One of the most important of all the components involved in the screen printing process, is the Squeegee blade. Yet as one of the most important components, it is easily neglected. The squeegee blade plays a key role in the control of the overall quality of your print. A worn or chipped Squeegee blade will not allow the ink to transfer evenly through the screen. Indeed not only can a worn blade reduce print quality, it can also increase your print cost by applying too much ink.

The squeegee performance and print life are effected by a number of different parameters. Abrasion with the screen slowly rounds the squeegee print edge, reducing its ability to shear the ink from the screen. Solvent based and UV inks can drastically limit the life of a standard squeegee, often causing the Squeegee blade to swell or soften on the press. This swelling can then lead to the early breakdown and chipping.

There a many different variations of Squeegee blade, each are designed to meet different demands. They can have a square, rounded or a pointed edge, each with a different hardness. It is essential that the correct squeegee is selected for the type of substrate and ink to be printed. Selecting the wrong type can affect your ink deposit, print quality therefore increasing your costs.

All too often the common mistakes that are made when selecting squeegee are:

• Ordering by colour alone; each manufacturer has different colours which can vary, so ensure you know which hardness each is.
• Selecting medium hardness, assuming it will do all jobs that come their way.

Using triple shore without knowing the outer hardness, again these are available in different harnesses, so specify when ordering.

Squeegee Blade

Console urethane squeegee blade is available in a selection of profiles and hardness’s both in standard grade and high resist (high solvent and UV ink resistant).

CONSOLE URETHANE RANGE – select the hardness for the application.

For help in selecting the correct combination of squeegee harness, profile and resistance, please contact any of our Technical representatives or Screen department.