Pad printing is the ideal process for printing on many surfaces. One of which is glass. Many decorators don’t know this and don’t take advantage of pad printing for their glass decorating needs. What decorators don’t know that printers do is that there are a couple of varieties of ink that is available and suitable for pad printing that are also fireable.
One way to use pad printing on glass is a solvent-based ink that contains glass frit and ceramic pigment. This method is somewhat difficult to use. Another option is thermoplastic inks, which have wax-like characteristics at ambient temperatures. When their temperature is raised they flow like a liquid ink.
Using these inks requires using pad printing presses that can be fitted with special heaters to keep the ink liquid. When it comes into contact with the glass bottle or container causes it begins to cool and transfer to the glass surface. Before beginning a project, check with your printer to see if their presses are capable of being fitted with the heaters.
Tags: inks on glass, pad print on glass
