Ways to maximize shaker screen life

Just like thread is woven together to create cloth, metal wire can be woven to create a metal cloth.
Shaker screen mesh has evolved over many years of competitive screen manufacturing resulting in very thin yet strong cloth designed to maximize screen life and conductance as well as to provide a consistent cut point.
To increase the conductance of a mesh screen you have to minimize the amount of material in the way, this is done by either reducing the wire diameter or weaving the cloth to produce rectangular openings.
Rectangular openings increase the shale shaker screens conductance while minimizing the effect on its cut point where as square openings provide a more consistent cut point but offer a lower conductance.
To maximize screen life most manufacturers build their screens with multiple layers of mesh over a very sturdy backing cloth to further protect the cloth against solids loading and wear. The multiple layers of mesh act as a de-blinding mechanism pushing near sized particles, which may get stuck in the openings, out of the mesh reducing blinding issues and keeping the screen surface available for use.