SE Series pad printing ink
pad printing ink for silicone
Printed Swim Caps with white ink

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Silicone ink for pad printing and silicone screen printing

Screen Printing Inks, Pad Printing Inks, Inks for printing silicone rubber materials

SILICONE INK FOR PRINTING SILICONE RUBBER

SE Series silicone based ink is the only ink used to print on silicone rubber parts. Only a silicone-based ink will stick to silicone. There are several ways to apply this ink series, which include screen color-filling, spray coating, or pad printing.

SE rubber printing ink for silicone is a two-part silicone ink for printing on parts made of silicone rubber. This ink is applied via pad printing, screen printing, or spray coating silicone rubber parts. Some of the key features include high opacity, high gloss, extreme flexibility, and exceptional resistance to abrasion. Additionally, this silicone ink is dishwasher safe. It will withstand alkali chemicals and gasoline.

Printing applications

Use the SE Series to print on silicone wristbands and many other silicone rubber products such as swimming caps. Various industries utilize this silicone ink for printing on silicone rubber parts, including promotional, medical, toys, drinkware, aerospace, and industrial applications.

Industrial application examples include silicone handles for tools, automotive hoses, silicone-coated fiberglass, etc. Other industries that use this ink include aerospace, automotive, promotional, medical, toys, drinkware, and custom silicone molding industries. Read about the top 5 ink applications for printing on silicone with silicone ink.

Silicone-based ink is the only ink that will stick to silicone. For this reason, the SE pad printing silicone ink is made of silicone. Once cured, this ink becomes part of the silicone. It will bend, stretch, and flex with silicone product. This is the reason the SE is the best ink for silicone bracelets. Additionally, it can withstand any high temperatures that silicone can.

The Natron SE ink is also designed for ease of use. It is available in 37 high-opacity colors, including three metallic and six neon hues—it is the only silicone ink line with these hues in the world.

Silicone Ink SE must be baked at 275°F – 400°F for 6 – 30 minutes depending on the density of the silicone substrates.

Product properties

  • Ink system: silicone-based, 2-component
  • Drying: Heat cure
  • Degree of gloss: very high
  • Opacity: high opacity
  • Outdoor resistance: excellent
  • Abrasion and chemical resistance: excellent

Ink mixing, printing & curing

To print your product, mix the silicone ink (A) with the LG catalyst (B), print, and cure the product. For every 10 parts of the ink (A), add 1 part of the catalyst (B). Mix the ink and the catalyst. Add 5–60% of the SE-TRM solvent to alter the viscosity.

To dry and cure the printed product, use heat. Put the printed product in an oven for 5–10 minutes at 200–250°F (6 minutes at 250°F). (Safety caution! (Wait for the heated product to cool down before touching.)

After a full cure, try to bend, scratch, or stretch the printed product. We guarantee that the print (ink) will not crack or rub off—the print becomes part of the product. This is the reason the SE series silicone ink is perfect for printing on silicone rubber products.

Solvents: Use TRM, TXM, or SF solvents to alter the viscosity. This is if the mixed ink is too thick for a specific application. The SF solvent is a fast-drying thinner, while the SE-TRM has slow evaporation. Both ink solvents are environmentally friendly.

Attention:

If you use any other solvents with the SE inks, it will affect the printing quality and adhesion of the ink.

Drying: Printed parts dry at 200–250 °F for 2–8 minutes.

Caution: Silicone rubber inks are compatible with many types of silicone rubber. However, contact with some substrates will inhibit the drying of silicone ink. We recommend that you always do a small-scale compatibility test before full production. Learn how to print on silicone rubber.

Multi color printing with silicone ink

The SE Series silicone inks are the only inks in the world capable of multi-color printing. Most people print one-color images onto silicone. The reason is that multicolor jobs are very cumbersome because you have to completely cure one color in the oven before printing another. This is not the case with Natron SE series inks. With Natron ink for printing silicone rubber, you can print up to four colors at a time. There is no need to print one color at a time. With pad printing, the Natron SE Series allows you to print multiple colors at a time.

