With Water-based Screen Printing Ink we are launching a new generation of screen printing inks for artists they are environmental-friendly, easy and mild to work with, and give depth and lustre to your artwork!

Product Information

Properties

Water-based screen printing ink is a matte vinyl based ink that is intended for printing on fine art papers having a surface weight of at least 200 grams, but it can also be used on other materials. They follow the fibres of the paper and emphasize the printing quality of the paper. Only the best pigments and mediums have been used. The inks have excellent self-solvency and are therefore extremely good for hand printing as well as for semi-automatic printing. They have a mild smell and are thus easy to work with. They have no unnecessary additives and are therefore not hazardous for the user or the environment. All of these features make the inks very suitable for teaching. The inks should not be kept at temperatures below freezing.

Mesh and Squeegee

Monofilament polyester mesh, 70–120 T. Medium squeegee blade 70° Shore of harder for normal printing on paper. Uneven printing surfaces may require another choice of mesh or squeegee.

Stencils and Thinning

Water-resistant, direct or indirect stencils. The ink does not normally need to be diluted. If the ink has become too thick it may be thinned with a little water. It gives a satin matte surface.

Drying and Cleaning

Drying by evaporation. At normal humidity the inks can be overprinted after one hour. Use liquid soap or dish detergent for cleaning.

Colour Range

The inks are presently available in three transparent shades, yellow, magenta and cyan. In addition there are white and black inks that are opaque, and transparent base that is colourless. As a complement to this assortment there are tinters in shades of green, violet and carmine red.

Use with Other Inks/Varnishes:

Water-based screen printing inks are not suitable for mixing with other screen printing inks. They may be overprinted with water-based varnishes or UV varnish.

Instructions

Ventilation and Safety

Normal ventilation should be sufficient. Good air circulation facilitates print drying and helps control humidity in the printing area. Barrier creams or gloves can be used while printing. NB: Stencils and stencil removers can irritate mucus membranes and skin. Follow manufacturer’s directions.

Printing

Normally the ink should not be diluted. Ink that is to be re-used or that has thickened may be diluted with a small amount of water. The ink may also be thinned when printing on roughly grained or highly absorbent paper surfaces.

The printing frame is adjusted with a lift-off that is slightly higher that is used with solvent inks. The surface of the screen should be moistened with water before printing. Use a spray bottle to wet the entire surface of the screen. Wipe off the surface with a sponge or a rag. Pour ink onto the screen and coat the surface with a flood stroke. Print 3–5 strokes on newsprint so that all the excess moisture disappears. Use a slightly slower squeegee stroke than is used with solvent inks. Too quick a squeegee stroke can result in poor coverage of the paper’s surface since water-based inks, because of their structure, have a certain amount of surface tension. The inks are slow drying and problems of the ink drying in the screen should not occur under normal conditions. Printing speed should not be more than about one print per minute. If the ink does start to dry in the screen it can be dissolved by spraying the screen with water and then printing 3–5 proofs until the image prints clear again.

Clean Up

After printing scrape up the ink and put it back into the container. The screen and squeegee are cleaned with liquid soap or dish washing detergent and water. Brush the soap onto the screen first so that any remaining ink forms an emulsion with the soap. Rinse afterwards with a strong water jet. Be sure to remove all traces of ink or ink film that are left on the surface of the screen. When printing with inks having high pigment content the screen fibres may become stained. This is usual with all kinds of screen inks and can be removed with an industrial haze remover. The most important rules to follow in order to avoid printing problems are:

Moisten the screen with water before printing so that the fibres becom
saturated with water.

Never let the ink dry on the screen. Clean the screen immediately.

Be sure to remove all traces of the ink before removing the stencil

Printing Stock

The fibres of the paper swell due to the water in the ink. Leave the prints in the drying racks until they are completely dry and have returned to their original flat state. Very thin paper stocks may buckle permanently.