ECOTRANS® SI 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® SI are silicone based screen inks that have been developed to provide 3D effect heat transfer labels with the benefit of a tactile feel.

80-20-

Screen

STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Product Class I 

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. ECOTRANS® SI inks are washable up to 60°C.

Mixing Range

Mixing Opaque White (80-20-M-WHITE)

Mixing Black (80-20-M-BLACK)

Mixing Clear (80-20-M-CLEAR)

Mixing Yellow 1 (80-20-M-1)

Mixing Orange 2 (80-20-M-2)

Mixing Pink 3 (80-20-M-3)

Mixing Red 4 (80-20-M-4)

Mixing Green 6 (80-20-M-6)

Mixing Violet 10 (80-20-M-10)

Mixing Yellow 24 (80-20-M-24)

Mixing Blue 34 (80-20-M-34)

Fluorescents

Mixing Fluorescent Yellow 46 (80-20-M-46)

Mixing Fluorescent Orange 47 (80-20-M-47)

Mixing Fluorescent Red 48 (80-20-M-48)

Mixing Fluorescent Pink 49 (80-20-M-49)

Mixing Fluorescent Magenta 50 (80-20-M-50)

Pearlescents

Pearlescent Gold (80-20-9-PG)

Pearlescent Silver White (80-20-9-PSW)

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.

Notes:

1. For a metallic silver effect we recommend printing a layer of Mixing Black (80-20-M-BLACK) after Pearlescent Silver White (80-20-9-PSW).

ECOTRANS® SI Reducing Medium T (80-AD-RMT)

Use up to 5% to thin the ink as necessary.

ECOTRANS® SI Accelerator (80-AD-AC)

Use at 1% when a curing temperature of 140°C cannot be

attained or faster curing times required.

 
Notes:

1. We recommend to only use the additives listed above to ensure the heat transfer labels produced with ECOTRANS® inks, additives, crosslinkers and adhesives are STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® Class 1 compliant.
2. We recommend not to use >15% of any combination of additives in ECOTRANS® SI inks. 

ECOTRANS® SI Crosslinker (80-20-XL)

Use as directed in Usage Instructions.

Notes:

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

Release coated PET films

Release coated reflective PET films

Release coated transfer papers

Notes:

1. The release coating must not be silicone based.
2. Substrates to be printed must be tested for suitability with the ECOTRANS® SI 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.
3. 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. 

Recommended Usage

• ECOTRANS® SI Crosslinker (80-20-XL) must be added to ECOTRANS® SI (80-20-) inks at 8% immediately before printing and mixed thoroughly.
• The inks are now ready for printing. 
• Each print layer must be thoroughly cured at a minimum of 140°C and for a minimum of 120 seconds to ensure thoroughly dry before additional layers of inks are printed.
• The final print layer must not be cured to allow the ECOTRANS® Hot Melt Powder to stick to the surface of the ink.
• Apply the ECOTRANS® Hot Melt Powder to the final print layer and remove excess.
• Cure at a minimum of 140°C and for a minimum of 120 seconds.

When Curing Temperature of 140°C Cannot Be Attained

• ECOTRANS® SI Accelerator (80-AD-AC) must be added to ECOTRANS® SI (80-20-) inks at 1% immediately before printing and mixed thoroughly.
• ECOTRANS® SI Crosslinker (80-20-XL) must be added to ECOTRANS® SI (80-20-) inks at 8% immediately before printing and mixed thoroughly.
• The inks are now ready for printing.
• Each print layer must be thoroughly cured at a minimum of 120°C and for a minimum of 120 seconds to ensure thoroughly dry before additional layers of inks are printed.
• The final print layer must not be cured to allow the ECOTRANS® Hot Melt Powder to stick to the surface of the ink.
• Apply the ECOTRANS® Hot Melt Powder to the final print layer and remove excess.
• Cure at a minimum of 120°C and for a minimum of 120 seconds.

Notes:

1. ECOTRANS® SI (80-20-) inks mixed with ECOTRANS® SI Crosslinker (80-20-XL) have a pot life of 4 hours.
2. ECOTRANS® SI (80-20-) inks mixed with ECOTRANS® SI Crosslinker (80-20-XL) will irreversibly harden after 48 hours.
3. Standard Wash & Durability Performance will be achieved 24 hours after application.

• 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.
• Silicone inks are very sensitive to chemical contaminants. Ink preparation, mixing and printing should take place in clean conditions with clean equipment.
• The screen emulsion must be suitable for use with silicon based inks and solvent based cleaners.
• For Mixing White (80-20-M-WHITE) 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 a square edged triple layer squeegee with 65/95/65 shA.
• The squeegee must be suitable for use with silicone based inks and solvent based cleaners.
• 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 4 hours then the screen mesh must be cleaned thoroughly to avoid ink drying in the screen 
• 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 ECOTRANS® SI Cleaner (99-10-8019).
• Ensure all ink is removed from the squeegee and screen mesh to avoid damage.