut the tape to the appropriate length
- The peeled off tape ends up in the trash, making it not as eco-friendly
Then we have liquid tape. Liquid tape is first a liquid that is poured out and then evenly spread across the open areas of your screen. Once the area is covered you let it dry and it acts like a tape that cover the pinholes like the R tape would. There are two different types of liquid tape sold by Screen Print Direct®. Ecotex® SR liquid Tape (Solvent Resistant) and Ecotex® WR Liquid Tape. If you are working with plastisol, uv or solvent inks Ecotex® SR Liquid Tape is the tape for you! If you are working with water-based inks you will need to use Ecotex® WR Liquid Tape.
PROS
- Easily apply to fill in areas of the screen
- Dries quickly
- Very durable against solvents and water depending on which you choose (SR or WR Liquid Tape)
- Eco-friendly - less waste
CONS
- You need to allow it to dry before printing
- WR Liquid Tape can be difficult to remove with its water-resistant characteristics
Watch this video for more info on Liquid Tape!
Pro Printer Takeaway: We keep both of these on deck when printing. If we are doing a quick print of just a few runs we use the R-tape as it is quick to use. If we are doing longer print runs we opt for the liquid tape as we think its a bit more durable for long print runs.
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