Choose screen ink additives by the first failed stage: substrate wetting, printed-film leveling, or foam control. CHLUMIWE® 3280 is the screen-ink wetting route, CHLUMILE® 3432 is the broad leveling route, and CHLUMIAF® 3062 is the printing-ink defoamer route. Every trial must preserve mesh release, edge definition, opacity, cure, and adhesion.
Before changing chemistry, stabilize mesh and stencil, off-contact, squeegee hardness/angle/speed, flood stroke, ink temperature and viscosity, substrate treatment, film deposit, flash, and cure. An additive cannot reliably repair a damaged stencil, poor snap-off, uncontrolled rheology, or insufficient radiation/thermal drying.
Screen ink additive decision map
| First repeatable failure | First route | Print guardrail |
|---|---|---|
| Ink pulls back, leaves voids, or wets the substrate unevenly | CHLUMIWE® 3280 | Stencil/mesh release, edge definition, foam, adhesion, and blocking |
| Deposit transfers but retains flow lines, orange peel, or uneven gloss | CHLUMILE® 3432 | Print height, line resolution, slumping, overprint, and recoatability |
| Mixing or printing produces persistent bubbles or pinholes | CHLUMIAF® 3062 | Craters, opacity, compatibility, and storage stability |
| Ürün | Published system fit | Supplier starting guidance | Best first-screen role |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHLUMIWE® 3280 | UV, solvent, and water-based; screen-printing ink wetting agent | 0.2–3%; grind, stir, or post-add | Difficult-substrate wetting with a process-specific product starting point |
| CHLUMILE® 3432 | UV, çözücü ve su bazlı | 0.05–1%; any stage | Leveling and printed-surface appearance after transfer is stable |
| CHLUMIAF® 3062 | UV, çözücü ve su bazlı | 0.1–0.5% for printing inks | Foam and microbubble control with compatibility checks |
Use 3280 when substrate wetting fails
3280 is a polyether-modified polysiloxane whose product page explicitly includes screen-printing ink wetting. It is listed for water, solvent, and UV systems with a 0.2–3% starting range and surface tension no more than 25 mN/m.
Verify substrate treatment, cleanliness, and ink rheology before dosing. Compare a blank with a short ladder and record wetting voids, edge definition, mesh/stencil release, foam, opacity, print height, blocking, adhesion, and downstream coating or lamination. The wider supplier range is not a reason to begin at the maximum.
Use 3432 when the deposit needs controlled leveling
3432 should move first when transfer is already complete but the deposited film retains flow lines, orange peel, or uneven gloss. It is 100% active and listed for water, solvent, and UV systems at 0.05–1%.
Screen printing often relies on controlled rheology and deposit height. Excess flow can reduce edge sharpness, close fine features, or increase slumping. Measure leveling together with line/halftone resolution, print height, opacity, sag, tack, cure, adhesion, and recoatability.
Use 3062 when bubbles are the first failure
3062 is a nonionic, 100% active polyether-modified polysiloxane with a published 0.1–0.5% printing-ink range. Diagnose whether air enters during pigment dispersion, let-down, recirculation, squeegee action, or substrate porosity before testing it.
Use a defined agitation or print cycle and record foam generation, foam decay, microbubbles, pinholes, craters, opacity, gloss, density, and storage stability. If the product is solvent-diluted, the supplier calls for separate stability and defoaming-performance checks.
Build a repeatable screen-print trial
- Lock the ink. Hold resin, pigment, solids, pH where relevant, viscosity/rheology method, and temperature constant.
- Lock the screen. Use the same mesh count, thread, tension, stencil thickness, image, and cleaning history.
- Lock printing. Fix off-contact, squeegee hardness/angle/speed/pressure, flood stroke, print passes, and dwell.
- Lock cure. Record flash, oven or UV source, irradiance/dose where applicable, and line speed.
- Change one route at a time. Compare a blank and two or three levels inside current supplier guidance.
Measure transfer, cure, and end use
Record screen release, ink buildup, line and halftone resolution, edge definition, deposit thickness, opacity/density, wetting voids, foam, pinholes, craters, leveling, gloss, tack, cure, adhesion, flexibility, blocking, rub/scuff, and overprint or laminate performance. Repeat after production-relevant ink dwell on screen and after storage.
ASTM D5264 provides a comparative abrasion method for printed materials, ASTM D3359 describes tape adhesion ratings on suitable surfaces, and ASTM D5402 describes solvent-rub assessment for chemically curing organic coatings. D5402 also cautions that solvent resistance alone does not prove full cure. Choose methods suitable for the ink/substrate and define conditioning and pass/fail criteria.
Protect packaging and restricted-use requirements
For packaging, labels, or sensitive articles, review print side, cure/dry conditions, set-off, barrier, customer exclusions, migration risk, and regional requirements. The EuPIA raw-material selection framework explains why suitability of one raw material does not by itself establish compliance of the finished ink or printed article.
Obtain current regulatory statements and test the finished construction. Do not infer food-contact suitability, low migration, or medical suitability from an additive family name.
Common screen-print troubleshooting patterns
Wetting improves but fine edges spread
Reduce 3280 and recheck viscosity/rheology, stencil, off-contact, squeegee settings, substrate energy, and cure timing. Wetting and resolution must pass together.
Leveling improves but deposit height falls
Reduce 3432 and review the rheology target. A surface-control additive cannot be approved if it changes the geometry needed for opacity, conductivity, or tactile build.
Foam falls but craters appear
Reduce 3062 and review dispersion, compatibility, contamination, and addition order. Confirm the result after ink dwell and storage, not only immediately after mixing.
Related printing-ink guides
Use the gravure ink guide for engraved-cylinder transfer, the flexographic ink guide for anilox/flexo conditions, or the UV ink photoinitiator guide when spectral overlap and cure depth are the first problem.
Request a screen ink additive comparison
Send the resin and carrier, pigment, solids and rheology data, substrate and treatment, mesh/stencil, squeegee and print settings, deposit thickness, flash/cure, defect photos, current additives, and required adhesion/rub/overprint tests. Ask Longchang Chemical for a 3280, 3432, or 3062 screen-ink trial.