Knowde Enhanced TDS
Identification & Functionality
- Technologies
- Product Families
Features & Benefits
- Ready-to-Use Product Features
- Characteristics
Printability
• Very good mesh opening, simple and easy printability
• LIG can be processed by hand printing, with semi-automatic machines, or fully automatic machinesOpacity
The color shades of the LIG are brilliant with medium to good opacity.
Ink odor
All solvents used for the LIG and other auxiliaries are very mild and neutral in odor. This significantly reduces the polluting solvent odor in the print shop.
Ink Adjustment
The ink should be stirred homogeneously before printing and if necessary during production.
Drying
Physically fast drying, if dried at 20 °C air temperature over printable within 15-20 min., at 50 °C in a tunnel drier stackable after 30-40 sec. In overprinting, the drying speed and block resistance will be reduced by approx. 20%. With high dryer capacity and good ventilation provided, the drying temperature can be lowered to 40 °C, for less material distortion. The times mentioned above vary according to the substrate, the ink film thickness, drying conditions and the auxiliaries used. An extended drying time is necessary if softener WM 1 is added to the ink.
Fade resistance
Pigments of excellent fade resistance are used for the Libra Gloss LIG range (Blue wool scale 7-8). Provided a professional processing and max. 50% addition of varnish or white to the standard shades, all basic shades of System 21 and the 4 color process shades (except for yellow) are suitable for outdoor use for 3 years if placed vertically and referred to the middle European climate, north of the forty-fifth degree of latitude. A full-area overprint with LIG 910 will increase the light fastness to 4 years. In countries with higher exposure to sunlight (between the 40th parallel north and 40th parallel south) the outdoor resistance decreases to 2 years. We recommend to use highly fade-resistant ink types plus over-varnish such as e.g. the Mara® Star SR or Libra Speed LIS for an extended outdoor use. The LIG PANTONE® basic shades are more transparent than the basic shades of System 21, due to the required brilliance, and therefore, do not achieve the same high fade resistance but maximum 2 years. The pigments used are resistant to solvents and plasticizers.
Stress resistance
After proper and thorough drying, the ink film of the standard shades exhibits outstanding adhesion as well as rub, scratch, and block resistance and can be molded (except for 4-color process shades, please use Libra Speed LIS 4-c shades instead!) LIG exhibits a normal chemical resistance to alcohol and other common cleaners (e.g. window cleaner). For higher rub resistance we recommend to over-varnish with LIG 910. For higher chemical resistance, we recommend coating with SR 910/911 or a suitable UV-curable varnish.
Applications & Uses
- Applications
- Compatible Substrates & Surfaces
- Field of Application
Substrates
Libra Gloss LIG is suited for the following substrates:
• Self-adhesive PVC films and rigid PVC
• Polystyrene (PS)
• ABS/SAN
• Acrylic (PMMA)
• Polycarbonate (PC)
• Paper, paperboard, cardboard, wood
Since all the print substrates mentioned may be different in printability even within an individual type, preliminary trials are essential to determine the suitability for the intended use. Field of use
Libra Gloss LIG is perfectly suited for the production of PVC-stickers, advertising panels, displays, and lettering of all kinds. LIG can also be processed with a spray gun, but preliminary trials are necessary for this process. In order to avoid surface irregularities, we recommend to filter the thinned ink (25 µm screen) before processing.
Technical Details & Test Data
- Gloss Level
Tests have revealed the gloss level of Libra Gloss LIG as below: (60° angle, fabric 120-34, white self-adh. film)
Standard shades: 60 - 70 gloss unitsLIG Varnish: 60 - 70 gloss units4-color process shades: 45 - 55 gloss units The value 100 stands for high-gloss while value 1 indicates deep-matt. If a higher gloss level is required, we recommend - after a preliminary test - to overcoat with a high gloss varnish such as SR 910, or a UV-curable varnish.
