Adhesive Specialities manufactures several pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes that are used in various areas in the garment Industry.
One of the recent in-house development has been the Cotton Cloth Tape, specially utilized during the screen-printing process in the garment industry. Adhesive Specialities Cotton Cloth Tape, available in white colour, is manufactured using hotmelt adhesive with a special water-proofing compound on the outside. The cotton cloth used is of premium quality and has a thickness of 110gsm, which makes it most suitable for screen printing applications.
Screen printing is one of the most common printing techniques used in the garment industry and the Cotton Cloth Tape manufactured by Adhesive Specialities can be used in several ways during this application.
How does screen printing work and how are Adhesive Tapes used in the screen-printing process?
Step 1: A screen is created using a mesh, which is spread over a frame. Generally, the screen for printing is made of synthetic nylon, vinyl or tereline materials. The mesh count and its properties depend on the design that has been created for the screen-printing.
Step 2: The mesh is then attached to a wooden frame, which is also known as a lacquer.
In this step, Adhesive Specialities’ cotton cloth tape is specially applied to create a strong bond between the mesh and the design frame. After, the adhesive tape is applied, a stencil is made by blocking certain areas on the screen creating a negative image of the design.
Step 3: In the fabric printing process, a particular ink is used to carry out screen printing. This ink is processed at room temperature and is produced by a mixture of gum, water, and guar gum. There are four different types of ink which are used, they are water-based ink, plastisol ink, discharge ink and special effects ink.
The surface holding the screen is applied with the Cotton Cloth Tape to prevent any leakage of ink to the next substrate. Also, with the assistance of the adhesive tape the screen and frame are lined to avoid the ink reaching the corners of the frame.
Adhesive Specialities Cotton Cloth Tape plays a crucial role in this process since it acts a blocker that does not spoil the main design. The unwanted regions on the screen which does not have to be printed are also covered with the tape to avoid any defects in the design.
Step 4: Once the screen has been prepped properly, the ink is placed on the screen and a floodbar is used with appropriate pressure to spread the ink through the holes in the mesh which allows the printing to occur. The Cotton Cloth Tape can withstand the ink’s weight and the pressure applied during printing and does not damage the frame or the screen.
Step 5: After the printing is done, the lacquer is washed with cold water and cleaned with the cotton waste. One of the most important features of the cotton cloth tape manufactured by Adhesive Specialities, is that it is waterproof and does not peel off easily during the cleaning process and it can also withstand the pressure of water when the lacquer gets cleaned.
What are the most important features that make the Cotton Cloth Tape manufactured by Adhesive Specialities most suitable for screen-printing?
- The tape is waterproof
- The tape does not leave any residue behind after the removal of the tape
- Excellent adhesion properties
- Easy to tear.
- Highly conformable to irregular surfaces
