Guides
Part of An honest review of printmaking supplies
A weekend audit of your printmaking supplies shelf
A weekend plan for emptying, grouping, testing and labeling printmaking supplies, ending with a swatch book and a disposal decision for every container.
What to take away
- An audit weekend recovers more studio value than a shopping weekend. Most printers own materials they have forgotten.
- Every container ends the weekend in one of three stateslabeled and kept, tested and kept, or set aside for disposal.
- Deciding whether something is waste is a defined process, not a mood.
- The output is a swatch book and a list, not a tidy shelf. Tidiness reverses within a month.
Saturday morning: get everything out
Empty the shelves onto a covered floor and group by type: relief and screen-printing inks, paper, blocks and plates, etching grounds, screen emulsion and cyanotype chemistry, cleanup, hardware. Do not sort within a group yet. Sorting too early hides duplicates, and duplicates are the most common finding of a first audit.
Then triage each item into three piles.
- Known:identified, labeled and stored as directed; any stated use-by date has not passed.
- Uncertain:unlabeled, undated when a date matters, or visibly changed.
- Finished:empty, dried, cracked or contaminated.
The uncertain pile is where the weekend's work sits. Everything in it either gets identified and tested, or it becomes waste.
Saturday afternoon: test the uncertain pile
Ink gets rolled out beside a known sample of the same ink, then used for a small proof. Keep it for the intended use only if it rolls evenly, has no unexpected separation or lumps, and the proof behaves like the sound reference; otherwise mark it uncertain. For paper, compare a water drop and a gentle fold with a sound sheet of the same stock; keep it for intended use only if the drop response matches the reference and folding causes no cracking or fiber break. These are screening checks, not universal measures of sizing or strength.
For identified chemistry, such as screen emulsion, etching ground or cyanotype sensitizer, check the label and manufacturer's instructions or safety data sheet for storage conditions and any stated use period; don't invent an expiry when none is given. Run only a maker-recommended test, and never experiment on an unknown solution or mix products. Keep uncertain containers sealed, labeled and set aside for the disposal decision.
Record the observation and test result, not just a verdict. The National Archives keeps a public list of publications and presentations from its preservation scientists; it is a record of preservation research, not a supply-testing standard. A studio notebook serves the same record-keeping purpose on a smaller scale.
Sunday morning: build the swatch book
Make one page per material: roll an ink film on your standard paper and write the brand, base type, date opened and date sampled beside it. Paper samples get a printed square and a torn edge to show the fiber. Use the paper and ink you actually work with as references; examples include Stonehenge and Rives BFK papers, Speedball Water-Soluble Block Printing Ink, Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink, and Akua Intaglio Ink, which are examples rather than universal standards. Compare uncertain materials only with a sound sample of the same stock or ink.
Bind the pages loosely so you can add to them. A swatch book is the reference you will reach for most often, and it takes about three hours to start.
Add a second short section for combinations rather than single materials: this ink on that paper, this base at that ratio, this sensitizer at that exposure. Single-material swatches tell you what a thing looks like. Combination swatches tell you what it will do in the work you actually make, which is the question you will have at the bench.
Sunday afternoon: the disposal decision
The federal framework is the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Under 40 CFR §262.11, a generator must make a hazardous waste determination for each solid waste produced, using knowledge of the material or testing. State and local requirements may also apply.
Get each product's safety data sheet (SDS) from its manufacturer or supplier; OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) is the U.S. workplace framework for communicating chemical hazards. The linked safety guidance is Vancouver-specific, so U.S. readers should rely on the product's SDS and local agency instructions. A home studio's obligations depend on the waste and applicable state and local rules, so ask the relevant agency if uncertain.
Keep containers separated and labeled while you check acceptance; never combine unknowns. Contact your city or county household hazardous waste (HHW) program or state environmental agency for accepted materials and drop-off or collection-day instructions; Earth911's search directory can help you locate a nearby option. Our disposal overview is Canada-specific, so U.S. readers should follow local program guidance instead.
What to do with the result
Write the list into whatever record you keep, and set a date six months out to repeat the short version. The swatch book can inform our single-skill supply projects, and the dated inventory is a useful starting point when consulting our cost overview; this audit does not calculate project costs.
