Primer – 10-PP Wipe Primer for Polypropylene

Printcolor 10-PP chemical wipe primer to promote pad and screen ink adhesion on untreated Polypropylene.

The official technical stuff from Printcolor
Printcolor Series 10-PP is a chemical wipe primer for use on polypropylene (PP) to achieve adhesion of pad and screen printing inks.  It is an effective and inexpensive method of treating short run jobs, or items that are difficult to pretreat by corona or flame.  10-PP primer can be used in combination with Printcolor screen printing ink Series 630, Series 640, Series 650 and Series 665 and with pad printing ink Series 750, Series 752, Series 754 and Series 784.  Ink should be mixed with the thinner and hardener ratio described in the relevant technical data sheets.

Printcolor 10-PP chemical primer is receptive to printing for days, months and years after application provided the dried primer film is stable.  While it will not loose its priming effect over time, it is recommended that parts are printed within a few days of treatment in order to avoid damage to the primer film by chemicals or mechanical abrasion.  The primed plastic can be printed as soon as the solvent carrier has evaporated from the primer, leaving a dry film.  10-PP is formulated with a fast solvent so your part can be printed within seconds of being primed.  Refer to the Technical Information and 10-PP MSDS documents for more details.

What we say about Printcolor 10-PP
Printcolor 10-PP is a convenient method of treating short run PP jobs, pre-filled product containers, bulky items or those with irregular surfaces that make flame and corona treatment difficult.  It is also an excellent option for high gloss dark plastics that tend to mark or cloud from corona and flame treatment.  10-PP is simply wiped on to the product surface and allowed to dry before printing.  10-PP primer does not alter the plastic or the ink, but leaves a thin film of chlorinated resin on the surface with which the ink can chemically bond, creating an adhesion bridge between the PP surface and ink.

Other brands of primers are based on volatile solvents that evaporate quickly, forcing you to soak your priming cloth frequently during application.  This not only creates fumes an slows production but uses a lot of solution, and that cost you money.  Printcolor 10-PP is formulated on milder solvents with a moderate rate of evaporation making it easy to use, while allowing a rapid prime and print cycle.

Printcolor 10-PP will not change the appearance of the cured ink, nor is the primer visible on the surface of the product once it has dried.  Printcolor 700-PP does not work with polyethylene (PE) and may produce varied results on plastics containing high quantities of fillers and/or recycled content, or slip agents.  We recommend testing prior to production to confirm adhesion performance on your product.

The good oil from our trade print room

• We always carry out and ink test on new products before print production, even those with the recycle symbol ‘5 PP’.
• 10-PP should be applied as a thin film using a soft cloth soaked with primer and wiped across the print area.
• If you clean a misprint from the product, you will need to re-apply 10-PP to the plastic.
• We are happy to carry out ink tests on your product for you so you can sure 10-PP works before you buy it!

Retarder – 700-018 Medium

Printcolor 700-018 is a medium retarder for pad print inks.

The official technical stuff from Printcolor
Printcolor 700-018 is medium retarder suitable for use in all Printcolor pad printing inks running in closed cup or open ink well machines.  Evaporation time of the whole system can be slowed by adding 700-018 retarder.  Retarder slows drying of ink layer, lengthening transfer time where print cycles are slow, or operate under extreme operational conditions (elevated heat or humidity for example).  Printcolor 700-018 is formulated from solvents chosen to minimise chemical attack on printing pads.  Its gentle wear on pad surfaces will extend pad life and performance.

The evaporation rates of solvents in 700-018 medium retarder are combined to retain print pick-up and transfer without necessitating blow-drying / hot air ventilation of the print.  Retarding evaporation slows print transfer and lengthens touch-dry time on the substrate, for this reason adding more than 10% of 700-018 (by weight) is not advisable under normal printing conditions.   In such cases a combined use of thinners and retarders is the best way to optimise ink flow and transfer.  Refer to the Technical Information and 700-018 MSDS documents for more details.

What we say about Printcolor 700-018
It is not a paint thinner, nor is it a generic slow thinner.  Printcolor 700-018 is specifically formulated to retard ink used for pad and screen printing applications.  700-018 retarder is Quality Assured to ISO 9002 Standards and offers the best value for money on the market.

Printcolor 700-018 is a universal retarder for pad and screen printing inks used to slow drying of the ink layer where more working time required.  A maximum addition of 10% by weight is recommended, over dosing with retarder may cause transfer problems and inhibit hardener curing.  700-018 is best combined with 700-017 to achieve correct ink consistency for printing.

Available in 1L cans.

The good oil from our trade print room

• Adding small amounts of 700-018 is useful where the ink drys too quickly on the pad and fails to transfer. This can be an issue in process colour screens and multi colour prints, images with very fine detail or when using a shallow etch plate.
• Used in combination with 700-017 thinner, small additions of 700-018 will help control the transfer speed of faster ink types without having to thin them to a watery consistency.

Thinner – 700-017 Medium

Printcolor 700-017 is a medium speed universal thinner for pad print inks.

The official technical stuff from Printcolor
700-017 thinner is formulated to maintain optimum ink rheology under varying printing conditions created in open ink well and closed cup pad printers.   700-017 is a universal thinner suitable for use in all Printcolor pad printing inks.  It is added at a ratio of 10 – 20% by weight to attain the ideal ink viscosity and transfer under production conditions.