The SE series ink line is the most advanced silicone ink series in the world. It offers decorators versatility and efficiency.

Call us for more information: +1 (781) 281 2558

Compliance

CPSIA stands for the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Boston Industrial Solutions, Inc. was awarded this certificate as a symbol of compliance for its inks. This, in turn, should give you printing confidence. We make the best silicone ink in the world. In addition, our goal is to make the best and safest inks for the industry, now and in the future. The purpose of this is twofold.

  • to formulate an ink that is safe for printers.
  • Make ink that is safe for recipients of the final product.

But first, let us discuss CPSIA certification. “CPSIA certification” means the issuance of a written Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) in which the manufacturer certifies that its children’s product complies with all applicable children’s product safety rules (or similar rules, bans, standards, or regulations under any law enforced by the Commission for that product.)

Third party testing is the basis of children’s product certification. Upon passing the test of third-party testing, the third-party testing laboratory provides the results and certification. However, it does not issue the children’s product certificate.

Click here to find Natron SE Silicone Ink Compliance Report for 2019.

USP MEM Elution Cytotoxicity certification

The Natron SE Pad printing ink has USP MEM Elution Cytotoxicity certification. This certification indicates that the silicone inks meets the requirements of the test and are not considered to have a cytotoxic effect.

The study is conducted to determine Biological reactivity (cellular degeneration and malformation) on a scale from Grade 0 (No Reactivity) to Grade 4 (Severe Reactivity). The Natron™ SE Silicone inks got a grade of 0 – No Reactivity! Discrete intracytoplasmic granules; no cell lysis.

Silicone ink printing challenges

Today, there are many problems with silicone printing. This is because printing on silicone poses many challenges to professional printers. As a result, the printing experts have many questions. Boston Industrial Solutions, Inc. has come up with innovative solutions. First, let’s explore the challenges and finally offer solutions to these challenges.

The challenges

Some of the key challenges when printing on silicone are:

  • Paste ink/pastry ink: These inks need to be heavily thinned for the customer to be able to use them. In essence, the customer is actually making the ink. This lowers productivity. Also, because the inks are a paste, mixing and color matching pose challenges for printers. Users of the silicone ink have to heavily rely on ink manufacturers for custom colors. This is time-consuming, not to mention the long lead time and customer color matching fees.
  • Translucent or not-opaque ink: According to photoscreenprint, ink opacity affects the ability of colors to blend with each other as well as how much of the substrate shows through the print. The more opaque an ink is, the better it will cover a dark garment. When pad printing with transparent inks, it is not possible to obtain opaque prints. As a result, printers have to double hit a print. This not only slows down productivity but also increases ink usage.
  • Lack of glossy printing ink—This impacts the final customer. Unhappy customers translate to bad reviews or lost revenue for printers.
  • Consistent ink quality: the current inks in the industry vary in particle sizes and color consistency in every batch. This makes it hard for printers to use existing mixing ratios, printing speeds, color matching, etc.

All these silicone printing problems contribute to inefficiencies, wastage, and higher production costs. Labor and production material costs go up due to the silicone ink. At minimum, production costs for printing silicone are about 30% higher. Poorly formulated ink for silicone cause all these challenges and inefficiencies. Yet, decorating companies continue to use these inks. This is because they did not have an alternative until now.

The solutions

This is silicone printing, simplified. Introducing the Natron SE Series from Boston Industrial Solutions. This silicone ink for pad printing solves all customer pain points in the printing process.
We spend over 1,000 hours studying customer problems. Our approach was simple. To create an innovative and advanced silicone ink for screen and pad printing.
The SE series is a two-component ink that is easy to use. Because the ink is a real ink with flow (not a paste), it is very easy to mix and use. Simply add the catalyst to the ink, mix it, and print your product.

Customers do not need to add any solvent to the ink. In addition, the inks are made of pure silicone, giving you peace of mind that there are no strange materials in the ink. The Natron SE ink is very opaque. Only print the pad once! These features save time, labor, and the amount of ink used for printing.

