Frequently asked questions.

AIC manufactures the Manson range of solvent-based screen printing inks and allied products, and supplies pigments, carbon blacks, titanium dioxide, textile adhesives and raw materials for the paint, coating, printing ink, plastics, textile and sports goods industries.

Yes. Safety data sheets are published on this site and may be downloaded without registration — a safety data sheet should be obtainable by anyone who needs it, including at short notice. Technical data sheets are available on request through the enquiry form; please state the exact product name and grade.

Tell us four things: what you are printing or coating, the substrate, the performance the finished article must have, and any compliance requirement your customer has set. The technical team will indicate a grade and tell you what to test. Where a selection table exists on this site, it will narrow the choice before you contact us.

The values published here are typical values from our technical data sheets. Printing and coating performance depend on the substrate, its surface condition, the environment and the equipment settings, and substrates that appear identical vary between manufacturers and between batches. Always confirm suitability by testing under your own production conditions before committing to full production.

Yes. Contact us with the product or application, the substrate and the quantity you need for a trial.

Yes. Send a physical reference — a printed or coated sample of the colour you want — together with the system you are working in. A colour viewed on a screen is not a colour standard and a match made against a screen image will not hold in production.

The substrate and its supplier, the printing or coating process, the equipment, the performance required in service, any compliance requirement, and a description of the problem if there is one. The more precise the description, the more useful the answer.

TP White Finish Coat, White 01, Black 02, Lemon Yellow 03, Golden Yellow 04, Red 06, 09 Blue, Violet 014, Magenta 016, Silver 19, Gold 20, and the Fluorescent Orange, Fluorescent Pink 23, Fluorescent Red 24, Fluorescent Green and Fluorescent Yellow shades. Please confirm that the shade you intend to buy appears on the certificate.

Test reports are held for specific shades and are available to customers on request. Please tell us the brand programme and the shade you are printing, and we will send what we hold for it.

Manson is AIC’s own range of solvent-based screen-printing inks, manufactured in Pakistan. Twenty series cover surface printing on sports goods, footwear, bags, flexible and foam materials, plastics, coated fabrics and paper. Some series are single-component, some two-component with hardener, and several can be run either way depending on the durability required.

A single-component ink is simpler: no mixing, no pot life, no waste at the end of a shift. A two-component ink, once cross-linked with hardener, develops substantially higher resistance to solvents, chemicals, cleaning agents and abrasion. Choose single-component where the printed item will not meet those conditions, and two-component where it will. PS and GL are single-component only; OPP-SK, FC, PC, PPC, SSR, MP, AP and HV can be run either way.

Thin with AIC diluent, typically 10–20% by weight. AIC retarder may be added in hot conditions or for large-format work, with diluent and retarder together not exceeding 25–30%. Use only AIC approved thinners. Exceeding the limit reduces film build, colour strength and resistance — it is the most common cause of a print that looks right and fails in service.

Touch dry within minutes in normal air circulation. Compatible with standard tunnel dryers. Stacking is permitted after touch dry, and cross-linking continues under the stack. Full cross-linking takes seven days at room temperature. This distinction matters: a print that is touch dry is not a cured print, and adhesion, rub and resistance tests carried out before the seventh day will under-report what the ink actually does.

Do not use thinners other than the AIC approved diluent and retarder. Do not exceed the 25–30% combined thinning limit. Do not mix more two-component ink than can be used within its pot life, and do not return mixed ink to the original container. Do not judge adhesion, rub or chemical resistance before the seven-day cure. Do not assume a substrate is suitable because it resembles one that worked — materials that look identical vary between manufacturers and between batches, and some carry slip or antistatic agents that prevent adhesion. Once a two-component ink has hardened it is highly solvent resistant and cannot be removed from a screen, so clean equipment immediately after use.

In original, tightly closed containers at 15–30 °C, cool and dry, protected from direct sunlight. Shelf life is 12 months from date of manufacture under those conditions. Reseal immediately after opening and inspect before use. Refer to the safety data sheet for full storage and handling requirements.

