NxT Series Screen Printing Ink

SCREEN AND PAD PRINTING INK FOR TEXTILES, EVA, NEOPRENE, NITRILE, AND SYNTHETICS

NxT series pad printing ink is a special one- or two-component ink that sticks well to neoprene, nitrile, nylon, tyvek, latex, Butadyl, PVC, and a variety of other synthetic substrates. It is the perfect ink to print on elastic rubber bands, nitrile gloves, EVA shoe soles, nylon, tyvek, and other rubber-like substrates.

This printing ink is flexible and has a semi-gloss and opacity, making it perfect for rubberized items and fabrics.

In addition, as a 2-component ink, the NxT series provides excellent mechanical and abrasion resistance. To maintain the ink’s flexibility, add only 3% hardener to this printing ink. The NxT Series ink for neoprene is classified as nontoxic. To formulate this ink series, we use high-purity, fade-resistant pigments that are free from heavy metals. This ink series is also compliant with FDA Title 21, Part 177.2600, “Food Contact Compliant.” This makes it an excellent ink for printing on food-grade elastic bands. Safety Data Sheets are available according to US and EU regulations.

NxT Series pad printing ink is available in 23 standard, 2 metallic, and 5 fluorescent colors. Custom colors are available upon request.

Fast curing
Flexible

The NxT printing inks for neoprene

This is neoprene printing, simplified. Natron’s NxT Series ink line solves customer printing pain points in the neoprene, EVA, and nitrile printing processes. This is the only ink in the world for printing on these hard-to-print substrates.

Definitions:

According to wikipedia, Neoprene (also known as polychloroprene or pc-rubber) is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene.^[1] Neoprene has good chemical stability and maintains flexibility over a wide temperature range.

Neoprene is sold either as solid rubber or in latex form and is used in a wide variety of applications, such as laptop sleeves, orthopaedic braces (wrist, knee, etc.), electrical insulation, liquid and sheet-applied elastomeric membranes or flashings, and automotive fan belts.^[2]

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Available Colors

Features

Excellent adhesion on rubber

The Natron NxT series is intended for screen printing or pad printing on EVA neoprene, nitrile, and synthetic fabrics that require high opacity, fade-resistant inks, which this ink provides.

High flexibility

NxT Series printing ink for EVA has an outstanding flexibility and elasticity. As a result, this is the perfect ink for printing on flexible rubber substrates such as EVA, Nitrile, neoprene, Lycra, and many other synthetic, and rubber substrates.

Great wash and mechanical resistance

The NxT Series is resistant to industrial machine washing. Washing resistance is achieved after a full cure of 24–48 hours at 20 °C (70 °F).

Abrasion resistance

For hard goods substrates such as neoprne, EVA, and soft-touch coated surfaces, the NxT pad printing ink film exhibits outstanding adhesion, resulting in excellent rub, scratch, and block resistance. This ink is resistant to chemical products such as oils, greases, and solvents.

A great ink to love!

Print on elastic food produce elastic bands, Nitrile, rubber, EVA, and soft touch substrates!

Applications

NxT Series Mixing and Printing instructions

The only way to mix printing ink is by weight, whether you’re adding hardeners, solvents, or mixing different colors to make a new color.

To use the ink as one component, add the solvent to the ink. Mixing ratio: 5–35% of the ink’s weight, depending on the color. Solvent is added to the ink to adjust the ink’s viscosity. The choice of solvent and the amount added are highly dependent on the printing environment and the printing speed. For screen printing applications, use a slow solvent or a retarder. For pad printing, medium-speed solvents are ideal.

Using the ink as a two component ink

A two component ink has two components; the solvent and the hardener. NxT Series ink uses the i-300X hardener. As a two component ink, this ink has a pot life of 8 hours.
Pour the printing ink into a mixing container and note the weight.
Add the hardener to the ink. The mixing ratio is 10 parts ink to 0.3 part hardener, i.e., 3% of the ink’s weight. Mix the ink and the hardener together. You cad add the hardener up-to 10% of the inks weight.
The solvent, which should be between 5% and 35% of the ink’s weight, should then be added to the ink-hardener mixture.

Note, the ink-hardener-solvent mixture is chemically reactive and must be processed within 7–9 hours.

Printing Parameters: Pad Printing

Printing Plates (clichés) – Textiles
Use any commercially available clichés that are made of ceramic, photopolymer, laser, or steel plates. The recommended cliché depth is 35 μm for standard prints and 50μm for half tones.

Printing Plates (clichés) – Hard goods/ rubber substrates
Use any commercially available clichés that are made of ceramic, photopolymer, laser, or steel plates. The recommended cliché depth is 22 μm for standard prints and 40μm for half tones.

Printing pads
Use silicone printing pads. The ink works regardless of the hardness (durometer) of the pad. 60 – 65 Durometer for textiles.
Printing machines
The Natron NxT Series is suitable for both closed-cup and open-ink well machines. Use the appropriate thinner for the correct type of machine. For open ink wells, use slower pad printing solvents (thinners).

Printing Parameters: Screen printing

For screen printing applications, use any of the commonly available polyester meshes and solvent-resistant emulsions. Use 110–156 mesh (mesh per inch)-count screens for the highest opacity and on dark substrates. Use a mesh count of 230 for fine details.

NxT Series and the Environment

The NxT Series pad printing ink is non-toxic ink that is made with pigments that don’t fade and don’t contain any heavy metals. Additionally, it is Eco-sustainable, meaning that it does not contain:

Alogens
Animal origin ingredients
Azo dyes
Bisphenol A (BPA)
Formaldehyde
G-B ester
Latex
Melamine
PAH
Persistent organic pollutants
Phthalates

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