Additional solutions

Our containers are uniquely designed to enable users to use all the ink in the can. This design prevents ink spillage or wastage.

  • Mixing instructions are provided in English and Spanish. The mixing guide contains easy-to-understand mixing, printing, and drying instructions. The mixing guide provided to you is free. You can download the guide from our website, and it is included as part of every order.
  • Mega SE silicone ink mixing system for mixing and matching your own colors.
  • Because we know that customers face the challenge of determining if the product they have is real silicone, we offer a free testing lab. Send your product to us, and in less than 24 hours, we will provide you with a complete report on the product and a solution for your product.
  • 24/7 access is free to our ink specialists. Call us today at +1 (781) 281-2558 or send us an email by clicking here.

Sizes

  • 1Kg(2.2lb)
  • 0.5Kg(1.1lb)
  • 250g(0.5lb)

Catalyst

  • LG

Solvents

  • SF (Fast)
  • TRM (Medium)
  • TxM (Slow)

Have questions about silicone printing ink?

Technical Specs

Available Colors

SE370

Clear

SE310

White

SE300

Black

SE312X

Medium Yellow

SE314

Lemon Yellow

SE315

Yellow

SE317

Gold Yellow

SE322X

Mixing Orange

SE324

Orange

SE350X

Bright Red

SE351X

Rubine Red

SE352

Red

SE358

Signal Red

SE354X

Rhodamine Red

SE355

Magenta

SE363

Brown

SE330X

Light Blue

SE333

Blue

SE336X

Reflex Blue

SE337

Dark Blue

SE338X

Purple

SE339

Dark Purple

SE341X

Violet

SE346X

Emarald Green

SE344

Beast

SE345

Bright Green

SE348

Kelly Green

SE353

Rose Red

SE390

Cool Gray 9

SE371

Gold

SE377

Silver

SE901

Neon Blue

SE902

Neon Green

SE903

Neon Yellow

SE904

Neon Orange

SE905

Neon Red

SE906

Neon Pink

Custom PMS+

Features
Fast drying

The triple milled pigments and hand selected raw materials delivers fast drying time for stunning pad printing experience.

HD prints

Fade-resistant ink and pigmentation deliver stunning HD prints.

Superior resistance to chemicals

Superior resistance to chemicals such as alcohol, acids, gasoline, and alkali make it the ideal choice for food packaging, toys, industrial and medical applications.

Abrasion resistance

The SE series has a strong bond to the silicone which offers strong scratch resistance.

Compliant & certifications

The SE series inks are also non-toxic, free from heavy metals, and phthalates. This ink is perfect for printing on food packaging and toys.

Food, Toy, and Packaging Safe

The SE series inks are also non-toxic, free from heavy metals.

Lovable . Printable . Magical!

Mind blowing opacity! A huge leap in printing dark silicone substrates with light silicone ink colors such as yellow and pinks!

 

The SE series inks are colorfully re-imagined to be more brilliant, more intuitive, and even more fun to print with. With its refined high opacity pigments, perfect viscosity, and 37 gorgeous colors plus any custom color you can imagine, the SE delivers a powerful way to print on silicone. Add on the SE’s essential supplies and accessories, and you’ll have an ink that can print anything made of silicone.

Applications

SE Series pad printing ink is a 2-component silicone ink for printing on silicone rubber parts. You can apply this ink by screen printing, pad printing, or spray coating it onto a silicone rubber product. Natron SE Series silicone ink has very high opacity, gloss, flexibility, and resistance to chemicals and abrasion. These are some of the reasons that make this ink perfect for printing on high wear products such as wristbands, phone cases, oven mitts, medical device handles, and many other items where other solvent-based inks can pose a challenge.

How to Mix SE Series silicone ink

The SE Series is a 2-component printing ink. A solvent and hardener are required additives to use this ink. Let us assist by guiding you in the specifics on how to mix the SE series inks. Before mixing the ink with the additives, stir it thoroughly. Add the hardener, then stir thoroughly.

Other required supplies: Weigh scale, ink mixing sticks, ink mixing cups, and PPE.