Yes. The Manson inks give a glossy finish which can be brought down to semi-gloss or matt by blending compatible grades. Intermix only within the same series unless AIC has confirmed otherwise.

Standard opaque colours in glossy finish, a four-colour process set for halftone work, a tri-chromatic three-ink mixing system for an extended range, colour matching to a reference supplied by the customer, and metallic colours. Contact AIC for the shade list applicable to a particular series.

Run an adhesion test on your own substrate, from your current batch, under your own production conditions, and assess it only after the full seven-day cure. Where the part will be flexed, test a finished flexed part rather than a flat sample. Where it will be cleaned or meet solvents in service, test that exposure too.

A premium, very low-odour two-component screen printing ink giving excellent print quality on all standard screen printing equipment. Activated with the AIC recommended hardener, the cured film achieves excellent chemical, solvent and abrasion resistance.

General over-printing on PU and PVC surfaces, synthetic and artificial leather, sports goods, footwear, bags and accessories.

Superior print definition, surface levelling and edge reproduction. Excellent gloss. Good flexibility, solvent resistance and chemical resistance once cured. Excellent light fastness.

Cure speed is moderate rather than fast — on a high-throughput line FC cures faster. Where the printed part will meet aggressive solvents, fuels or cleaning agents, OPP-AS, ESR or NSR give materially higher resistance. Where the part will be flexed repeatedly, FPR or FUNN are built for it. If your customer requires ZDHC certified material, OPP-SK is the certified grade.

Two hardener types are available: Hardener No. 1 gives a short pot life of 1–2 hours at 20 °C, Hardener No. 2 an extended pot life of 6–8 hours at 20 °C. Both are added at 10–20 parts to 100 parts ink by weight. Mix thoroughly to a homogeneous mixture before printing, and prepare only the quantity required for immediate use.

A high-performance, very low-odour screen printing ink for surface printing on sports goods, footwear, bags and related manufactured items. It runs single-component where lower durability is acceptable, or two-component with hardener where maximum durability and resistance are required.

PU and PVC surfaces, synthetic and artificial leather, TPU film and sheet, sports goods, footwear, bags and accessories. Flat-bed and rotary screen printing.

Excellent adhesion on the recommended substrates, sharp edge definition and good levelling, excellent light fastness, excellent rub and abrasion resistance after full cure, and excellent flex and crack resistance on flexible surfaces. Very low odour. This is the series for which AIC holds ZDHC certification.

Solvent resistance is good rather than outstanding. Where the printed part will meet aggressive cleaning agents, fuels or industrial solvents, OPP-AS or ESR is the better choice. In single-component mode OPP-SK does not develop its full durability — the two-component system is required for maximum resistance. Full resistance is not present until the seven-day cure is complete.

Mix 100 parts ink base with 10–20 parts AIC recommended hardener by weight. Pot life is 4–6 hours at 25 °C. Prepare only what will be used within that window and clean equipment immediately after the run.

A very low-odour two-component screen printing ink formulated for demanding surface printing where resistance matters. Activated with hardener it resists solvents, chemicals, cleaning agents and fuels, while keeping outstanding gloss, rub resistance and light fastness.

PU and PVC surfaces, synthetic and artificial leather, rigid and plasticised PVC, polycarbonate, ABS and SAN, sports goods, footwear, bags, and paper and board.

Outstanding solvent and chemical resistance — materially better than standard OPP. Outstanding gloss. Excellent rub resistance and light fastness. Good flexibility.

Cure speed is moderate; on a fast line FC or PER turn work round quicker. For the heaviest solvent exposure, ESR, NSR or SSR go further still. For severe flexing, FPR or FUNN. For certified material, OPP-SK.

Two hardener types are available: Hardener No. 1 gives a short pot life of 1–2 hours at 20 °C, Hardener No. 2 an extended pot life of 6–8 hours at 20 °C. Both are added at 10–20 parts to 100 parts ink by weight.

A specialist two-component screen printing ink formulated specifically for boxing gloves and protective sports equipment, with excellent adhesion on the specialised surface materials used in glove manufacture.

Boxing gloves, protective sports equipment, genuine and original leather, and similar glove surface materials.

