Flexographic printing ink

Abstract

A flexographic printing ink comprising a solvent, a colorant, a binder and additives, wherein the solvent is essentially water; the colorant is a water-soluble dye or a mixture of such dyes dissolved in the solvent; the binder is selected from (meth)acrylic resins dispersed in the solvent at a pH above 7, preferably at pH about 8-9; and the additives include a wax selected from the group consisting of polyolefin waxes, paraffin waxes, and mixed polyolefin and paraffin waxes dispersed in the solvent. A flexographic printing ink concentrate for preparing this printing ink comprising the components mentioned above, wherein the amount of solvent is reduced by about 1-20%, preferably 5-20%, compared with the amount of solvent in a flexographic printing ink ready for use. A method for printing a substrate by the flexographic printing process which method comprises applying the flexographic ink to the substrate and subjecting the applied ink to conditions sufficient to fix the print, and substrate having a permanent print thereon which is derived from the flexographic printing ink.