Yudu Personal Screen Printer

After reading so many complaints about the Yudu on here and so many other sites, I still felt like I needed to give it a shot for myself. I was scared, yes, because it's not super-cheap (for a poor college student as myself), but Amazon sells the machine by itself with the bare minimum accessories plus free shipping! And it's a great unit that has a drying system, exposer, and a lightbox all in one! So it really couldn't be beat as far as price goes. The kit does not come with paint or emulsion remover. You need these if you want to use your screens ever again.The main thing to do is your research. Buy your paints and emulsion and other tools for cheaper and in bulk elsewhere. You'll save a ton! Just do a web search on silkscreening supplies and click on the first link that comes up. I don't think Amazon lets me share specific company names.I also did extensive YouTube tutorial watching to make sure I got all the instructions really clear so as not to mess up on anything and needlessly waste any of the expensive materials. I had a really tight deadline and did 60 t-shirts in a few hours the same day I got my machine--and that was using one screen with no mistakes! Just proves that it can be done successfully on your first try!A big and helpful tip I got from my research applies to the emulsion sheets. The kit only comes with 2 sheets. The best thing to do is cut up your emulsion sheets to the size of your image. If it's some small text, it doesn't make sense to use up a whole sheet, right? Those things are pricey! Something like $10 per sheet! Another great tip is saving your excess ink. I find that a little bit goes a long way. And finally another tip is about the transparencies that you print your image on. The kit only comes with one. I had a whole pack of vellum paper from years ago that I never used, and used this instead of buying more transparencies and it works completely fine.Seriously, I've only had this for one week, and it's doing wonders for me. By the by, the recipients of the 60 shirts were totally stoked on the design, so I'm a happy camper. :)

I love it! Yes, it's a bit spendy, and yes, you can still screenprint the old fashioned way for less, but this item was just what I needed.Firstly, it makes crisp, clean screens. I wasted so much time and photo emulsion trying to expose images in the sunlight. Now, I just set the time at 7:30 and press start. Perfect exposures every time.Secondly, screenprinting is a hobby that takes several pairs of hands to do properly. I tried making my own press with expensive hinge clamps, but still couldn't get it right. Lacking a craft buddy or extra arms, I needed something like this where all the pieces line up perfectly. I can hold down the lid with one arm, and swipe my squeegee with the other.Finally, I love the large size of the screens. With a wide-format printer and some oversized transparencies, I can make pretty big designs.You can still save money by making your own screens and painting them with photo emulsion. I've made my own platens out of cardboard and spray tacky. I'm also looking into how to make my homemade screens hook onto the corner mounts. Duct tape works in the meantime.The only drawback I've found so far is that the drying rack isn't light sealed from the light box. So, if you have an unexposed screen on the rack, and use the lightbox to expose another, you'll expose them both.

The inks and emulsion sheet should be replaced. The yudu inks did not wash well, if you can get screen printing inks it would work better. the Emulsion sheet worked fine but if it got bend in shipping they are unusable, also did not hold up well for multiple uses. Use emulsion paint works from any screen printing store Works wonderfully, you may need to test for exposure times.

Well, the Yudu is a nice product, but it has its flaws. MANY! The video is not the best instruction guide, but it does come with a nice little booklet that gets you confused from time to time because of the very vague photos.My biggest hangup was the fact that there were too many sold separately items to purchase which you have to buy online or at Micheal's. EXPENSIVE! The emulsion sheets I truly hate. You only have two with the system and they cost $20.0 for 2 more at Micheal's. NOT GOOD if you mess up those two! Precision is key. Advice: look into purchasing the emulsion kit from another company. Will save time and money for future projects. No running back and forth to Micheal's if you screw up.If they would give a step by step front to back video of how to create GREAT screen prints then they would have been OK with me. I like the fact that I can make so many different things with the yudu, but the messing up over and over again is extremely aggravating and makes me want to just pay a professional screen printer to do the rest. I took 1.5yrs of screen printing courses in high school and this thing is not even comparable to how awesome shirts came out in class after one try. Or maybe I just like perfection.Its a good deal if you have time to play around with it, but not when you have to get something done for a large job like 20 cheer-leading tees for the football game that weekend. Mess up one shirt and see how frustrated you start to get when another, then another, then another starts to look wired. PATIENTS IS DEFINITELY A VIRTUE with this one. I think I will be looking into other options as far as better inks, screens and maybe even a another at home system to do some comparisons. I love to screen print and the feeling of accomplishment afterwards, but not liking the constant smudging from the inks and screens with the Yudu. Yeah, save the worst for last. Time to go try again. Enjoy your Yudu. Time will tell if I truly get the hang of it. I'm getting it though.

If you like graphic design screen printing this is a basic home system, served me well.