Excellent adhesion on glove surfaces. Outstanding flex resistance — important on a product that is struck and deformed constantly in use. High gloss. Good resistance to solvents, chemicals, cleaning agents and fuels once cured. Good weather and light fastness.

It is a specialist, not a general-purpose ink: on substrates outside glove and leather work, MP or AP serve better. Cure speed is moderate. Two-component only, so there is a pot life to manage — where a simple single-component workflow matters more than maximum durability, GL is the glove ink without a pot life.

Mix 100 parts ink base with 10–20 parts AIC recommended hardener by weight. Pot life is 4–6 hours at 25 °C.

Carbon blacks in three grades, a dioxazine violet organic pigment, fluorescent pigments under the AIC-FLO name, a silver pearl pigment, aluminium silver pastes and titanium dioxide. The range serves paints and coatings, printing inks, leather and synthetic leather, plastics and masterbatch.

Dispersion is breaking the pigment agglomerates down and wetting the particle surface with binder — it needs shear, and it determines the colour strength and gloss you finally get. Let-down is diluting that dispersed concentrate into the final system. A pigment that appears weak is usually under-dispersed rather than weak: the colour is still locked inside agglomerates. Always reach a stable grind before judging strength.

It indicates how much binder the pigment will take up, and therefore how it affects viscosity and how much pigment a formulation can carry. A high figure means more binder demand at a given loading. Use the published figure when calculating the formulation rather than discovering it on the mill.

In closed original packaging, cool and dry, away from direct sunlight and moisture. Powders pick up moisture from humid air once opened, and moisture content affects both dispersion and the final finish. Reseal immediately after use.

A carbon black pigment for polyurethane shoe material and general pigmentation. Typical values: average original particle size 24 nm, blackness reflectivity 17.8%, tinting strength 115 against SRB3#, DBP oil absorption 19.5 cc per 100 g, fluidity at 35 °C of 95, heating loss 0.50, ash 0.05, pH 7.5.

A near-neutral pH of 7.5 makes it straightforward across a wide range of systems. Low oil absorption at 19.5 cc/100 g means it carries easily without driving viscosity up.

It is the least jet of the three AIC carbon blacks: at 24 nm and 17.8% reflectivity it is a general-purpose black, not a high-colour black. Where deep jetness or high tinting strength matter, AIC Black Fine or AIC Black Super Fine are the grades to use.

A high-colour carbon black. Typical values: average original particle size 20 nm, blackness reflectivity 13.9%, tinting strength not less than 130 against SRB3#, oil absorption by the yield point method not less than 420 g per 100 g, BET surface area not less than 140 m² per gram, heating loss not more than 0.5, ash not more than 0.05, pH 2 to 4.

Leather, printing inks, colour pastes and paints.

Substantially higher colour strength than the standard grade — tinting strength of 130 or more against 115, with a lower reflectivity figure meaning a visibly blacker black. The acidic surface, shown by the pH of 2 to 4, aids wetting and dispersion stability in many binder systems.

Oil absorption is high — not less than 420 g per 100 g — so it takes considerably more binder than the standard grade and will drive viscosity up at the same loading. Formulate for that rather than discovering it on the mill. The acidic surface may interact with acid-sensitive systems and with some amine-cured chemistries, so test compatibility first. Where neither maximum jetness nor the binder demand is wanted, AIC Black is the easier grade to work with.

The highest-colour carbon black in the range. Typical values: average original particle size 15 nm, blackness reflectivity 11.7%, tinting strength 140 against SRB3#, DBP absorption 19.5 cc per 100 g, fluidity at 35 °C of 105, heating loss 1.5, ash 0.05, pH 2 to 4.

Automotive coating, artificial leather paint and printing inks.

The deepest black of the three grades. This is the grade for a finish that must look genuinely black rather than dark grey, and for inks where strength per unit of pigment governs cost.

Fine particle blacks are harder to disperse than coarser ones, and under-dispersed material will look weaker than the standard grade despite being stronger. Allow proper grind time and adequate shear, and do not judge strength until the grind is stable. Where the formulation cannot give the dispersion this grade needs, AIC Black Fine will deliver more of its potential in practice.

