UV and 2k clear, additives etc

[Chipper]

I'm making some waterslide decals that will live under clearcoat. Home-printed on inkjet. So I'm wondering about UV additives, except they're lots of money. And it doesn't seem poss to discover how much extra UV protection they actually give and what is normal for a 2k clear anyway, so praps it's just not worth it.

These things will live indoors so won't see tons of direct sunlight (not that any of us do really...).

I see 1k smart clears said to be anti-UV, wonder why the anti UV especially mentioned in the name.

So.. over to the panel... additive, SMART UV, or 2k and no additive?

 

[the snooper]

you may well find that as soon as you apply any solvent based lacquer over inkjet print it will start to bleed all over the place

 

[Chipper]

I'll mist it, or I have waterbase trans base if needs be as an intercoat. Folk seem to do it even with rattle cans though so reckon I'll be OK if I go easy on it.

 

[langy]

Not tried inkjet but I've lacquered in plenty of old 60's water slides with 2k clear but you need to dust it on real dry

 

[Chipper]

Cheers, I've done modern ones, they weren't too fussy but did mist coats etc and all fine. Not worried about the decals, just about whether I need UV additive. Though at the moment given the price of the stuff I'm thinking leave it. Or for tenner for a litre of SMART UV clear, an intercoat of that if I can be rrsed.

 

[langy]

Cheers, I've done modern ones, they weren't too fussy but did mist coats etc and all fine. Not worried about the decals, just about whether I need UV additive. Though at the moment given the price of the stuff I'm thinking leave it. Or for tenner for a litre of SMART UV clear, an intercoat of that if I can be rrsed.

I'm just thinking that a decent quality 2k clear like Maxiclear should have good UV quality already in it as basecoat doesn't fade.

 

[langy]

Cheers, I've done modern ones, they weren't too fussy but did mist coats etc and all fine. Not worried about the decals, just about whether I need UV additive. Though at the moment given the price of the stuff I'm thinking leave it. Or for tenner for a litre of SMART UV clear, an intercoat of that if I can be rrsed.

The problem i had with old waterslides is that the glue tends to go off due to the age of them and they don't stick so well, the 2k clear over them seems to do the trick fine though.

 

[Chipper]

Reckon I'll go with that, the less faff the better - got Maxiclear as well.

 

[anjum]

I recently lacquer some labels printed on an inkjet, no problems with the ink running.

 

[zx9]

The UV stability will depend on the printer used, some of the high end photo printers from Canon and Epson are rated as fade free for 100 years but that is not 100 years of direct sunlight.

 

[Chipper]

Thanks Anjum. Z that's pretty amazing.. my printer isn't that spec but we'll give it a shot and see how it turns out.