Influence Factors of Water Transfer Decal Paper Quality

Water transfer printing technoloy is a new printing method after lithography printing, gravure printing,screen printing and thermal transfer printing.It is the result of a combination of traditional gravure printing and water pressure transfer technology. Traditional printing technology can only make graphic printing and cannot do three-dimensional printing.But water transfer can make both graphic printing and three-dimensional printing.Many objects can be printed by water transfer,such as phone case, helmets,ceramics,toy,mugs,glass,wood,bicycle,golf clubs,candles,foam products, household appliances,temporary tattoo,etc.

The main applications of water slide decal paper are printing all kinds of ceramic decals and glass decals,such as water transfer decals for ceramic dinnerware,water transfer decals for ceramic sanitary wash basin,waterslide decals for tiles,etc.It includes on-glaze ceramic decals,under-glaze ceramic decals and in-glaze ceramic decals.The water transfer decals for ceramics are mainly used for domestic ceramics,sanitary ware in bathroom and building decorative ceramics.
Water transfer glass decals are used to print glass bottle,cups and promotion cup,etc.And water transfer decals can be applied to tennis racket,bicycle,fishing rods and fishing gear.

Water slide decal paper is also called waterslide transfer decal paper.It is composited of base paper and the surface coating.Because of the requirements of strength and smoothness,the base paper is mainly made of pure wood pulp fiber.
And the surface coating is water-soluble polymer,which is called water-soluble glue.This glue is composited with water-soluble polymer and some additives.So the quality of water transfer decal paper depends on the base paper and the water-soluble glue.Below are some factors influencing the quality of water transfer decal paper.

1.The base paper sizing value
The application principle of waterslide transfer decal paper is to print the pattern and character onto water transfer base paper,and film forming;Soak the printed pattern into water,the pattern seperates from the base paper;Stick the pattern onto the objects and finished. When use,it needs the pattern can seperate from the base paper successfully within 60 seconds.Because the pattern layer won’t seepage,the water can only enter from the paper back side.It requires not sizing on the paper back,and the water absorption of positive side is within 60g/㎡(Cobb 60s).

2.The Uniformity of the base paper fibrous tissue
When use waterslide decal paper,it needs the seperation of the pattern from base paper.So the key of seperation is the water-soluble layer.The thickness and volume of water-soluble layer must be even.And if the base paper fibrous tissue is not uniform,it will lead to the coating amount of water-soluble layer is uneven.It requires the thickness change of base paper firbrous tissue should be within ±3%.

3.The smoothness and stiffness of base paper
Because most waterslide transfer decal paper will be cut to sheet format and be printed with screen printing(screen printing water slide decal paper) and offset printing,it requires high smoothness and stiffness of base paper. When operating,it needs high stiffness in case of enfoldment.And the smoothness influences other features of water transfer decal paper.

4.The dimensional stability of base paper
It will carry on chromatic printing when print patterns using water transfer decal paper.If poor dimensional stability,it will lead to misregister. So it has a great impact on the quality of water transfer decal paper.

5.The glossiness of base paper
The glossiness influences the appearance of paper.The waterslide transfer decal paper made of coated base paper has better uniformity and smoothness than not coated base paper.

6.The moisture content of base paper
When store up the waterslide decal paper,the moisture content should be about 4%.If the moisture content is not even,the surface of finished paper will not smooth.