Every machine and every accessory for screen printing play its own crucial roles in delivering quality custom prints. And the screen printing squeegee durometer or its rigidity has a significant part in creating flawless designs and durable prints. Having the best squeegee durometer for screen printing has been a reliable ally for me in my custom screen print business. It has helped me accomplish projects in a hassle-free, quality printed artworks on different substrates.
What is the best squeegee durometer for screen printing? The best squeegee durometer for screen printing greatly relies on the required ink deposit for your project. Soft squeegees with 50-60 durometer are best in leaving heavy ink deposits; Medium squeegees with 70 durometer is best for most standard screen printing jobs; Hard squeegee with 80-90 durometer is best for lighter ink deposit.
Can you just imagine how can a high and low-quality squeegee make or break your project? This one essential screen printing tool will help you go through a project smoothly and efficiently. Do you want to know more about screen printing squeegee and how significant its durometer is? Let’s dig into details about this tool as well as its parts and functions.
What Is A Screen Printing Squeegee?
I know that learning about what a screen printing squeegee is pretty basic, but for the sake of those who are not still familiar with it, let’s reintroduce the screen printing squeegee again so as to create a solid foundation of what we are talking about in this article.
A screen printing squeegee is a tool that has a handle where a flexible plastic or rubber blade is attached knows as the screen printing squeegee blade. This screen printing squeegee forces the ink through the stenciled print screen onto the substrate.
Squeegees are also responsible for the direct contact of screen printing mesh and the garment during the ink pressing process. The screen tension and the separated distance(the off contact) between the mesh and the substrate also affect the contact.
Image by threads_screen_print
It also sheers extra ink from your screen’s print area because improper sheering of ink will eventually cause for a rough surface and uneven prints of your custom print project. You do not want that in your prints, right?
The Screen Printing Squeegee Parts
After knowing how important a screen printing squeegee is in developing a quality custom screen print design, it pays to know its profile by knowing its basic parts. There’s no need to fret because this squeegee has only two basic parts. Let’s learn more about it:
The biggest part of a screen printing squeegee is its handle. Manual and automatic screen printers have different handle considerations.
Manual screen printers mostly prefer handles that holds up and is stable against the rigors of the printing process but is comfortable in our hands.
Would it be more comfortable for you to handle a squeegee with a wooden handle? Or do you prefer it on plastic or aluminum finish? Well, these three materials are the available handles that you may choose from.
Wooden screen printing squeegee handles may sound too old school and traditional for you, but this finish is a favorite because of its comfortable grip and warm feel.
But since it is made of wood, it naturally absorbs moistures and other solvents resulting in it being difficult to clean.
Squeegee blades also tend to be more difficult to swap in squeegees with wooden handles. But this finish will always be the choice for manual screen printers. Why not? That’s comfort and quality at the same time.
On the other hand, screen printing squeegees that have handles made of plastic or aluminum easily and conveniently accommodates quick blade swapping.
Handles with ergonomic design are also available and might also be comfortable with your grip. These squeegees are also easier to clean.
The other part would be the squeegee blade – a not so pointed blade because it can either be made from neoprene, natural rubber or polyurethane.
The screen printing squeegee blade would be the one responsible for stroking the ink into the stenciled mesh and onto the material.
Traditionally, and for the longest time, screen printing squeegee blades were made from natural rubber only because these are less pricey among other available materials. But natural rubber became the least favorite because it absorbs solvents that cause an easy breakdown.
But what about the other options for squeegee blades? Of course, because of technology, there will always be better alternative materials. Other options as material for squeegee blades are neoprene and polyurethane.
Neoprene squeegee blade is the current popular choice of material because it resists breakdown better than the traditional component. This material is pricier than rubber but generally cheaper than polyurethane.
Being the most durable among all materials, polyurethane is also the priciest available material. This material is ideally used for long term jobs for your automatic and semi-automatic screen printing machine.
The Screen Printing Squeegee Durometer
Durometer may sound unfamiliar and too scientific for you, well, for me too, just kidding. But durometer should not complicate our understanding and simple view about squeegees. Durometer will help us determine which squeegee to use for every target ink deposit for each print.
Durometer is a value that indicates the measurement of a screen print squeegee blade’s rigidity or hardness. The higher the measurement, the harder the blade goes. Squeegees with harder blades sheer ink better and squeegees with softer blades sheer ink less leaving behind heavier ink deposit.
Screen print squeegee durometer is measured by a gauge and is measured based on the established standards of American Standard Testing Materials or ASTM. It has values ranging from 50 to 95 indicating the squeegee’s rigidity.
