I have washed screens a few times and have done so successfully.
I have resorted to washing for a variety of reasons, but mostly
when there's something that won't brush or blow off, or, as
recently, when I acquired some screens (a 1-1, 1-3, 1-11 and 1-13)
that were just plain grubby from having been stored improperly.
Here's how I do it: I wash the screen in the same concoction sold
for use in my VPI record cleaner. Anything that won't hurt a
vinyl LP won't hurt a screen. I immerse the screen in a small
amount of the solution, then massage it all over for a couple of
minutes with a soft half-inch wide camel's hair paint brush, being
particularly careful to follow the Fresnel groves, if any, or any
etched grid lines.
When cleaning a record on the VPI machine, the solution is
vacuumed off. That's not really practical with a screen, so I
blast it and any debris that has been removed away with a stream
of compressed air. Like John's setup, the air from my compressor
is filtered, and it's set at 120 psi, so about a one-second shot
per side gets rid of everything and leaves a clean and unspotted
screen.
The label on the jug of cleaning solution doesn't list the
ingredients, simply stating "Caution, contains 20 0sopropyl
alcohol." I suspect it's just that and distilled water, so you
could always mix your own. But if you don't have an air
compressor, I promise you, no matter how hard you huff and puff,
just blowing on it won't work.
Walt
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"Patriotism means being loyal to your country all the time
and to its government when it deserves it." -- Mark Twain
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