LithoTrol is a high-performance additive used to reduce excessive water pickup in any type of lithographic or web offset ink. Typically, 0.5 to 1.0% of LithoTrol added to any ink with a "Duke" water pickup of 100% or more will see a reduction to 35-55% water pickup. Results vary by the type of fountain solution used.

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How do you know you need LithoTrol? The simplest way is to perform an ink/water emulsification test prior to running a new formula on an actual printing press. To perform an official "Duke" test, you'll need a Duke™ Ink/Water Emulsification tester. A Duke water pickup of more than 80% in 5 minutes is an indicator that you will need to use a water pickup control agent like LithoTrol. Another way to determine if you need LithoTrol is when your client complains of your ink "piling" or building up a gummy gel on the press's rollers, especially during a long run.

This many times means that the ink is emulsifying excessively and that the ink is full of water, which makes the ink very short in flow and gummy in texture. Less often, the water will "wash out" the ink due to the ink not having enough viscosity and tack to counter the fountain solution effectively. Inks with low tack & viscosity will especially benefit if it can be proven that they have too much water pickup. Inks treated with LithoTrol resist changes in viscosity and flow much better than an ink without LithoTrol.

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LithoTrol XC is our super-concentrated water-fighting additive for most litho inks, including many energy-curable formulas  LithoTrol XC uses stabilized nonionic surfactants to achieve instant reductions in excessive ink/water emulsification brought on by the presence of hydrophilic substances such as high polarity resins and pigments.

LithoTrol XC is a thin fluid, so it can be easily incorporated into most paste inks. LithoTrol XC is compatible with most conventional oil-based ink formulas, including coldset, heatset, sheetfed lithographic & business forms web offset. Additionally, LithoTrol XC is compatible with most acrylated monomers and many acrylated oligomers such as expoies and polyesters: especially those oligomers with low-medium moelcular weight which can sometimes cause ink/water balance problems.

Dosage of LithoTrol XC is usually between 0.5% and 1.5% by weight in the formula. LithoTrol XC works equally well in acid and neutral fountain solutions. LithoTrol comes in the form of a medium viscosity clear fluid that can be easily stirred in to any offset paste ink. Its use at recommended levels usually does not affect ink tack or viscosity noticeably.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Active ingredient: Hydrophobic Polyoxyalkane compounds
Active Content: 90+%
Solvent/VOC Content: 0%
Vehicle type: Quickset/Heatset/Energy-Curable Multipurpose
Appearance: Clear Fluid