Choosing the right emulsion
We get a lot of questions on emulsion, and everyone has their "favorite" one. But at the end of the day, you need to pick the emulsion that is designed to do the job at hand and how your shop operates. Here are some bullet points that will help you pick the right emulsion for your projects.
Diazo Emulsion:
- Textile Emulsion and some use in graphics printing too
- Must use/mix Diazo
- Must work under yellow light
- *Use for Plastisol, Water base or Discharge inks.
- Prior to mixing 1 year shelf life
- Short shelf life after Diazo is mixed (4-6 weeks)
- Widest exposure window
*Straight diazo emulsion can be formulated two different ways by changing the ratios of PVA to PVAc. One way the emulsion is very solvent resistant for use with solvent based inks, but not water resistant.
The other way makes it very water resistant for use with water based inks, but not solvent resistant.
Dual Cure Emulsion:
- Use with many types of inks
- Must use/mix Diazo
- Use for Plastisol, some Water base, Solvent and UV inks
- Must work under yellow light
- Use for Plastisol, Water base, solvent and UV Inks
- Prior to mixing 1 year shelf life
- Short shelf life after Diazo is mixed (4-6 weeks)
- Wide exposure window
Photopolymer Emulsion:
- Do Not Mix - Use straight out of bucket
- Must work under yellow light
- *Use for Plastisol typically
- Must work under yellow light
- Long shelf life
- Fast exposing
- Narrow exposure window