A dioxazine organic pigment. Resistance ratings: 5 for linseed oil, water, alkali, acid and paraffin wax on a scale where 5 is excellent; light resistance 7 to 8 on a scale where 8 is outstanding; heat resistance to 200 °C. The shade is reddish and the pigment is suitable for solvent systems.

Offset inks, paints and solvent inks.

Light resistance of 7 to 8 is outstanding for an organic pigment and makes it suitable where the finished article is exposed. Full marks across oil, water, alkali, acid and wax resistance. Heat resistance to 200 °C covers most coating and ink processing.

Dioxazine violet is a high-strength, transparent pigment — it is not an opacifying colour and will not hide a substrate on its own. Where opacity is needed, formulate with titanium dioxide or an opaque pigment alongside it.

An aqueous emulsion table adhesive for textile screen printing, formulated to hold its tack on the table surface through repeated printing cycles. A milky white, nonionic emulsion with a pH of 7.5 to 8.0. Also supplied as Advance Adhesive TEX-10.

Holding fabric in position on a textile or silkscreen printing table. Used on textile fabrics, silicone-treated fabrics, Lycra, Odell and mercerised cotton, on elliptical machines and on hand-printed tables, and for cut-sheet printing where the fabric must stay registered through the print.

Long-lasting tack on the table surface, so the adhesive is not reapplied every cycle. Strong fastness to the table with no transfer onto the printed fabric — which is the failure that makes a cheaper table glue expensive. Free from PVC and phthalates, heavy metal free, APEO free, and with no formaldehyde content.

Wash the printing table clean. Brush Advance Adhesive-TEX onto the table. Allow it to dry completely, then apply a second coat if required. Screen print only once the adhesive is completely dry — printing onto adhesive that is still wet is the commonest cause of transfer onto the fabric and of poor fastness.

It is a table adhesive, not a bonding adhesive: it holds fabric in position during printing and is not intended to bond materials together permanently. For bonding fabric to fabric or to other materials in a heat process, the AD-TX textile adhesive powders are the correct products. Performance depends on the table being genuinely clean before application and on each coat drying completely.

Sealed in its container between 6 °C and 36 °C, out of direct sunlight. Shelf life is one year, and the container should be used up once opened.

Advance Adhesive-TEX holds ZDHC MRSL v3.1 Level 1 conformance certification valid to 23 December 2027. A certificate copy is issued on request by email.

Thermoplastic adhesive powders used in heat-transfer bonding. Typical values: Shore hardness 75 A, melting point 105 °C, melt flow rate 18, elongation 500, high thermoplasticity, specific gravity 1.19.

Heat transfer work, where a design is printed onto a carrier such as transfer paper or PET film and then applied to the garment under heat and pressure. Used on fabric, polyester, nylon cloth, mesh, leather, shoe material, PVC, wood, furniture, waterproof zippers and similar.

High bonding and peeling strength, good elasticity so the bond flexes with the garment rather than cracking, and a wide window of processing and thermal activation temperature, which makes the process more tolerant of press variation.

The grades differ in particle size, which governs how finely the powder lays down and how it melts. A finer powder gives a thinner, softer handle and suits fine fabrics; a coarser powder lays a heavier film and gives a stronger bond on open or heavier materials. Contact AIC with your fabric weight and press details and we will recommend the grade and the application rate.

A melting point of 105 °C sets the limit: these powders are not for articles that will meet higher temperatures in service or later processing. Wash and dry-clean resistance depend on the press conditions actually achieved, not only on the powder, so a bond that survives the first wash may not survive the tenth if the press was under temperature. For holding fabric on a printing table rather than bonding materials, use Advance Adhesive-TEX.

Run a wash test and, where relevant, a dry-clean test on the actual fabric at the actual press settings, repeated through several cycles rather than one. Confirm press temperature with a probe rather than the dial — under-temperature pressing is the commonest cause of bond failure in service.

