Cast & Cure UV Coatings: Creating Holographic and Diffractive Effects on Packaging
Cast & Cure UV Coatings: Creating Holographic and Diffractive Effects on Packaging There is a moment in the consumer goods aisle when a package reaches out and grabs attention before the shopper has consciously decided to look. A spirit bottle. A cosmetics carton. A credit card pulled from an envelope. The surface shifts with the […]
PFAS-Free Coatings for Food Packaging 2026
PFAS-Free Coatings Alternatives: The bans are law. The alternatives are ready. Twenty U.S. states have enacted restrictions on PFAS in food packaging — [a regulatory wave](/pfas-packaging-phase-out-banned-chemical-compounds/) that continues to accelerate. The EU has set a hard cutoff of August 12, 2026 for fluorochemicals in paper and board food contact materials. For print shop owners, packaging […]
Why Pressroom Air Evacuation Still Matters
OFFSET PRESSROOM AIR EVACUATION, WHY? Offset pressrooms need air evacuation. The control of humidity is critical in offset printing in order to optimize productivity. It is well known that dry air causes paper to lose moisture so that wrinkling, paper jams, and register issues are likely due to a pick-up in static electricity. A humidity […]
Corrugated Preprint: High-Graphics Packaging.
Corrugated Preprint Coatings Are Driving the Future of High-Graphics Packaging Corrugated preprint coatings protect and enhance high-graphics packaging. In today’s retail and e-commerce environment, brands depend on packaging to do far more than protect a product. A box must communicate, attract attention, and reinforce brand identity in a matter of seconds. This growing demand for […]
Testing the Cure of Electron Beam Coatings (EB) & Ultraviolet Coatings (UV)
The UV and EB Curing Process Prior to discussing the testing of the cure of UV/EB curable coatings let’s review what UV/EB curing is. Curing or polymerization is the process of reacting prepolymer monomers and oligomers together in a chemical reaction that forms polymer chains, or cross-linked three-dimensional networks. UV curing is a process that […]
Exploring Material Properties of Friction, COF, Slip, and Slide Angles
Opposing, as they are, friction and slip are key to much of what functions on Earth. Without friction we would not be able to walk, we would slip, and slide with little control. Driving relies on tires to maintain a grip on pavement giving us vehicle control through friction. Brakes control our ability to stop […]
Cleaning Anilox Rollers
Anilox Roller Cleaning Maintaining anilox roller cleanliness is critical to ensuring the precise and consistent delivery of inks, coatings, varnishes, and adhesives to substrates in various printing and coating applications. As a precision-engineered metering roller, the anilox roller plays a key role in achieving uniform liquid transfer, making it essential to implement an effective anilox […]
What Is It About Viscosity?
Understanding and Testing of Viscosity in Coatings Viscosity tells us how thick or thin a liquid is. Coating viscosity is the property of a fluid that causes it not to flow easily because of the resistance of its molecules. When we use coatings, we need to understand viscosity, because it is key to accurate application, […]
Measuring Durability in Coatings with Abrasion Testing
How do we best test to predetermine the durability of printed/coated graphic arts products? Abrasion tests can determine the durability of printed and coated graphic arts. The durability of a printed coating is typically defined by such terms as, scuff, wear, rub, smudge, abrasion, blotching, and/or pick-off resistance. Historically a problem, defacing abrasion damage is […]
Why use Soft Touch Haptic Coatings?
Why Do We Like Soft Things? Soft haptic coatings attract. We all know soft things like a baby’s skin, snow, feathers, or a kitten’s fur. Humans are naturally attracted to soft haptic things because they feel nice to touch. That’s why we like soft surfaces, which are called “soft-touch.” How We Feel Softness? The science […]