This Monday I worked with Peter, a screen printing expert on my reflective strips. We tested two different inks: the Matsui and the ChromaZone.
I bought the Matsui ink in a very nice turquoise blue to be activated at 27 degrees and a black with an activation temperature of 25 degrees.
The Dutch firm Blanken Controls was very kind and send me a sample set of pigments and binders of the ChromaZone ink. I used the black which activates at 31, it came with two different binders which we tried both.
We started with the Matsui. I tried mixing the blue with black but it didn’t give me the rich dark blue I was hoping for. We soon discovered that the ink wasn’t at all opaque. Adding more pigment and printing several layers helped a little but I want a smooth, opaque plane. But neither the blue nor the black was satisfying.
How different it was with the ChromaZone! The first attempt yielded an almost perfect opaque result. There wasn’t any difference between the textile and screen binder as far as I can tell. Applying two layers creates a deep black but when heating with the conductive fabric is does lose a lot of the reflective qualities so I’ll have to settle for one layer, which is enough. After taking a strip with me it does appear to be brittle when it folds.
Yesterday I’ve been hunting for UV protection varnish. It’s had to find for this material and use but I’ll find something. To be continued.