The medium evaporative speed of 700-017 is designed to balance drying times with image transfer viability in multi colour machines or print cycles with longer processing times.  The solvent composition of Printcolor 700-017 thinner is chosen to minimise chemical attack on printing pads.  Its gentle wear on pad surfaces facilitates trouble free print transfer and longer pad life.  Refer to the Technical Information and 700-017 MSDS documents for more details.

What we say about Printcolor 700-017
It is not a paint thinner, nor its it a screen ink thinner.  Printcolor 700-017 is specifically formulated to thin ink used for pad printing applications.  700-017 thinner is Quality Assured to ISO 9002 Standards and offers the best value for money on the market.

700-017 has been developed for universal use with all 700 Series pad print inks and is useful for open well and close ink cup systems.  The unique mixture of solvents in 700-017 will help maintain ink consistency over long runs and throughout jobs having slow printing cycles and/or frequent stoppages.  The medium evaporative speed of 017 ensures good ink viscosity while retaining print transfer speeds, making it ideal for wet-on-wet multi colour printing.

Printcolor 700-017 is a popular thinner because it works well across the range of 700 Series pad printing inks.  It gives consistent performance and can be mixed with faster thinner to optimise print transfer speed, or with retarder for slow cycle applications or screen printing.

Available in 1L and 5L DG approved plastic jerry containers and 20L drums with screw tap threads.

The good oil from our trade print room

• We find 017 the perfect speed for thinning faster inks like Series 711, 712 and 752.  We also use it under most conditions to thin Series 784 as well as 754 and 750 (sometimes in combination with 700-019 fast thinner in cooler weather, or when printing large areas of solid colour).
• We find a little regular thinning maintains print speed and quality better (especially over long runs) than pouring thinners in only when the ink is too thick to print well.
• Using the correct speed thinner is important.  Use one that’s too fast for your application and you’ll be continuously stopping to adjust the ink.  Use a thinner too slow for the job and you’ll have to slow down the cycle speed and/or use an air blast to get the print to transfer.  Neither will result in consistently good prints and both will slow productivity.
• Using super cheap thinner is like frying steak in water; you will cook it but you won’t want to eat it!  Printcolor thinner is not expensive, we’ve made sure of that.  Buy a litre, try it and see what a difference it makes to your print quality, job set-up times, productivity and general level of happiness in the print room.

Thinner – 700-019 Fast

Printcolor 700-019 is a fast universal thinner for pad print inks.

The official technical stuff from Printcolor
700-019 is a universal thinner suitable for use in all Printcolor pad printing inks, particularly in closed cup applications as well as open ink well machines.  700-019 has been developed for fast drying on the substrate and high speed print production.  It is added at a ratio of 10 – 20% by weight to attain the ideal ink viscosity and transfer under production conditions.

The fast evaporative rate of 700-019 is designed to speed print transfer and drying in high speed print cycles with short processing times.  Printcolor 700-019 is formulated from solvents chosen to minimise chemical attack on printing pads.  Its gentle wear on pad surfaces facilitates trouble free print transfer and longer pad life.  Refer to the Technical Information and 700-019 MSDS documents for more details.

What we say about Printcolor 700-019
It is not a paint thinner, nor its it a screen ink thinner.  Printcolor 700-019 is specifically formulated to thin ink used for pad printing.  700-019 thinner is Quality Assured to ISO 9002 Standards and offers the best value for money on the market.

700-019 is a mixture of highly efficient solvent with a fast evaporation rate that facilitates a quick ink tack-off on the pad and fast drying on the print substrate.  Printcolor 700-019 is a popular thinner for rotary pad printing and ink-cup machines and can be mixed with other 700 Series thinner to vary ink speeds to achieve the very best printing results under your production conditions.  700-019 is also useful in slow drying inks and will help to maximise print transfer speed in Series 750 and 792 for example.

Available in 1L and 5L DG approved plastic jerry containers and 20L drums with screw tap threads.

The good oil from our trade print room

• Being in a warm climate, we rarely need to speed up ink transfer on hand feed printing jobs.  Series 700-792 is the one ink we regularly use 700-019 in exclusively.
• In cooler climates, 700-019 is very useful for maintaining print transfer speeds in slower two component inks like Series 750, 754 and 784.
• Used in combination with 700-017 medium thinner 700-019 helps fine tune print transfer in multi colour print cycles, and full transfer of large areas of solid colour.
• We find a little regular thinning maintains print speed and quality better (especially over long runs) than pouring in thinners only when the ink gets too thick to print.
• Using the correct speed thinner is important.  Use one that’s too slow for the job and you’ll have to slow down the cycle speed and/or use an air blast to get the print to transfer.
• If you find you’re having to add quantities of thinner frequently, alternate with medium thinner to improve ink rheology.
• Using super cheap thinner is like frying steak in water; you will cook it but you won’t want to eat it!  Printcolor thinner is not expensive, we’ve made sure of that.  Buy a litre, try it and see what a difference it makes to your print quality, job set-up times, productivity and general level of happiness in the print room.