How to properly cure plastic screen printing ink?

How to properly cure plastic screen printing ink?

When screen printing on plastic substrates, your material and ink series will be used to determine the best curing method. Different series of plastic printing inks may result in different methods of curing the ink.

Conventional

Curing the ink by baking parts in an conventional oven. Parts exit the screen printing machine and are placed onto a conveyor belt. The parts then enter the oven for 3-4 minutes until the desired adhesion is reached.

UV Light

Curing the ink by running the parts under a bright UV light. Upon exiting from the screening station, the part then passes under a UV light station that’s constantly rotating. After a few seconds the ink will be dry and the plastic containers ready to pack.

Air dry

This method involves special air dry inks designed to fully cure over time. This method is more difficult when dealing with quantities larger than a few parts because of the warehouse space needed to stack parts until complete.

Pretreatment

Certain plastic materials require a pretreatment process to properly adhere to the surface during the silk screen printing process. The pretreatment process is designed to change the chemical properties of the plastic surface before printing. This allows the ink to “bite in” with the capability to pass thorough testing and adhesion requirements.