Glass Ink GL.

Parallel to physical drying, i. e. the evaporation of the solvents used, the actual hardening of the ink film is caused by the chemical cross-linking reaction between ink and hardener. The standard values concerning progressive cross-linking reaction (hardening) of the ink film are as follows:

Screen Printing: (ink film 5-12 µm)

Pad Printing:

Chemical cross-linking will be accelerated and improved by higher temperatures. For very high demands for water-resistance (dishwasher, etc.), 10 % hardener must be added (except for GL 070 White = 5 % hardener) and Glass Ink GL must be baked at 140 °C for 30 min.

If the ink was mixed with 10% hardener and the drying process takes place at room temperature, the water resistance of the ink film may be reduced. Preliminary trials are essential.

Attention
GL 022 has a limited temperature resistance (up to 80 °C) and should, therefore, not be used for mixtures of sensitive colour shades as a colour shift may arise due to the baking process. As an equivalent substitute, a mixture of yellow and red can be used. Preliminary trials are always recommended.
For multi-colour prints, the different ink layers should be surface-dried only. The entire ink structure should be baked after the completion of the print.  The ink film achieves its final adhesion and scratch resistance only 24 h after the baking process.
The times mentioned vary according to substrate, depth of cliché / mesh count, drying conditions, and the auxiliaries used. For quick printing sequences, we recommend forced air drying (about 200 °C for 2-3 sec) of the surface after each colour.