What does alcohol-free mean in relation to printing and why is alcohol damaging to the environment?
Alcohol in printing is used to make water wetter. This means that the water is smoother and more fluid and spreads across the surface of the plate evenly. Printing plates have an image area that attracts oil (ink) and a non-image area that attracts water. Getting the balance right between water and ink is half the battle of getting good quality print. Most printers use alcohol to help them with this and if a printer is having problems in this area they will often increase the level of the alcohol to get over the problem and continue printing. However, the solvents in alcohol are incredibly damaging on the environment and the operators. You only need to take the lid off a permanent marker and breathe in the fumes to understand the damage that continual exposure to alcohol vapour can cause. ecoDesign ecoPrint uses an alternative dampening solution that allows us to run alcohol-free. We have been running our presses alcohol-free since the year 2000.
