We were chatting today with a printer who was ordering a 5 gallon pail of emulsion. The question of freezing came up because at that time outside our warehouse in Calgary the temperature was about -33 Celsius (approx -28 Fahrenheit). The local radio stations were warning us that with the wind chill effect it was close to -48 Celsius (-54 Fahrenheit) and that exposed flesh would freeze in about a minute. And worse yet, tomorrow Calgary will awake to -38 Celsius. Even in the summer playground of Kelowna where the printer was calling from, it was -15 Celsius.
So, here is a reminder, DO NOT LET EMULSION FREEZE. Frozen emulsion is useless emulsion. It separates and cannot be re-constituted. We know because about 8 years ago we had two 55 gallon drums of emulsion arrive frozen solid. More recently a skid load of product including emulsion en route to Yellow Knife froze when the truck broke down in the middle of nowhere 500 kilometers south of Yellow Knife. That is why we automatically deliver emulsion by heated service in Canada from October through March and then cross our fingers that avalanches, break-downs and blizzards won’t mess it all up.
Another tip… plastisol ink is not damaged by the cold weather but it can thicken up a bit and needs to be brought back to room temperature for easier printing. A quick spin on the mixer can help a lot. One thing about plastisol ink though is that prolonged exposure to heat in the bucket can damage it. For instance, storing it next to a constant source of heat like a dryer or flash cure unit is not a good idea.
Canadian weather, yet another variable in screen printing.