Products

Pad Printing Inks

Solvent-based and UV-curable pad printing inks for decoration, marking and identification on three-dimensional parts.

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Overview

Unique solutions for the toughest surfaces

Enhanced and fine-tuned over decades, pad printing has become a firm fixture in the printing landscape. The technique offers unique solutions for some of the toughest surfaces: closures, syringes, connectors, keypads, toys and cosmetics packs. Suitable for a wide range of applications and substrates, it ensures first-rate results for decoration, marking and identification.

Designed to work on all popular printing equipment, Uniform Industries pad inks achieve results even on difficult substrates. All inks are manufactured to the highest quality management standards.

Silicone transfer pad of a pad printing machine lowering onto a small white moulded plastic closure, with the sealed ink cup and etched steel plate beside it and decorated parts in the background.

The pad printing ink range

Five series covering everyday substrates through to medical-grade and untreated polyolefins.

General Applications — UNIPAD-10GP

Eco-friendly ink for ABS, lacquered surfaces, metal, natural fabrics, PVC, polyamide, polycarbonate, PMMA, PS, PU and wood.

High Resistance — UNIPAD-20HR

High gloss, one- or two-component, highest resistance against chemicals and gasoline.

Medical Grade — UNIPAD-11MD

Medical-grade, highly opaque ink with high abrasion resistance.

Polypropylene — UNIPAD-12PP

Speciality ink designed for untreated polypropylene. High gloss, fast curing.

Rubbers — UNIPAD-15LX

Excellent adhesion to apparel and rubber-like substrates. High flexibility, gloss and opacity.

Series detail

An eco-friendly pad printing ink that adheres to ABS, lacquered surfaces, metal, natural fabrics, plasticised PVC, polyamide, polycarbonate, polymethacrylate, polystyrene, polyurethane and rigid PVC, plus the following treated materials: PETG, polyacetal, polyester, polyethylene and polypropylene, as well as wood.

UNIPAD-10GP — general applications overview ›

High gloss, one- or two-component ink with the highest resistance against chemicals and gasoline, high opacity and abrasion resistance. Prints on translucent plastics, injection-moulded products, ice packs, medical devices, vinyl balls and cosmetic containers.

UNIPAD-20HR — high resistance overview ›

Medical-grade, highly opaque pad printing ink with high abrasion resistance. Prints on stainless-steel mugs, coated metals, pens, promotional items, automotive knobs and buttons, hard hats, containers and coins.

UNIPAD-11MD — medical grade overview ›

Speciality ink designed for untreated polypropylene, with high gloss and fast curing. Prints on stadium cups, frisbees, syringes, medical devices, measuring cups, cosmetics and industrial housings.

Owing to the production process, some polypropylene materials show lubricant residues on the surface which can reduce adhesion of the ink film. Preliminary trials are essential to determine suitability for the intended use.

UNIPAD-12PP — untreated polypropylene overview ›

Excellent adhesion to apparel and rubber-like substrates with high flexibility, gloss and opacity. Prints on stress balls, sporting goods, skateboard wheels, soft-touch surfaces, soft PVC, ID cards, binders, report covers and textiles.

UNIPAD-15LX — rubber-like substrates overview ›

White paper

Technical background: surface energy and adhesion

Pad printing puts a very thin ink film, typically 5–10 µm wet, onto plastics that range from easy to hostile. An ink can only adhere where it first wets, and wetting requires the surface energy of the substrate to exceed the surface tension of the ink by a margin — as a rule of thumb, substrate ≥ ink + 10 mN/m.

Pad-printing inks are formulated at about 28–32 mN/m. PVC, PC, ABS, PS, PMMA and PET sit at 39–46 mN/m and print directly. Polyolefins such as PP and PE sit near 29–31 mN/m untreated and need flame, corona or plasma treatment, or an ink formulated specifically for them. POM and silicone need treatment in every case.

Our strengths

Made in India, formulated to European printing-ink regulations, supported on your press.

Fast Curing

More output from every press with fast-curing UV and LED formulations.

Low Viscosity

Trouble-free printing with consistent flow and transfer.

Custom Inks

Press-ready formulations colour-matched to your request.

High Strength

High-strength pigments allow low GSM printing without losing density.

Downloads

Technical documents

Download the Technical Data Sheet, Safety Data Sheet and Regulatory Summary for every product in this range. Technical data sheets are provided as standard for all Uniform Industries printing inks and coatings.

ProductDescriptionDocuments
UNIPAD-10GPPad printing ink series for general applicationsTDSSDSRegulatory
UNIPAD-11MDPad printing ink series for medical applicationsTDSSDSRegulatory
UNIPAD-12PPPad printing ink series for polypropyleneTDSSDSRegulatory
UNIPAD-15LXPad printing ink series for rubbers and latexTDSSDSRegulatory
UNIPAD-20HRPad printing ink series for high resistanceTDSSDSRegulatory

TDS = Technical Data Sheet. SDS = Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) according to Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 Annex II and UN GHS. The Regulatory Summary lists the compliance status of each product. Click a document to read it online in the viewer; each document can also be downloaded as PDF (up to 5 downloads per location). Product catalogues are available to read online. For a controlled copy, a declaration of compliance for your specific application, or documents for a product not listed here, write to sales@ufindustries.com.

Don't see what you're looking for?

Please feel free to call us. We colour-match to any request and develop inks around your press-room need.