In our last post we covered how to fight humidity using ChromaLime Premium Emulsion during the screen making process. But before you even get to making your stencil, do you notice that your positives seem a little damp or that they stick to bottom of the screen while exposing? Or maybe you can’t stack them because they stick to each other?

As the summer progresses so does the humidity, which can cause a lot of “sticky situations” in your shop (pun intended). Keep reading to find out how you can help your inkjet films dry faster in high humidity.

Drying Inkjet Film When It's Humid

When your shop is humid, it probably isn’t the quality of the inkjet film that is causing a drying problem. It’s most likely the environment.

Not only do emulsions dry slower in high humidity conditions, so do printed inkjet films. Why you ask? Inkjet film absorbs moisture from the air and the water based inks used to make film positives consist primarily of water. When the air is heavy with moisture and the film is printed in that environment, the drying time of the ink is greatly reduced. It’s like drying a wet shirt in a steam room... it’s gonna take a while.

Ways to Solve Humidity and Ink Drying Problems

Chances are if you are sweating then you are having film positive and stencil issues. Lower the temperature of the environment and the humidity problems will decrease. Here are some ideas on how to lower the humidity of your shop:

• Relocate: Move to Alaska (or Duluth in the winter!) and only make positives when the humidity is below 50%.
• Dryer: Put the positives in a dryer for a few minutes.
• Dehumidifier: Install a dehumidifier in the screen room where the positives are made.
• Air Conditioner: Get air conditioning along with a dehumidifier throughout the shop.

Contact Chromaline Today

Chromaline sells an entire line of inkjet printer supplies for screen printers. If you have any further questions about inkjet printing supplies or drying inkjet film in high humidity conditions, please contact the team at Chromaline Screen Print Products today.