Screen blinding occurs when grains of solids being screened lodge in a screen hole. This often occurs when drilling fine sands. The following sequence is often observed during screen blinding:

When a new screen is installed, the circulation drilling fluid falls through the screen in a short distance.

After a time, the fluid endpoint travels to the end of the shaker.

Once this occurs, the screens are changed to eliminate the rapid discharge of drilling mud off the end of the shaker.

After the screens have been washed, fine grains of sand that are lodged in the screen surface can be observed. The surface of the screen will resemble fine sandpaper because of the sand particles lodged in the openings.