- Metallics
Metallic Pastes
S 191 Silver 15-25% S 192 Rich Pale Gold 15-25% S 193 Rich Gold 15-25% S 291 High Gloss Silver 10-20% S 292 High Gloss Rich Pale Gold 10-20% S 293 High Gloss Rich Gold 10-20% Metallic Powders
S 181 Aluminum 17% S 182 Rich Pale Gold 25% S 183 Rich Gold 25% S 184 Pale Gold 25% S 186 Copper 33% S 190 Aluminum, rub-resistant 12.50% These metallics are added to LIG 910 in the recommended amount, whereat the addition may be individually adjusted to the respective application. We recommend preparing a mixture which can be processed within a maximum of 8 h since metallic mixtures usually cannot be stored. Due to their chemical structure, the processing time of mixtures with Pale Gold S 184 and Copper S 186 is even reduced to 4 h. Owing to the smaller pigment size of Metallic Pastes it is possible to work with finer fabrics like 140-31 to 150-31. Owing to the bigger pigment size of Metallic Powders we recommend the use of a coarser fabric like 100-40. Shades made of Metallic Powders are always subject to an increased dry abrasion which can only be reduced by overvarnishing.
All metallic shades are displayed in the Marabu "Screen Printing Metallics" color chart.
AuxiliariesPSV Thinner, mild 10-15% LIGV Thinner, slow 10-15% UKV 2 Thinner 10-15% VP Retarder Paste 5-20% SA 1 Surface Additive 3-5% WM1 Plasticizer 2-5% ABM Matting Base 1-20% MP Matting Powder 1-4% ES Printing Modifier 0.5-1% UR 3 Cleaner (flp. 42°C) UR 4 Cleaner (flp. 52°C) UR 5 Cleaner (flp. 72°C) SV 1 Retarder, mild SV 9 Retarder, slow Thinner is added to the ink to adjust the printing viscosity. For slow printing sequences and fine motifs, it may be necessary to add retarder to the thinner. Thinner PSV is suited for the use on polystyrene or other plastics sensitive to tension cracks. For spray varnishing, our Quick Thinner PSV should be used (by adding approx. 40 %) after preliminary trials. The addition of surface additive SA 1 can increase the resistance against abrasion and other mechanical stress (max. addition 10%). Plasticizer WM 1 is recommended if high flexibility is required from the printed ink film. This is important for thin substrates with a natural tendency to roll, as well as for applications involving cutting or die-cutting of the printed surface. The use of Plasticizer WM 1 reduces the drying speed. For the production of doublesided stickers the use of WM 1 is essential. The degree of gloss can be reduced by adding Matting Paste ABM or Matting Powder MP (max. 2% for LIG 070), decreasing the opacity at the same time.
The cleaners UR 3 and UR 4 are recommended for manual cleaning of the working equipment. Cleaner UR 5 is recommended for manual or automatic cleaning of the working equipment.
Printing Parameters
All types of commercially available polyester fabrics and solvent-resistant stencils can be used.
Packaging & Availability
- Range
Basic Shades 20 Lemon 21 Medium Yellow 22 Yellow Orange 26 Light Yellow 31 Scarlet Red 32 Carmine Red 33 Magenta 35 Bright Red 36 Vermilion 37 Purple Red 45 Dark Brown 55 Ultramarine Blue56 Turquoise Blue 57 Brilliant Blue 58 Deep Blue 59 Royal Blue 64 Yellow Green 67 Grass Green 68 Brilliant Green 70 White 73 Black 4-Color Process Shades Standard 429 Process Yellow 439 Process Magenta459 Process Cyan 473 Process Black Pantone® Shades 829 PANTONE Yellow832 PANTONE Rubine Red836 PANTONE Warm Red839 PANTONE Rhodamine Red850 PANTONE Purple851 PANTONE Violet852 PANTONE Reflex Blue859 PANTONE Process Blue868 PANTONE GreenFurther Products 409 Transparent Base910 Overprint VarnishPantone, Inc.’s check standard trademark for color reproduction and color reproduction materials. All shades are intermixable. Mixing with other ink types or auxiliaries must be avoided in order to maintain the special characteristics of this ink. All basic shades are included in our Marabu ColorFormulator (MCF). They build the basis for the calculation of individual color matching formulas, as well as for shades of the common color reference systems HKS®, PANTONE®, and RAL®. All formulas are stored in the Marabu-Color Manager software.
By using these 9 LIG PANTONE basic shades together with LIG 070, LIG 073, and printing varnish LIG 910, more than 1000 color shades of the Pantone® Color Formula Guide can be mixed
Storage & Handling
- Shelf Life
Shelf life depends very much on the formula/ reactivity of the ink system as well as the storage temperature. It is 3.5 years for an unopened ink container if stored in a dark room at a temperature of 15-25°C. Under different conditions, particularly higher storage temperatures, the shelf life is reduced. In such cases, the warranty given by Marabu expires.