NOTE: The mixing ratio for the Silicone ink (A) and the LG catalyst (B) is the same for pad printing, screen printing, and spray coating. The difference is in the amount of solvent added after the ink and catalyst mixture.

Mixing ratio: 10:1 (10 parts ink : 1 part catalyst ) – The catalyst is 10% of the inks weight.

  • Add 10 parts ink to the mixing cup. Note the weight. Then, add 1 part LG catalyst; e.g., if you want to mix 20 grams of ink, you add 2 grams of catalyst.
  • Mix these two component thoroughly.
  • Add solvent: For pad printing (5 – 60%) of the inks weight. For screen printing, (0 – 5%) of the inks weight, for spray coating (300 – 500%) of the inks weight.

Keep in mind that the mixture of ink, hardener, and solvent is chemically reactive and must be used within 10 – 14 hours.

Printing Parameters: Screen printing

For screen printing, use any of the commonly available polyester meshes and solvent-resistant emulsions. Use 200–230 mesh (mesh per inch)-count screens for the highest opacity and on dark substrates. Use a mesh count of 255–305 for fine details and light backgrounds.

Screen printing – emulsion
Use TX-D (Plastisol, water base, discharge) emulsion on pre-burned screens

Screen printing – Squeegee
70 Durometer squeegees work very well. Consider 80-durometer squeegees for high-mesh count screens. For most applications, the 70/90/70 triple durometer is an excellent choice for more ink lay-down. Always consider having an off-contact when printing.

Printing Parameters: Pad printing

  • Use any commercially available clichés that are made of ceramic, photopolymer, laser, or steel plates. For all standard prints, the recommended cliché depth is 20μm.
  • Printing pads
    Use silicone printing pads. The ink works regardless of the hardness (durometer) of the pad.
  • Printing machines
    The Natron SE Series is suitable for both closed-cup and open-ink-well machines. Use the appropriate thinner for the correct type of machine.

Labeling and safety information

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for the silicone ink SE Series and its auxiliaries are available in accordance with EU and US regulations, providing comprehensive information on all critical safety data.

 

SE Series silicone ink and the Environment

The SE Series is classified as non-toxic, made with fade resistant, heavy metal-free pigments. Additionally, it is eco-sustainable meaning, it does not contain:

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

Frequently Asked Questions

The only ink that can adhere to silicone is a silicone-based ink. Unlike some solvent-based inks, silicone ink requires heat to cure. Boston Industrial Solutions, Inc., offers several ink lines for printing on silicone, such as the SE Series, the SE-F Series, and the DC Series inks. All these inks are great options for decorating silicone products.

Silicone inks are eco friendly printing inks formulated based on silicone for printing on silicone rubber goods as well as fabrics and leather substrates. Examples of silicone rubber goods are silicone swim caps, silicone wristbands, silicone speaker covers, etc. For rubber goods, you need the SE Series silicone inks. Silicone ink is also used for printing in the textile printing industry. It is a very good substitute for plastisol screen printing inks. SilTex series silicone inks are perfect for printing on textiles.

Most silicone inks require heat to cure. In general, for most applications, the silicone inks will cure at low temperatures (275 degrees F) for 6 minutes. Simple silicone rubber products, such as wristbands, cure below 250F, while on complex, high-density silicone substrates, the ink will cure at about 300–400F.

No, alcohol ink does not work on silicone rubber.  Alcohol inks are not permanent on silicone rubber.

Traditional solvent-based or UV-based or Alcohol based printing inks don’t stick to silicone rubber products. Nothing sticks to silicone but silicone. This means that only silicone ink can be used to print on silicone rubber wristbands or any silicone part. To print or mark silicone rubber, you need a pad printing machine or a screen printing machine.

Yes, you can screen print or pad print on silicone. A silicone substrate is a unique substrate. For this reason, UV-curable ink and regular solvent-based inks do not adhere to silicone, so a specially formulated ink based on silicone must be used. The only ink that can print and stick to silicone is a silicone-based ink.

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