Choose tube packaging ink additives by the first failed stage: substrate wetting, foam/microbubbles, or dried-print handling. CHLUMIWE® 2100 is the broad wetting route, CHLUMIAF® 3062 is the printing-ink defoamer route, and CHLUMIAG® 3501 is the anti-sticking/handling route after appearance already passes.
“Tube packaging” may mean aluminum, plastic, or laminated structures with different pretreatment, decoration, curing, forming, crimping/closing, filling, cap, and product-contact conditions. Identify the exact construction and print process before selecting an additive. No one route can cover every tube.
Tube packaging ink decision map
| First repeatable failure | First route | Tube-production guardrail |
|---|---|---|
| Ink retracts, leaves voids, or wets treated tube stock unevenly | CHLUMIWE® 2100 | Foam, adhesion, cure, overprint, squeeze/flex, closure, and filling |
| Manufacture or printing produces persistent foam or microbubbles | CHLUMIAF® 3062 | Craters, density, compatibility, rub, and storage stability |
| Print appearance passes but surfaces block, mark, or handle poorly | CHLUMIAG® 3501 | COF, overprint/varnish, adhesion, forming, closure, and pack contact |
| Produto | Published fit | Supplier starting guidance | Best first-screen role |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHLUMIWE® 2100 | Modified polydimethylsiloxane; water, solvent, and UV | 0.1–1%; grind, stir, or post-add | Wetting and spreading on a verified, clean, treated substrate |
| CHLUMIAF® 3062 | 100% active nonionic polyether-modified polysiloxane; water, solvent, and UV | 0.1–0.5% for printing inks | Foam and microbubble control after the air source is mapped |
| CHLUMIAG® 3501 | Modified polysiloxane; water, solvent, and UV | Request the current supplier recommendation | Anti-sticking and handling after wetting, print appearance, and cure pass |
Define substrate and tube conversion first
Record tube material, surface treatment, primer/basecoat, print side, ink process, overprint varnish, cure/dry, forming sequence, seam or crimp, shoulder/cap operation, filling temperature, product exposure, and packaging contact. A treated plastic laminate and a coated aluminum tube are not one substrate.
Use production-aged substrate and measure or document treatment. Audit cleaning, slip/bloom from the substrate, handling, and storage because these can change wetting and adhesion independently of the ink additive.
Use 2100 when wetting fails first
2100 is the broad first comparison when a stable ink retracts or leaves voids on a verified substrate. Its page lists surface tension below 25 mN/m and water, solvent, and UV applicability.
Use a blank and a compact 0.1–1% ladder. Measure wetting, foam, density, craters, edge definition, adhesion, blocking, coefficient of friction, overprint or varnish adhesion, squeeze/flex, rub, and any effect on closing or filling. Follow the supplier’s high-temperature and tool-contamination precautions.
Use 3062 when air is the bottleneck
3062 is the printing-ink defoamer route. Identify whether air enters during pigment dispersion, let-down, pumping, recirculation, application, or substrate outgassing. Then use a defined agitation/print cycle and compare foam generation, decay, and cured-film microbubbles.
The supplier publishes 0.1–0.5% for printing inks. If solvent dilution is used, stability and defoaming performance must be tested. Guard against craters, density loss, haze, compatibility problems, and storage changes.
Use 3501 when handling fails after cure
3501 belongs later in the sequence: print appearance and cure pass, but decorated tube surfaces block, mark, or handle poorly during winding, stacking, forming, packing, or shipment. Reproduce the actual contact face, pressure, temperature, humidity, dwell, and time after cure.
Request current dosage guidance because the public page does not state a universal range. Repeat overprint/varnish adhesion, COF, squeeze/flex, rub, seam/crimp or closure, gluing, printing, and filling-related checks. Anti-sticking cannot compromise the next operation.
Build a tube-relevant print trial
- Lock ink and process. Hold resin, pigment, solids, viscosity/rheology, application, film weight, and cure constant.
- Lock tube construction. Use the production material, treatment, primer/basecoat, and print side.
- Change one route at a time. Compare a blank plus a short supplier-supported ladder.
- Convert the decorated tube. Reproduce forming, squeeze/flex, seam or crimp, cap/closure, and packing.
- Challenge end use. Include fill/product simulant, storage, temperature, humidity, and customer handling where applicable.
Measure printing and package performance
Record wetting voids, foam, microbubbles, pinholes, craters, density/color, gloss, cure/dry, adhesion, overprint/varnish bond, rub/scuff, blocking, COF, squeeze/flex cracking, forming damage, closure integrity, odor, and any product or regulatory test required for the finished tube.
ASTM D5264 provides a comparative abrasion method for printed materials, ASTM D1894 covers static and kinetic friction of plastic film and sheeting, and ASTM D3359 covers tape adhesion ratings on suitable surfaces. Adapt or supplement these methods for curved, flexible, multilayer, or aluminum tube constructions.
Protect regulatory and product-contact requirements
For cosmetic, pharmaceutical, oral-care, food, or other sensitive fills, review the exact print side, barrier, set-off, cure/dry conditions, migration/extractables, customer exclusions, and regional requirements. The EuPIA raw-material selection framework shows why suitability of one raw material does not establish compliance of the finished ink or package.
Do not call an additive food-safe, cosmetic-safe, pharmaceutical-safe, or low-migration from its product family alone. Obtain current statements and test the complete decorated tube.
Common tube-ink false approvals
The flat print passes but cracks after squeezing
Repeat the production film build, cure, forming, and squeeze cycle. Review resin flexibility, adhesion, substrate, and overprint package before increasing a surface additive.
Blocking improves but overprint adhesion falls
Reduce 3501 and repeat the realistic recoat interval, cure, surface preparation, and adhesion test. Handling and overprinting must pass together.
Foam falls but craters increase
Reduce 3062 and review compatibility, contamination, dispersion, dilution, and addition order. Compare after storage as well as immediately after mixing.
Related packaging-ink guides
Use the metal packaging guide for rigid metal decoration, the gravure guide for engraved-cylinder transfer, or the flexographic guide when anilox/flexo conditions control the print.
Request a tube packaging ink trial
Send the tube substrate and treatment, primer/basecoat, ink resin/carrier and pigment, print method, film weight, cure/dry, overprint varnish, forming/closure sequence, defect photos, current additives, fill/end use, and rub/COF/adhesion requirements. Ask Longchang Chemical to compare 2100, 3062, or 3501.