They are rugged, extremely shiny and have a noble character – modern UV coatings. They add an extra aspect to the surface finishing while combining an exclusive look with a high level of scratch resistance and economic advantages. The surfaces are more durable and significantly less expensive than conventional film lamination.

In addition, the multitude of effects possible with UV coating cannot really be surpassed by other methods. The various matte, gloss or relief textures possible lend a special touch and with that an especially high recognition value.
From a technical point of view, the advantages are also obvious: For the printing industry, aspects emerge such as energy-saving curing processes, the ability to immediately continue processing, and a high level of chemical resistance. If the only criterion is simple and inexpensive protective coating, dispersion varnish remains the medium of choice.

Minimization of Migration

The question on migration minimization is especially important in the production of food packaging. There are various factors that can promote migration from food packaging, for example unsuitable UV inks and UV coatings or UV inks or coatings that have not cured completely. The printing substrate must also be suitable. It is important to note that in the recycling of paper and cardboard anything applied to the material will be present in the recyclate. An overly absorbent printing substrate might allow liquid UV curing substances to penetrate, which would prevent them from curing completely. The bottom line is: Professional handling during the entire supply chain is imperative when using UV coatings in the area of food packaging. With enough attention to these risk factors, however, migration from food packaging can be reduced to a minimum.

Environmentally-Friendly Solution

Traditionally most reflective, high-gloss, silver-coloured finishes have been realised with vacuum-metallized foils, metallized film lamination on cardboard or foil embossing. These conventional methods, however, harbour disadvantages in regard to environmental and sustainability aspects: They require complex and costly waste processing and generate a large amount of waste that is difficult to return to the cycle. Thus UV-curing metallic coatings also represent an environmentally friendly alternative to inline film lamination with excellent effects, which requires minimal investment costs and offers optimised economic efficiency.

Enticing

Now nothing stands in the way of enticing the consumer, neither economically nor ecologically. This is, for many manufacturers, the starting point for developing new products in the area of surface finishing. The latest innovation from Henkel is a 100-percent stable, UV-curing, silver-coloured single-component coating that uses highly reflective, micro-fine aluminium flakes and goes by the name of "MiraFoil". This silver UV coating is storable, machine-ready, and can be processed with the same processing speed as conventional UV varnishes in standard printing presses. Next to the naturally shiny silver colour, several further metallic effects can be achieved, such as gold nuances for example, by printing transparent or opaque colours on top of the cured silver finish. The new UV coating should allow many jobs to be processed inline at the same time, regardless of the products, assuming that the machines are configured accordingly. This saves time and money, and is better for the environment because there is no more embossing and trimming waste.