ECOTRANS® AQ Ultimate Stretch Technical Information

ECOTRANS® inks and adhesives are used to produce soft handle and flexible heat transfer labels for apparel, sportswear, healthcare, workwear and promotional items.

ECOTRANS® inks and adhesives are:

• ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX® certified
• STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Product Class I compliant
• Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Version 7.0 Approved
• Restricted Substance List (RSL) compliant to the World's leading brands
• EU REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 compliant
• RoHS compliant
• Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) compliant
• washable up to 95°C
• suitable for printing on or applying to a wide range of substrates
• non-hazardous
• formulated to be free from APEO, cadmium, formaldehyde, organotin, phthalates and PVC

ECOTRANS® AQ Ultimate Stretch inks have been developed to provide an unrivalled 200% stretch. Suitable applications include single colour tagless care labels on elastic, Lycra®, Spandex®, intimates and sportwear apparel.  

82-25-*-*-US

Screen

ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX® (OEKO-TEX® Label Check & OEKO-TEX® Label Check)

STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Product Class I

Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Version 6.0

Adidas A-01 Test Standard

Nike, Inc. Chemistry Playbook & Restricted Substance List May 2020

Laundering / Washing

AATCC TM61 Colorfastness to Laundering: Accelerated

AATCC TM135 Dimensional Changes of Fabrics after Home Laundering

ISO 105-C06:2010 Colour fastness to domestic and commercial laundering

ISO 105-C08:2010 Colour fastness to domestic and commercial laundering using a non-phosphate reference detergent incorporating a low-temperature bleach activator

ISO 6330:2012 Domestic washing and drying procedures for textile testing

Marks and Spencer Fabric Durability (C15)

Marks and Spencer Print Durability (P5)

Dry Cleaning

AATCC TM86 Drycleaning: Durability of Applied Designs and Finishes

ISO 105-D01:2010 Colour fastness to drycleaning using perchloroethylene solvent

Bleach

ISO 105-C09:2001 Colour fastness to domestic and commercial laundering — Oxidative bleach response using a non-phosphate reference detergent incorporating a low temperature bleach activator

Chlorine

ISO 105-E03:2010 Colour fastness to chlorinated water (swimming-pool water)

Tumble Dry

ISO 6330:2012 Domestic washing and drying procedures for textile testing

Ironing

ISO 105-X11:1994 Colour fastness to hot pressing

Abrasion

AATCC TM8 Colorfastness to Crocking: Crockmeter

ISO 105-X12:2016 Colour fastness to rubbing

ISO 12947-2: 2016 Determination of specimen breakdown

Notes:

1. Fluorescents and Metallics are washable up to 60°C.

Mixing Range

Mixing Opaque White (82-25-M-WHITE-US)

Mixing Black (82-25-M-BLACK-US)

Mixing Clear (82-25-M-CLEAR-US)

Mixing Yellow 1 (82-25-M-1-US)

Mixing Orange 2 (82-25-M-2-US)

Mixing Pink 3 (82-25-M-3-US)

Mixing Red 4 (82-25-M-4-US)

Mixing Green 6 (82-25-M-6-US)

Mixing Violet 10 (82-25-M-10-US)

Mixing Ultramarine Blue 16 (82-25-M-16-US)

Mixing Yellow 24 (82-25-M-24-US)

Mixing Blue 34 (82-25-M-34-US)

Fluorescents

Mixing Fluorescent Yellow 46 (82-25-M-46-US)

Mixing Fluorescent Orange 47 (82-25-M-47-US)

Mixing Fluorescent Red 48 (82-25-M-48-US)

Mixing Fluorescent Pink 49 (82-25-M-49-US)

Mixing Fluorescent Magenta 50 (82-25-M-50-US)

Metallics

Metallic Gold (82-25-1-871-US)

Metallic Silver (82-25-1-877-US)

Shimmer Silver (82-25-9-SS-US)

Colour Matching

A mixing guide is available on request to allow customers to match to Pantone colours.

PERFECTOS® can match colours to samples or colour references.

ECOTRANS® AQ Retarder (82-AD-RE)

Use up to 5% if the ink dries too fast. 

ECOTRANS® AQ Ink Stabiliser (82-AD-ST)

Use up to 3% if ink dries too fast or if printing in high ambient temperatures.

ECOTRANS® AQ Anti-foam (82-AD-AF)

Use up to 1% to reduce excessive bubbling when mixing inks.

ECOTRANS® AQ Wetting Agent (82-AD-WA)

Use up to 1% to reduce reticulation and pin-holing of prints.

 
Notes:

1. We recommend to only use the additives listed above to ensure the heat transfer labels produced with ECOTRANS® AQ inks, additives, crosslinkers and adhesives are STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Class 1 compliant.
2. We recommend not to use >10% of any combination of additives in ECOTRANS® AQ inks.

ECOTRANS® AQ Crosslinker Aqua (82-AD-AQ)

Use to improve wash & durability performance.

Use at 3% for ECOTRANS® AQ Ultimate Stretch Mixing Clear (82-25-M-CLEAR-US) and other colours.

