FAQ Liquid Lamination
1. What is liquid lamination?
2. What are the benefits of liquid lamination?
3. What types of application is liquid lamination used for?
4. What types of liquid laminates are there?
5. What type of liquids are the UltraCoat liquid coatings and what print technologies are they compatible with?
6. What type of coverage rate can I get?
7. What is the difference between wet and dry film thickness?
8. How does the liquid become a flexible film?
1.What is liquid lamination?
Liquid lamination is a process where an economical, durable coating is applied to a variety of graphic applications providing protection and image enhancement.
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2. What are the benefits of liquid lamination?
Liquid coatings cost much less than rolled film coatings and produce less waste when machine applied.
Liquid coatings are weldable (both by heat and sound) and offer as much or more UV and abrasion protection. They will also stretch and conform to uneven surfaces better than a hard coat film product.
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3. What types of application is liquid lamination used for?
Liquid coatings are usually applied to vinyl-based substrates that are being used in outdoor applications. Examples would include: tent and awning applications, vehicle/fleet graphics, banners, and inflatable products.
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4. What types of liquid laminates are there?
There are three main types: Water based acrylic urethanes, Solvent based polyurethane and oil/solvent based UV curable.
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5. What type of liquids is the UltraCoat liquid coatings and what print technologies are they compatible with?
They are water based liquid laminates that are compatible with most types of solvent based print systems such as Vutek, NUR, Scitex, Mimaki and Roland Soljet.
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6. What type of coverage rate can I get?
A typical 1 gallon container will cover about 641 square feet of media.
Yield can also be affected by watering down, evaporation, relative humidity and most significantly, how porous the media being coated is.
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7. What is the difference between wet and dry film thickness?
Wet film thickness is the thickness of the lamination before any moisture has evaporated from the liquid laminate/slurry. Dry film thickness is the thickness of the laminate left after evaporation of the water base slurry has occurred. (slurry: a watery mixture of insoluble matter (as mud, lime, plaster of paris or other insoluble matter)
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8. How does the liquid become a flexible film?
As the liquid and the coated substrate passes under the heating bank two things happen: Firstly the liquid in which the laminate is suspended is evaporated. Secondly a chemical process known as Cross Linking takes place. This is where the laminate binds to the ink and substrate, essentially forming one layer and one substance. To be fully cured normally takes twenty four hours.
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