The Complete Handbook of Screen Printing Squeegees

Chapter 1: Understanding Screen Printing Squeegees

In screen printing, the squeegee is not merely a tool to push ink. It is the precise mechanical device that controls the deposit of ink onto the substrate. The stencil on the mesh defines the image, but the squeegee determines the volume, the sharpness, and the uniformity of the printed ink layer. A flawed squeegee or an incorrect squeegee setup will ruin a perfect screen and an expensive ink. Understanding what a squeegee actually does is the first step towards solving most printing problems before they cost you money.

At its most basic, the squeegee is a handle, a blade, and the edge of that blade. The blade is a flexible piece of rubber or polyurethane. When you pull it across the screen, the downward force of the squeegee pushes the flexible blade down against the mesh. This is the critical moment. The screen is not a solid board; it is a tensioned fabric stretched over a frame. In a standard flatbed press, the screen is mounted with an off-contact gap between the mesh and the substrate beneath it. When the squeegee presses down, it pushes the mesh down until the mesh touches the substrate. The blade pushes the ink ahead of it in a flood, and as the blade passes, the mesh springs back up away from the substrate. The action of the blade pushing the mesh down, and the mesh's tension pulling it back up, is what forces the ink through the