Use at 2% for ECOTRANS® AQ Ultimate Stretch Mixing White (82-25-M-WHITE-US) ink.

Use at 1% for ECOTRANS® AQ Anti-Dye Migration (82-08-9-59100 / 82-08-9-SBB) inks.

For mixed colours 82-AD-AQ must be added in correct proportion.

ECOTRANS® AQ Crosslinker Bluesign® System (82-AD-BS)

Use at 5% to improve wash & durability performance.

Notes:

1. We recommend to only use the crosslinkers listed above to ensure the heat transfer labels produced with ECOTRANS® AQ inks, additives, crosslinkers and adhesives are STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Class 1 compliant.
2. We recommend not to mix different ECOTRANS® AQ crosslinkers together.

Release coated PET films

Reflective PET films

Release coated transfer papers

Notes:

1. Substrates to be printed must be tested for suitability with the ECOTRANS® AQ ink system prior to production runs being carried out. Always test application fully before beginning production run as there is often considerable variance in substrates from different manufacturers and even between different batches.
2. The release substrate and application substrate must be STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Class 1 compliant to ensure the heat transfer labels produced with ECOTRANS® inks, additives and adhesives are STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Class 1 compliant.

For use with ECOTRANS® AQ Screen Printable Adhesives 

• ECOTRANS® AQ Crosslinker (82-AD-AQ / 82-AD-BS) must be added to ECOTRANS® AQ (82-25-) inks and mixed thoroughly.
• The inks are now ready for printing. 
• Each print layer must be thoroughly dried at a minimum of 150°C and for a minimum of 60 seconds to ensure completely dry before additional layers of inks are printed.
• Before printing the ECOTRANS® AQ Screen Printable Adhesives, ensure the drying temperature and duration is adjusted to meet the usage instructions of the adhesive.

For use with ECOTRANS® Hot Melt Powder Adhesives

• ECOTRANS® AQ Crosslinker (82-AD-AQ / 82-AD-BS) must be added to ECOTRANS® AQ (82-25-) inks and mixed thoroughly.
• The inks are now ready for printing. 
• Each print layer must be thoroughly dried at a minimum of 150°C and for a minimum of 60 seconds to ensure completely dry before additional layers of inks are printed
• The final print layer must not be dried to allow the Hot Melt Powder to stick to the surface of the ink.
• Apply the Hot Melt Powder to the final print layer and remove excess.
• To melt the Hot Melt Powder, ensure the drying temperature and duration is adjusted to meet the usage instructions of the Hot Melt Powder. 

Notes:

1. ECOTRANS® AQ (82-25-) inks mixed with ECOTRANS® AQ Crosslinker (82-AD-AQ / 82-AD-BS) have a pot life of 8 hours.
2. Printed substrates must be allowed to cure for a minimum of 24 hours before application.
3. Standard Wash & Durability Performance will be achieved 72 hours after curing.

• The optimum print room temperature is 18-20°C.
• The optimum relative humidity is 50-60%.
• We recommend using in a well ventilated area.
• We recommend that tunnel dryers are turned on and allowed sufficient time to reach the required drying temperatures before printing commences.
• We recommend the use of a humidifier in the printing area to prevent drying-in of the inks on the screen mesh.
• We recommend the use of water misters in the printing area.
• The screen emulsion must be suitable for use with water based inks.
• For Mixing Opaque White (82-25-M-WHITE-US) ink we recommend printing two layers with a screen mesh of 61T. This will produce a thicker ink layer giving excellent stretch, opacity and wash performance.
• For other colours we recommend printing one to two layers with a screen mesh of 90T depending on colour density required.
• We recommend printing two layers with a screen mesh of 90T.
• We recommend a square edged triple layer squeegee with 65/95/65 shA.
• For best registration it is recommended that the substrate is conditioned to the ambient temperature and humidity of the print room prior to printing.
• We recommend that ink is replenished onto the screen in smaller quantities more frequently rather than larger quantities less often to keep the screen open. This will improve production efficiency and reduce downtime as printing will not need to be stopped for screen cleaning.
• If printing is interrupted for more than 5 minutes then the screen mesh must be cleaned thoroughly to avoid ink drying in the screen 
• PERFECTOS® Screen Refresher (99-10-83) can be used to keep the screen stable and open when printing small image areas.
• We recommend to only mix the required quantity of ink and crosslinker to reduce wastage.

• Remove excess ink from squeegee and screen mesh immediately.
• Remove any remaining ink from the screen mesh with water. A pressurised water-jet will give best results.
• Use PERFECTOS® Cleaner (99-10-82) for final cleaning the of the squeegee and screen mesh to prevent ghosting.
• Ensure all ink is removed from the squeegee and screen mesh to avoid damage.

Notes:

1. If it is not possible to clean the screen mesh immediately then PERFECTOS® Screen Refresher (99-10-83) can be applied to the screen mesh to delay the ink drying. Storing the screen in a plastic bag until it can be cleaned may also be helpful.