Available from the company with immediate effect, Safe to Touch Print is an antibacterial print coating that works by deactivating all current common pathogens.
The manufacturer said it had carried out successful trials across the UK for the product, which uses a combination of BPR approved ingredients.
Features of the coating, which is available in matt, gloss, double-sided silk, soft-touch matt and low-migration finishes, include a kill rate of 99.99% of bacteria, viruses and fungi, which makes all printed surfaces coated with the product effective within four minutes. This protection lasts for the entire lifetime of the print, the company said.
The coatings are suitable for medical and hospital documents, pharmaceutical printing, non-food packaging, menus and stationery or for applications such as airline magazines, which are likely to be handled by hundreds of people.
According to Ultrachem, feedback from recent print trials has shown that the product does not affect the runnability, drying characteristics, appearance, consistency and final printed result.
Ultrachem director Janet Brinton said: “This product has been a long time in development, but we wanted to guarantee to our customers that the final product would meet their quality expectations.
“Safe to Touch Print coatings are a unique way for a printer to add value to their finished items and to differentiate them from their competitors. Customers can even add the logo indicating Safe to Touch Print has been used on a particular piece of work.”
Ultrachem, which supplies offset, heatset, coldset and flexo print businesses both in the UK and internationally, recently relocated to a new 2,044sqm site in Enfield to consolidate its operations. The business has also recently started stocking and promoting the Van Son VS range of sheetfed inks and Actega Colorchemie water-based inks.
Established in 1981, the firm has 70 staff and a turnover of around £14m. It specialises in the manufacture of water-based coatings, UV lacquers, UV inks, founts, washes and pre-press chemistry as well as solvent blending and blanket conversion.
