Water-Based Ink vs. Alcohol-Based Ink -2

Date: Feb 24 2025 From: Star Color

Continuing from the previous article

IV. Comparison of Applicable Scenarios

Water-based Ink
- Food Packaging: Since water-based ink complies with FDA standards, it is safe and non-toxic, and will not contaminate food. As a result, it has been widely applied in the food packaging industry. Whether it is food bags, food boxes, or food labels, printing with water-based ink can ensure the safety and hygiene of food, meeting consumers' demands for food safety.
- Children's Products: In the field of children's products, such as children's books and toy packaging, the environmentally friendly and harmless properties of water-based ink make it the preferred choice. Children are in the growth and development stage, and their resistance to harmful substances is relatively weak. Children's products printed with water-based ink can protect children's health and give parents peace of mind.
- Label Printing: Water-based ink is suitable for label printing on substrates like paper and cardboard. In label printing, water-based ink can achieve good printing effects. Meanwhile, its environmental protection characteristics also meet the current market requirements for label printing. Whether they are commodity labels, logistics labels, or other types of labels, printing with water-based ink can meet the needs of enterprises.
Alcohol-soluble Ink
- Plastic Packaging: Alcohol-soluble ink has obvious advantages in the plastic packaging field. For example, on plastic packaging materials such as PE and PET films, alcohol-soluble ink can exhibit good adhesion and printing effects. This has led to its extensive use in plastic packaging printing, such as beverage bottle labels and cosmetic packaging.
- High-speed Printing: Due to the fast drying speed of alcohol-soluble ink, which is suitable for high-speed printing, in some scenarios with high requirements for printing speed, such as newspaper and magazine printing, alcohol-soluble ink is a good option. During high-speed printing, alcohol-soluble ink can dry rapidly, ensuring both printing quality and production efficiency.
- Industrial Printing: In the industrial printing field, such as printing on building material surfaces, alcohol-soluble ink has good weather resistance. Building material surfaces usually need to withstand various environmental factors, such as ultraviolet rays, rainwater, and dust. Alcohol-soluble ink can maintain good printing effects in these environments, and is not prone to fading or peeling.

Water-Based Ink vs. Alcohol-Based Ink -2

V. Future Trends

Water-based Ink
- Technological Innovation: With the continuous advancement of science and technology, the application of new materials such as nanotechnology and bio-based resins will further enhance the performance of water-based ink. For instance, nanotechnology can improve the pigment dispersion of water-based ink, enhancing its color performance and abrasion resistance. The use of bio-based resins can reduce the dependence of water-based ink on petroleum-based raw materials, making it more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
- Policy Promotion: Global environmental protection regulations are becoming increasingly stringent, and the restrictions on VOC emissions are getting stricter. This will prompt more enterprises to choose water-based ink to meet environmental protection requirements. The government may also introduce relevant policies and measures to encourage enterprises to use water-based ink, promoting the continuous growth of the market share of water-based ink.
Alcohol-soluble Ink
- Environmental Improvement: To reduce the impact on the environment, manufacturers of alcohol-soluble ink will continuously develop low-VOC formulations to lower the VOC emissions of alcohol-soluble ink. Enterprises will also strengthen the research and application of waste gas treatment technologies, improve the efficiency of waste gas recovery devices, and reduce environmental pollution.
- Application Optimization: Alcohol-soluble ink has irreplaceable advantages in specific fields, such as high-speed printing. Alcohol-soluble ink will continue to maintain its competitiveness in these fields and, through continuous optimization of the application process, improve printing quality and production efficiency to meet market demands.

VI. How to Choose?

When choosing between water-based ink and alcohol-soluble ink, enterprises need to comprehensively consider multiple factors. If your products have high requirements for environmental protection and safety, and mainly print on substrates such as paper and cardboard, such as in the fields of food packaging and children's products, then water-based ink is a better choice. The characteristics of water-based ink, such as low VOC emissions, non-toxicity, harmlessness, and biodegradability, can meet the strict environmental protection and safety requirements of these fields.

If you need high-speed printing, high color performance, and mainly print on non-absorbent materials such as plastic films, such as in plastic packaging and high-speed printing of newspapers and magazines, then alcohol-soluble ink is more suitable for your needs. The fast drying speed, excellent adhesion, and high color saturation of alcohol-soluble ink can give full play to their advantages in these scenarios.

When choosing between water-based ink and alcohol-soluble ink, enterprises need to comprehensively consider multiple factors. If your products have high requirements for environmental protection and safety, and mainly print on substrates such as paper and cardboard, such as in the fields of food packaging and children's products, then water-based ink is a better choice. The characteristics of water-based ink, such as low VOC emissions, non-toxicity, harmlessness, and biodegradability, can meet the strict environmental protection and safety requirements of these fields.

If you need high-speed printing, high color performance, and mainly print on non-absorbent materials such as plastic films, such as in plastic packaging and high-speed printing of newspapers and magazines, then alcohol-soluble ink is more suitable for your needs. The fast drying speed, excellent adhesion, and high color saturation of alcohol-soluble ink can give full play to their advantages in these scenarios.

Both water-based ink and alcohol-soluble ink have their own characteristics and applicable scenarios. Enterprises should comprehensively consider and select suitable printing inks according to their actual needs, environmental protection requirements, cost budgets, and other factors to achieve the best printing effects and economic benefits.

Among numerous water-based ink products, Zhongzhixing water-based ink stands out with its excellent quality and performance, and it is a choice you can trust. Zhongzhixing water-based ink is developed and produced in strict accordance with environmental protection concepts. It not only meets international environmental protection standards such as EU REACH and FDA but also performs outstandingly in practical applications.

In terms of adhesion, Zhongzhixing water-based ink has been optimized for different substrates. It has excellent adhesion on porous substrates such as paper and cardboard. At the same time, through special formulations and technologies, it can also achieve good adhesion effects on non-absorbent materials, reducing the dependence on additives. Its drying speed also has an advantage among similar products. Through reasonable formulation and process adjustments, combined with advanced drying equipment, it can effectively improve production efficiency.

In terms of color performance, Zhongzhixing water-based ink uses high-concentration high-quality pigments, with bright and stable colors, which can meet various printing needs. Whether it is the exquisite patterns on food packaging or the lovely colors on children's products, Zhongzhixing water-based ink can accurately present them.

Zhongzhixing also provides comprehensive technical support and high-quality after-sales service. The professional technical team can provide personalized solutions according to the specific needs of customers, and give detailed guidance and assistance from the selection of ink to the optimization of the printing process. Choosing Zhongzhixing water-based ink means choosing an environmentally friendly, efficient, and high-quality printing solution, which can boost the development of your enterprise and contribute to environmental protection.