Screen Printing Squeegees - Tips for Choosing the Right Ones

What’s so important about screen printing squeegees?

Well, if you are a screen printer, this screen printing tool is what makes your decorating discipline of choice work. It is one of the most important tools, yet it may also be one of the least understood. Many screen printers wonder why there are so many different squeegee types, and they may not know how to choose the correct one for their needs.

Following are a few tips on what to look for:

Screen Printing Squeegee Handles: When screen printing manually, choose one that fits your hand comfortably.

Screen Printing Squeegee Blade shapes: There are three different types—square, round and V-shaped.

• Square (straight edge) blades are most often used by screen printers. They work well for standard or regular ink applications.
• Round (ball nose) squeegee blades deposit more ink. Use this type for special effects inks such as gel or puff.
• V-shaped (single- or double-bevel) blades are typically used for printing on irregular or cylindrical-shaped substrates.

Durometer: Denotes the hardness of the blades.

• A 50-60 durometer is soft blade that will deposit more ink. Choose this durometer for heavily-textured fabrics to lay down more ink (may help with fibrillation) or for use with special effects inks, such as gels and puffs.
• A 60-75 durometer designation ranks medium on the hardness scale. It is good for general printing.
• The hardest option is an 80 durometer blade. It will deposit less ink and is great for printing fine detail or four-color process prints.

FAQ'S ABOUT SCREEN PRINTING SQUEEGEES

What is the right squeegee size in relation to the size of the image?

Use a squeegee that not only covers the image entirely, but overlaps it by a good margin—at least an inch or so. If the squeegee is not wide enough, the edges of the image may come out blurred or smudged. This is due to the fact that most of the pressure exerted in printing is focused more toward the center of the print rather than the outer edges.

What Screen Printing Squeegee do you use when printing different substrates?

A 70 durometer squeegee is good for all around printing on textiles. A 80 durometer squeegee is good for printing on paper

If you have any questions about what screen printing squeegee you need for a project or to give as a gift this holiday season, make sure you contact us at 1-800-McLogan and we will be happy to help you.