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c/diy-screen-printingalicea26alicea263d agoProlific Poster

A customer's one question fixed my screen tension issues

I been fighting with blurry prints for months. Last Saturday at a market in Austin, a guy who used to print professionally asked if my screens felt like a drumhead. I tapped mine and it sounded dead. He told me to stretch them tighter, like a pizza dough too thin. I re-stretched two screens that night and my next run came out sharp. Anyone else got a simple trick from a stranger that solved a nagging problem?
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willow_robinson
Figured I had my screens dialed in after years of doing this, so I never even thought about tension. Turns out I was basically printing through wet noodles the whole time. That drumhead comparison hit me hard because I knew exactly what a tight drum feels like. Now I check every screen before I start, just a quick tap and listen. It sounds dumb but it's saved me so much wasted ink and paper.
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