Print screen squeegee blade durometer is commonly categorized to three. I am pretty sure that you want to know in details the difference between soft, medium, and hard squeegee blades. Are you ready to know the best squeegee for your screen print project?
A soft durometer squeegee is in the 50 to 60 durometer measurement. This is typically used for prints that are intended to have heavier laydown or ink deposit. This may be in terms of puffy prints or for substrates that will demand heavy ink deposit such as fleece.
A medium durometer squeegee is 70 in measurement. This squeegee is typically used for general printing and the most popular durometer. And where does that popularity comes from?
Well, since a screen print squeegee’s parts are to screen ink and create designs, its blade is necessary to be hard enough to sheer and print while must be soft enough to adapt to the screen. Having the best of both worlds is possible with a 70 durometer squeegee.
A hard durometer squeegee is 80 to 90 in measurement. It will lay down a lesser amount of ink and is typically used in printing halftone dots and fine lines. Also, a hard durometer squeegee is ideal for nylon-based materials wherein ink will just set on top of the substrate.
We also have the multi-durometer screen printing squeegee and it is made of two to three layers of several durometer materials. The hard blade will be placed in between two softer durometers to lessen the release of the blade.
The center hard durometer blade will sheer the ink while the softer edges will spread down slightly more ink deposit. It is typically used in automatic screen printing shops and hobbyists and for manual shops as well to emphasize fine details.
Maintenance and Storage
Did you know that proper cleaning and keeping of any material will not only prolong its shelf life but will also keep quality outputs or performance? And this goes well with screen print squeegees. A squeegee that is properly maintained and stored results in quality printed materials.
Deteriorated squeegees will eventually result in degraded screen prints. It may result in unintended heavy ink deposits, blurred edges, or obscured print details leaving flaws in our designs.
Screen print squeegees made of rubber material swells or warps because of moisture of solvents and inks. You would not want to replace your squeegees every now and then, right? So it is advisable to clean your squeegees immediately after each use.
Never leave it soaked in solvents or allow inks to dry on. These will cause swelling, premature breakdowns, and nicked blades.
Screen print squeegee blades are quite similar to caring for tires because rotating tires every 5000 miles or every 4 hours will result in longer use and better quality. As for screen print squeegees, it is ideal to use each side of the blade for not more than 4 hours when using aggressive inks.
Rotating the blades in this manner will help in increasing the life and quality of a screen print squeegee. It will reduce the excessive swelling or softening of the squeegee blade and will remain in producing quality prints.
Proper storage will also help your screen print squeegee retain its shape and quality thus extending its usual lifespan. Your screen print squeegee blades may either be fitted or not fitted into its handle. And there are different ways to properly store them.
Screen print squeegee blades that have been fitted and fixed into its handle, it should be stored blade up in your squeegee folders. For screen print squeegee blades that have not been fitted into its handle, never coil it and make sure to store it flat. Make sure that no amount of pressure is applied on your squeegee blades while in storage.
It is quite normal to replace all worn out parts especially the squeegee blades because it will affect the print quality. But did you know that you can still extend its lifespan by sharpening the blades?
A squeegee blade can be sharpened for around 25 to 50 times in its whole lifespan before disposal. Screen print squeegee sharpeners are widely available in the market.
Ask your squeegee supplier for recommendations on blade height and as well as the sharpening allowances.
Choosing the Right Squeegee
Have you come up with your best choice of screen print squeegee for your future custom printing projects? You do not have to rush things in choosing your squeegee. Take time to know more about your target projects and the needed squeegees.
Who knows, you might not need to choose the best because you might need all because of the different bulk of orders and different client requirements. If having all is worth the investment and will be useful in your custom screen printing business, then go for it.
But if your budget does not permit, then prioritize the screen print squeegee you need. Determine the best squeegee durometer for your projects and go for the best available options in the market.
Related Questions:
What is the correct squeegee angle when screen printing? The standard angle of screen print squeegee during actual printing is 45-60 degrees. A 20-30 degrees angle is used in flood stroke, a printing process that aims to coat the design area with ink.
What is the correct squeegee pressure when screen printing? Automatic screen printing machine automatically sets the pressure applied to the squeegee blade. For manual printers, the pressure is a feeling you will know through experience and over time. The foundation will be the pressure must be enough to sheer ink from the mesh while using only the sharp edges of your blade.
What are the squeegee blade shapes? Screen print squeegee blade shapes that are available are square, round and V-shaped. Square blades are often used in the industry because they work fine with color applications. Round blade or ball nose is used for special effects like puffs. V-shaped blades are normally used for irregularly shaped garments.
