Read on for a great, honest review from a guy on the shop
floor; a guy we've come to rely on for in-depth review and learn how-to screen
print videos. Thanks to Jonathan Monaco, Catspit Productions.
Recently, I had the pleasure of working with and testing
some RhinoTech screen making
chemicals to make a new YouTube video. They asked me to compare, side by side,
two of their own haze removers. One was from their standard chemical line, RhinoClean
HR 2800, and the other was from their green line of screen printing
chemicals, RhinoClean
Green²
HRG 2400. Right away, to me, this was going to be a test of equality. As a
screen printer myself, I am always skeptical of “green” or environmental
products because they often lack the power of the original from which they are
derived. Therefore, this was a fun video to do.
Though it’s often difficult to remember all the
things that I should convey to viewers and always look back and wish I had
included even more information for you, as always, I did my best with it, is
you can see. I had a great time testing; the video speaks for itself.
Initially, I had to intentionally stain a screen so
I would have something to work with. Because I don’t really have a staining
problem in my shop for some reason and wanted something we could look at side
by side, literally, I used an open 110 mesh screen and put a piece of masking
tape down the center long ways. Then, I squeegeed some black ink onto the mesh
from both sides while doing several passes to ensure good mesh coverage. After
that, I left the screen to set for a little over a week. I let it stand like
that in a place that consistently reached over 95 degrees Fahrenheit every day
and had very low humidity. Now, in order to make the video, I had to use some
ink wash so I figured I’d use some RhinoClean Green ² SWG
145C Screen Wash to remove the excess black ink from the mesh just prior to
making the video clips of the haze/stain removal.
That looked like it worked well and left me with a
screen that had black plastisol ink staining on either side of a piece of
masking tape. Next, I wrote the stain removers numbers on top on the frame
above the side I would use each product on.
The Big Summary:
Both of the haze removers, HRG 2400 and the HR 2800, will
work on UV inks, too, and they will also act as a degreaser. In effect, you can
go from emulsion removal to haze removal and then dry with either of these
products if you do it efficiently. The main difference you will find in the
products is that the eco-friendly HRG 2400 is thinner and takes about 10
minutes on screen to work best. The HR 2800, on the other hand, is thicker and has
a setting time of 3 to 5 minutes. I let the HR 2800 stand for 5 minutes and the
HRG 2400 stand for 10 minutes for video-making purposes. Next came pressure washing time to see the
results of my efforts and to truly test these 2 different haze removers
together.
I began with the HRG 2400 side and it came clean
very nicely with relative ease using my pressure washer. I was pleased. Then I
moved on to the side where we used the HR 2800 and it, too, cleaned up well.
Both sides of the screen on either side of the masking tape looked the same;
very clean and pretty much white. It was obvious that these two products worked
just as well as one another. And this made me really happy as this meant the
video was turning out well and it was easy to see the results of the
experiment.
I also tried to give the viewer 2 close up shots of
the mesh with and without backlighting after I finished cleaning both sides of
the screen. I this made for a great
video.
In review, I have to say that if you didn’t know
that the HRG 2400 was a “green” product, then you would never suspect it of
being such. It proved itself to work just as well as the standard RhinoTech HR
2800, even though it took 10 minutes as opposed to 5. I also have to say that
the HR 2800 was a little less user- friendly, but I liked its thickness. The
HRG 2400 was much friendlier to work with and was less odorous if anything
could be said of odor for either product. It just takes a little longer to do
the trick. Both of these products work very well and I give them a rating of
excellent. In fact, I give them the Catspit seal of approval! If you asked me which I prefer, I’d have to
lean toward the RhinoClean Green² HRG 2400 over the RhinoClean HR 2800.
Jonathan Monaco
Owner
Catspit Productions, LLC
Screen Printing, Education, Training, Supply Discounts
9/30/12
888.717.4466
