Date：2025-10-13 11:50:43 from：StarColor Ink
Masks and protective suits, as personal protective equipment in direct contact with human skin, must meet strict requirements for non-irritation, low migration, and environmental safety, in addition to clear and abrasion-resistant printing.
ZhongZhiXing has developed a specialized water-based ink for nonwoven fabrics, featuring skin-friendly safety, strong adhesion, and low VOC emissions. This ink has been successfully applied by many domestic PPE manufacturers, providing a compliant and efficient printing solution for masks and protective suits.
Nonwoven materials—such as PP spunbond and SMS composite fabrics—are core substrates for masks and protective garments. However, their porous structure, low surface tension (28–32 dyn/cm), and poor heat resistance (≤80°C) make conventional inks unsuitable:
Safety Noncompliance:
Solvent-based inks contain aromatic and ester solvents that leave residual odors, causing respiratory discomfort during mask use and even skin irritation when used on protective suits. Such inks fail to meet GB 19083-2010 standards, which require “no odor and no irritation.”
Weak Adhesion and Poor Durability:
Water-based inks often penetrate and lose color due to the fiber gaps in nonwoven fabrics, resulting in weak adhesion (2B). Ink layers easily peel off after folding or ethanol disinfection, causing blurred text on protective garments.
Environmental Compliance Pressure:
Solvent-based inks emit VOCs up to 250–300 g/L. During peak PPE production periods, high emissions risk violating local regulations and require costly VOC treatment systems, increasing production costs.
To address these challenges, ZhongZhiXing developed a dedicated water-based ink system optimized from formulation to process control, perfectly suited for mask and protective suit printing.
Skin-Safe and Non-Irritating:
Uses food-grade acrylic resin (compliant with GB 4806.10-2022) as the binder, with deionized water as the primary solvent. VOC content ≤35 g/L. The printed ink is odorless and passes ISO 10993-10 skin irritation testing with zero sensitization, suitable for direct contact in medical masks and protective suits.
Strong Adhesion and Anti-Peeling:
Incorporates 2% adhesion promoter for nonwovens, allowing the ink to anchor between fibers. Achieves 5B adhesion on PP spunbond nonwoven fabric, with no color loss after 50 wipes with 75% ethanol and no cracking after 100 folds.
Temperature and Disinfection Resistance:
Modified polyurethane monomers expand the temperature range to –10°C to 75°C, tolerating ethylene oxide sterilization (55°C for 2 hours) without discoloration or deformation.
ZhongZhiXing’s water-based ink is compatible with existing flexographic and screen printing lines, common in PPE factories.
Flexo Printing Parameters:
Use 80–100 mesh screens, 60 Shore A squeegee, pressure 1.2–1.5 bar, and ink layer thickness 8–10 μm. Maintains fabric breathability (moisture permeability ≥2000 g/m²·24h), compliant with protective garment standards.
Color Customization:
Available in red, blue, and black, with custom Pantone-matched colors. ΔE ≤0.8 ensures consistent branding across PPE batches.
A Jiangsu-based medical materials company—one of China’s leading mask and protective clothing producers—adopted ZhongZhiXing water-based ink in 2023. The results were transformative in safety, quality, and cost.
Previously, the company used solvent-based inks to print brand logos and standards on masks and suits, which caused odor complaints (20+ per month) and blurring issues after ethanol disinfection, with a 15% rework rate. Environmental inspections also demanded VOC control upgrades.
Enhanced Safety:
Inks printed with ZhongZhiXing showed no odor or irritation, with 0% sensitization in third-party tests. Customer complaints dropped from over 20 per month to just 1–2. The medical mask passed EU CE certification (EN 14683) smoothly.
Stable Quality:
After 100 folds on masks and 50 ethanol wipes on protective suits, printed text remained intact. The rework rate decreased from 15% to 1.2%, and product yield rose to 99.5%.
Cost Optimization:
No need for VOC treatment systems. Ink utilization improved from 80% to 92%, saving approximately USD 40,000 annually in materials and environmental costs. Printing speed increased from 120 m/min to 180 m/min, boosting daily output by 500,000 masks and 10,000 suits, ensuring stable supply during peak demand.
With its proven safety, the company expanded into children’s masks featuring printed cartoon patterns. The non-irritating, non-fading ink gained parental trust, increasing children’s mask sales share from 10% to 35%, opening new market potential.
As global PPE safety regulations tighten, ZhongZhiXing’s water-based ink for nonwoven fabrics offers the perfect balance of safety, performance, and eco-friendliness.
It solves the issues of odor, weak adhesion, and VOC emissions found in traditional inks while boosting efficiency and compliance.
From mask logos to protective suit warnings, ZhongZhiXing provides “non-irritating, durable, and low-emission” printing solutions that protect both people and the planet.
So far, over 20 PPE manufacturers nationwide have adopted ZhongZhiXing inks for medical masks, isolation gowns, and surgical garments—helping safeguard public health through cleaner, safer printing.