Industrial screen printing inks
One- and two-component series for almost any substrate, with a downloadable datasheet.
Technical guide
How to choose the ink: substrate, resistance and curing
The ink is where it is decided whether a print holds or comes off with a fingernail. It is not chosen by colour but by three linked criteria: which material is being printed, what the part will have to withstand afterwards, and which system will dry or cure it.
Substrate first
The same design on ABS, on glass and on polypropylene calls for three different ink families. Engineering plastics (ABS, polycarbonate, PMMA, polyamide, polystyrene, rigid PVC, POM) each have their own adhesion range. Glass and ceramics require specific inks and, often, thermal post-curing. Polyolefins need pretreatment. Metals and coated surfaces take their own formulations. Every ink in the catalogue has a downloadable technical sheet with the recommended substrates.
Then, the resistance required
An indoor promotional item is not the same as a control knob that will spend ten years on a car dashboard. You have to establish in advance what the print has to withstand: scratching and abrasion, solvents and cleaning products, sweat and creams, weathering and ultraviolet radiation, dishwashers or sterilisation. That requirement is what decides whether a one-component ink is enough or a two-component ink is needed.
One-component and two-component: when a hardener is needed
A one-component ink dries by solvent evaporation or by UV curing, and that is enough for many applications. A two-component ink is mixed with a hardener or catalyst before printing and, as well as drying physically, it cross-links chemically: that is what gives adhesion and resistance a one-component ink cannot reach. In return it has a limited pot life once mixed, so only the quantity that will be used during the shift is prepared.
UV and UV-LED inks
They do not dry; they polymerise instantly under ultraviolet light. That eliminates drying times and solvent evaporating into the air, and enables high-speed printing and in-line multicolour work. Inks formulated for UV-LED cure with diode lamps, which use less energy and give off less heat. They require the curing equipment to be sized to the ink: an underpowered lamp leaves the film not fully polymerised, and that shows up as poor adhesion weeks later.
Screen printing and pad printing do not share ink
Even if the pigment is the same, the behaviour is not. Pad printing ink is formulated to evaporate solvent very quickly on the surface of the pad (just enough to become tacky and release onto the part) and to deposit extremely thin films. Screen printing ink passes through the mesh and leaves a considerably thicker layer, with a different rheology and different timings. They are not interchangeable.
Always run tests first
Different grades of the same plastic, release agents left on the part and variations in pretreatment mean two batches of the same material can behave differently. That is why technical sheets recommend adhesion tests before starting production, normally a tape test after full cure, which with two-component inks can take days to reach.
Frequently asked questions
About screen printing inks
What types of industrial screen printing ink are there?
By chemistry, industrial screen printing inks are one-component, drying by solvent evaporation or by oxidation, such as the alkyd A series; two-component, mixed with a hardener and cross-linking for greater adhesion and chemical resistance, such as the Z, Z/DD, Z/GL, Z/PVC or ZM series; and UV-curing, polymerising under ultraviolet light. Within each type, the series is chosen by substrate and by the resistance the part has to withstand.
Which screen printing ink works on polypropylene or polyethylene?
For untreated polypropylene, the PP series, a one-component ink. For treated polypropylene and polyethylene, the two-component Z/DD, Z and Z/PVC, plus PF and YN for containers and hollow bodies. In UV curing, the UVPO and 852UV series. Treated polyolefins are those that have been flame, corona or plasma treated so the ink anchors.
Which screen printing ink is used on glass?
Z/GL, a two-component ink, for glass sheets and bottles, decorative glass, ceramics and tiles, for indoor use. In UV curing, the UVGS, Vitrocure SVC and SunVetro NVTGL series, designed for bottles, tumblers and other glass containers.
Which screen printing ink works on PVC, polystyrene or polycarbonate?
For these thermoplastics there are several one-component series: PK for PVC and acrylic, CP for PS, ABS, PVC, PET-G and polycarbonate, CX for polystyrene sheet, rigid PVC and polycarbonate, HG for the technical graphics sector and XL for injection-moulded polystyrene without stress cracking. RF-K prints halftone four-colour process on thermoplastics for outdoor use, and Z/PVC is the two-component ink for PVC.
Which screen printing ink works on metal?
ZM, a two-component ink, for aluminium, steel, copper and varnished surfaces, and LAB-N 331213, a one-component oven-drying ink, for aluminium, copper and lacquered substrates.
Are these inks suitable for textile screen printing?
IBPRINT's range is made up of industrial inks for plastics, glass, metal and technical paper. For textiles there are two series: TZ, for fabrics, rubber and leather, and ZE 1690, for synthetic fabrics and vulcanised rubber, both fast-drying and giving an elastic print.