Aquarius High Solids Base - 5KG
Premium high-solids water-based clear mixing base engineered for highly opaque, vibrant color printing with excellent coverage, durability, screen open time, and a soft, flexible hand.
Characteristics
Zodiac™ Aquarius™ High Solids Base from Avient Specialty Inks is a professional water-based screen printing base designed for producing highly opaque custom colors while maintaining a soft, flexible feel on the garment. The Aquarius High Solids system consists of a high-opacity white and clear mixing base formulated for demanding textile printing applications.
The High Solids Base is designed for use with Aquarius Water Based Pigments and supports a maximum pigment loading of 12%. Custom colors can be formulated through Avient's IMS 3.0 Pantone® color-matching system, allowing printers to create consistent production colors while maintaining the system's crock and durability performance.
Aquarius High Solids inks provide excellent opacity, fiber mat-down, screen open time, wash durability, and crock performance. The finished print produces a smooth, matte surface with minimal tack while retaining a flexible hand. The system is designed for applications where strong coverage and durability are required without the heavier feel traditionally associated with highly opaque inks.
The system is primarily suited for 100% cotton, but it can also be used on synthetic fabrics and blends. When printing polyester or other fabrics susceptible to dye migration, use Aquarius Migration Stop as an underbase to help control unwanted dye migration.
- High-solids, water-based clear mixing base
- Produces highly opaque custom colors
- Provides a soft, flexible finished hand
- Smooth, matte print surface with minimal tack
- Excellent fiber mat-down and coverage
- Excellent screen open time and re-wetting characteristics
- Strong wash durability and crock performance
- Maximum recommended Aquarius pigment loading: 12%
- Compatible with the Aquarius IMS 3.0 Pantone® color-matching system
- Suitable for cotton, synthetic fabrics, and blends
- Can be used over Aquarius Migration Stop on polyester and poly blends
- Fast flash performance
- Water-based, non-PVC and non-phthalate formulation
- Available in a 5KG container size
- Aquarius Water Based Pigments: Up to 12% maximum pigment loading
- Aquarius Softener: 1–5%
- Aquarius Thickener: 0.1–1%
- Aquarius Retarder Gel: 1–5%
- Aquarius Migration Stop: Recommended as an underbase on polyester and blends susceptible to dye migration
- Thoroughly mix the High Solids Base before use.
- Mix Aquarius Water Based Pigments into the base according to the desired color formulation.
- Use Avient's IMS 3.0 Pantone® color-matching system when appropriate for consistent color formulation.
- Do not exceed 12% pigment loading, as excessive pigment can negatively affect crock performance.
- For best opacity, use approximately 86–230 threads/in (34–90 threads/cm) mesh.
- Preheat pallets to approximately 140°F (60°C).
- Maintain approximately 1/16" (2 mm) off-contact.
- Two medium-speed print strokes are recommended to clear the mesh and produce an adequate ink deposit.
- Flash at approximately 180–200°F (80–94°C).
- For cotton, cure for approximately 90 seconds at 320°F (160°C).
- For polyester, cure for approximately 90 seconds at 305°F (151°C).
- Verify the actual ink-film temperature during production to ensure proper cure.
- Test production prints for cure, colorfastness, crock performance, and wash durability.
- When printing polyester, nylon, or blends susceptible to dye migration, use Aquarius Migration Stop as an underbase.
- For Aquarius Migration Stop, approximately 86–110 threads/in (34–43 threads/cm) mesh is recommended.
- Keep the ink from drying in the image area during production to help maintain screen open time.
Always verify cure by measuring the actual ink-film temperature. Dryer settings, belt speed, ink deposit, garment construction, and production conditions can affect the amount of time required for the ink film to reach the recommended cure temperature.
When printing on polyester, nylon, or blended fabrics susceptible to dye migration, use Aquarius Migration Stop as an underbase and test the actual production garment before beginning a full production run.
Always test production prints for cure, colorfastness, crock performance, wash durability, and dye migration before beginning full-scale production.