In a cool environment at 15 to 25 °C before processing, in closed packaging. Powders take up moisture from humid air, and damp powder bonds unevenly.

Most often the substrate rather than the ink. Many PU, PVC and synthetic leather materials carry slip agents, antistatic additives or mould release from manufacture, and these prevent adhesion. Clean a test area and reprint to confirm. Check next that the grade suits the material — the substrate table above gives the recommended series. Confirm the hardener was added within 10–20 parts and mixed thoroughly through the base. Finally, check when adhesion was assessed: before the seven-day cure the result will be misleading. If adhesion is still short on a clean substrate with a correctly mixed two-component ink after full cure, contact AIC technical support with the substrate and batch details.

Common in hot weather and on long dwell times between strokes. Add AIC retarder, keeping diluent and retarder together within the 25–30% combined limit. Review shop temperature and the air movement passing over the screen — a fan aimed at the press makes this worse. Keep the screen flooded between strokes on slow runs. Do not substitute a slower solvent from another source: only the AIC approved retarder is validated with these inks, and others will change the resistance of the cured film.

Usually a press variable rather than the ink. Check viscosity first — over-thinning is the commonest cause, and the limit is 10–20% diluent, 25–30% combined. Then check stencil thickness, squeegee angle, pressure and hardness, and the off-contact distance. A worn squeegee lays an uneven film and rounds the edges.

Nearly always contamination. Silicone is the usual culprit — from mould release on the substrate, from spray lubricants used near the press, or carried in oil from the compressed air line. Check the screen cleaning procedure and whether cleaning agent residue is being left behind. Clean a test area of substrate and reprint to confirm the source before changing anything else.

First ask whether the grade is right: FPR gives the best flex resistance in the range, with FUNN, UI and OPP-SK close behind. If the grade is correct, cracking usually comes from over-thinning, too high a hardener addition, or too heavy a film. Bring thinning back within 10–20%, keep hardener within 10–20 parts, and review mesh selection to reduce the deposit. Test on a finished flexed part, not a flat sample — a flat test will pass where the real part fails.

Most often it has not finished curing. Full cross-linking takes seven days at room temperature, and rub resistance tested earlier will under-report. Check also that the hardener was within the 10–20 parts range and thoroughly mixed, and that the mixed ink was used inside its pot life — ink used after the pot life has expired will never reach full resistance even though it still prints.

Usually a process variable, not the ink. Weigh the thinner rather than estimating it — a difference of a few per cent changes both shade and opacity. Stir the ink thoroughly before each use, as pigment can settle in the container. Check whether mesh or squeegee condition has changed, because a worn squeegee lays a different film thickness and the colour shifts with it. Keep a retained reference print from an approved run and compare under consistent lighting rather than by memory.

The two-component pot life has been exceeded. With a single hardener type this is 4–6 hours at 25 °C; with the two-hardener grades it is 1–2 hours at 20 °C on Hardener No. 1 and 6–8 hours on Hardener No. 2. Higher ambient temperature shortens all of these. Mix only the quantity that will be used inside the window, and never return mixed ink to the original container. Gelled ink cannot be recovered by adding diluent and must be discarded in accordance with the safety data sheet.

Check mesh first: too fine a mesh lays too thin a film to cover. Then check thinning, since over-thinning reduces film build and colour strength together. On a dark substrate consider a second pass or a white underbase. HV is purpose-made for high ink deposit where a heavy film is genuinely required.

Stacking before touch dry is the usual cause. Allow touch dry before stacking — cross-linking then continues safely under the stack. High humidity, retarder above the stated limit, and poor air circulation around the drying rack all extend the time to touch dry.

This is dye migration from the substrate, not a fault in the ink, and it is common on some plasticised PVC and on certain polyester materials. It typically appears hours or days after printing, which is why it is missed in a quick trial. Test the substrate by printing white on it and leaving it 48–72 hours before judging. Where migration is confirmed, a barrier or blocking layer is required — contact AIC technical support for the recommendation on your material.

Some plastics are sensitive to aggressive solvents, and a thinner from another source may be too strong for the material. Use only AIC approved diluent and retarder. Test on an offcut before a production run, particularly on thin styrene, polycarbonate and some PVC films.

