Yudu? I du... I think. Tips I figured out in the first couple hours of using the Yudu

Okay, now I am not one that usually does alot of research. All of my projects and my creations usually come from my own trial and error. Which is great for things like knowledge but not so great for things like money and time. So, I thought I would share with you what I figured out and found out and then once I get all of my materials in the mail I will take pics and put them up here so you guys can see them and let you know how everything works.

Reading the Yudu reviews was enough to know that the emulsion sheets that it comes with (2) weren't gonna work. All of the reviews talk about people ruining both that the machine comes with and then one person ruined an additional 5 more before getting her 8th to work. Which is all fine and dandy, I mean everything has a learning curve right? But not at $10 a piece. Not to mention that it doesn't even come with the stuff to clean off the screen after you do mess it up. So, if you didn't buy everything with the machine at the same time you bought the machine, you have to stop and go to the store to buy the emulsion remover before you can even try another one! I don't know about you but I do lots of my crafting at night after my daughter goes to sleep. So, it's not like I can just leave and go to the store at 10pm. Which to me would be extremely frustrating!

I started reading up and watching youtube video after youtube video on the Yudu back when I first started wanting one. I figured that if I ever saved enough up to get one I would want to know how to use it immediately... no readin instructions for this chick! But along my Yudu journey I read about the products, the prices, and the pros and cons... and on alot of them the cons... were a big list. Enough of a big list to put it on the backburner of things I was to purchase.

The problems (a condensed list):

1) The good reviews and the only people that would endorse the Yudu products were people that Provocraft supplied the machines for them to write reviews.

2) The squeegee is crap. I honestly don't know, I haven't used mine yet. But, I bought another one here : http://diyteeshirts.com/products/11

3) The emulsion screens... I guess this is where I am even a bit confused. The website diyteeshirts.com claims to have the Yudu Hack. It makes sense to me. And, all of the other videos and everything else I have watched say the same thing... okay, all of the people that actually do screen printing say the same thing. The emulsion paper is easy to ruin and expensive. There is a way to do it yourself and videos are all over the internet on how to do it. But the DIYteeshirts.com people have a kit that you can buy... not sure how much it is, either $65 or $69 and in it is a container of the emulsion and the spreader and the emulsion remover concentrate (enough to make a gallon) and an informative dvd... well... you can buy the same products on the same website minus the spreader and the dvd for $35.00 so I went that route. I got those here: http://diyteeshirts.com/products/6 and here http://diyteeshirts.com/products/36 and I got the spreader thing here: http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/product/SC16

I then purchased the transparencies from DIYteeshirts.com because they are 10 for $11 when from Yudu they are 5 for $11. And, I purchased all of my paints from www.silkscreeningsupplies.com. Because they are the ones... Ryan (he's cute) I believe that had the best videos on youtube and he told me in the videos what he was using and that it was still Yudu compatible. The reason I did not buy the squeege from them is because you buy it by the inch off of there website. Makes sense... but I just need someone to make that kind of decision for me. And the emulsion and emulsion remover... well, that is because they have soooo many different kinds. I didn't know which was right if it even mattered or any of those other questions in between. So... since the other website only had 1 type to choose from and they said that it was Yudu compatible, well... then that made it alot easier for me.

Over all I probably spent an extra $160 in materials. It seems like alot... but I got things like a pint of paint for twice the price of what I would have paid for 6 oz. of Yudu stuff. I shouldn't have to buy new materials to screen print with for a long long long time and even when I do the cost should minimal compared to what I spent at the store on Yudu stuff.

I will let you know when I get everything how it works, what it looks like... where to get it and all of that good stuff. And, who knows... maybe I will put up some Youtube videos of my own! :)