# Can i use water based ink with Ulano QTX emulsion?



## drunkswithapress (Jan 15, 2009)

i work for a major pressure sensitive adhesive company and i came upon a roll of vinyl and would like to print stickers. i haven't done this before. I ordered a sample of Nazdars 2700 series water based ink. I use Ulano QTX emulsion. i normally use plastisol inks, first time going water based. Will this ink work with my emulsion?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Yes, QTX is resistant to plastisol inks and, with diazo added, to waterbased inks too.


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## drunkswithapress (Jan 15, 2009)

i don't need to add the diazo correct, that's why it is pre-sensitized?


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Ask your supplier to be sure. Ulano site doesn't mention anything . But my supplier says there is a diazo to make it water resistant. Ulano ULQTX QTX® (SBQ - Pre-Sensitized Emulsion) - ScreenPrintingSupplies.com


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## drunkswithapress (Jan 15, 2009)

this is just a trial, like i said, i have never tried it before. what are the negative results if the emulsion isn't compatible? As far as i know, it will eventually break down the emulsion causing me to lose the stencil. I'd hate to buy another emulsion just to use this ink. i just wanna try to make some punk rock stickers, d.i.y. style.

thanks splathead, i'm sure you have replied to all of my posts.


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## RichardGreaves (Nov 7, 2006)

Make screen and a spare. I'll bet you aren't printing more than 500 stickers, so you won't do much damage to your stencil. 

I'd rather see you invest in spare screens for your shop than a new diazo emulsion for water-based ink that has a 4-6 week pot life.


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## Wuhtzu (Apr 18, 2008)

QTX wont hold up to more than a few prints with waterbased ink. After about 10-20 squeegee strokes/pulls you will see the emulsion start to blend into your ink. Try with a white ink, then it'll start turning pink very quickly. I haven't tried to print so long that the stencil broke down, I just stopped when I noticed miscoloration of my ink (white turning pink as the emulsion). Ulano QLT is the one which can be made truly waterresistant with additional diazo (it's presensitized, but additinal diazo can be added to enhance it's water resistance). Pre-Sensitized Emulsions for Screen Making Products Ulano QTX can't be moded an has poor water resistance: Pre-Sensitized Emulsions for Screen Making Products


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## corradomatt (Jan 16, 2007)

Yes, by itself, QTX will breakdown with water based inks. But if you add the diazo, you can make the emulsion much more water resistant than it normally is. We see our customers do this same thing with Aquasol HV from Murakami.

The HV emulsion is a photopolymer (pre-mixed) and is normally used without diazo. But, you can mix diazo with it and effectively change the emulsion into a dual-cure type emulsion. This will change the pot life from 1 year down to 4-6 weeks like Richard suggested. Also, with HV you only want to mix half of the normal amount of diazo recommended for dual-cure emulsions:


4g instead of 8g for a gallon
1g instead of 2g for a quart
The other way you could handle water based and discharge inks would be to harden your emulsion. There is a benefit to this because you don't have to change your emulsion. Just apply emulsion hardener as a final step before printing. It only takes a few minutes to dry and protect the screen from the damaging effects of the ink. Plus there are hardeners that aren't permanent so you can still reclaim the screen.


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