Usually substrate absorbency varying across the material, or film thickness varying across the stroke. Check squeegee condition and pressure consistency, and confirm the thinner addition is weighed rather than judged. Humidity also affects final gloss.

The OPP, OPP-SK and OPP-AS grades are formulated for very low odour, and moving to one of them may be the answer if the job allows. Beyond that, the handling requirements in the safety data sheet govern. Refer to the safety data sheet for that product and speak to AIC technical support.

Almost always under-dispersion rather than a weak pigment. Fine-particle blacks such as AIC Black Super Fine hold their colour inside agglomerates until sufficient shear has broken them down, and a short grind will produce a weaker, browner result than a coarser grade would give. Extend the grind, check the mill is achieving the shear it should, and judge the colour only once successive readings stop changing.

Check the oil absorption figure for the grade before blaming the mill. AIC Black Fine has an oil absorption of 420 g per 100 g or more, far higher than the 19.5 cc per 100 g of the standard grade, and it will take proportionally more binder at the same loading. This is a formulation question, not a fault: either reduce the loading, increase the binder, or move to a grade with lower binder demand.

This is pigment separation in the wet film, and it usually indicates incompatible pigment surfaces in a blend or inadequate wetting. Check whether pigments of different surface character have been combined — AIC Black Fine and Super Fine have an acidic surface at pH 2 to 4, while other pigments in the same formulation may not. Review the wetting and dispersing additive, and confirm the dispersion is complete before let-down.

Fluorescent pigments have limited lightfastness in exterior exposure — it is inherent to the chemistry rather than a fault in the batch, and the light fastness rating is 4. For sustained outdoor colour, use a conventional pigment with high light fastness instead. Where the fluorescent effect is itself the requirement, a UV-absorbing topcoat will extend service life, and the whole system should be tested in the exposure the article will actually see.

Pearl pigments are platelets and their lustre depends on those platelets staying intact and lying flat. High-shear dispersion breaks them, which is the usual cause of a dull result. Stir AIC 100 in gently at the let-down stage rather than putting it through a mill. Check also the film thickness and the application method, since platelets need room to orient.

Aluminium pigments orient in the film, and that orientation changes with film thickness, application method, solvent evaporation rate and drying conditions. The same paste will look different sprayed and screen-printed. Match the application conditions to those used for the approved sample before adjusting the formulation.

For opacity, check the loading against the tint-reducing power figure and confirm the dispersion is complete — titanium dioxide under-dispersed gives both lower opacity and poorer gloss. For yellowing, confirm which grade is in use: anatase is less durable outdoors than rutile, and R-760 is the rutile grade with zirconium and alumina coating for weather resistance. Yellowing may also come from the binder rather than the pigment.

The commonest cause is printing before the adhesive has dried completely. The procedure is: clean the table, brush on, allow to dry completely, second coat if required, and print only when fully dry. Check also that the table was genuinely clean before the first coat, since adhesive applied over residue does not key properly.

Tack has been lost or was never properly developed. Confirm the table was clean and the adhesive fully dried before printing. A second coat may be needed on fabrics that sit lightly on the table. Check the storage condition of the adhesive — sealed, between 6 °C and 36 °C, out of direct sunlight, and used within its one-year shelf life.

Usually press conditions rather than powder. Measure the actual platen temperature with a probe rather than trusting the dial, and confirm dwell time and pressure. The AD-TX powders melt at 105 °C and need that temperature at the bond line, not at the platen surface. Check also that the powder has not taken up moisture in storage. Then run a multi-cycle wash test rather than a single wash before releasing the process.

Usually too much powder, or a coarser grade than the fabric needs. A finer powder lays a thinner film and gives a softer handle on light fabrics. Contact AIC for the grade recommendation for your fabric weight.

Contact us through the enquiry form with the product name and grade, the quantity, the application and your delivery requirement.

Use the technical enquiry form on this site. Give the product or application, the substrate, the process, the performance required and any problem you are seeing. The enquiry will be routed to the right member of the technical team.