Abstract |
The paper discusses a demonstration of waterbased platen adhesives as a viable alternative to the organic-based aerosol adhesives that are predominantly used by garment screen printers to affix garments or fabric pieces to print platens. To demonstrate this, the effectiveness of six waterbased platen adhesives was evaluated, compared to each other and to an aerosol adhesive, during actual manufacturing runs at a garment screen printing facility. Quantitative data concerning the amount used during printing, the cost, and the constituents of each adhesive were collected so that emission estimates and comparative cost analyses could be completed. Demonstration results show that waterbased platen adhesives can perform effectively in garment screen printing operations when applied by an automatic spray system. In addition, waterbased products that contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) appear to be at least equal in performance to those waterbased products that contain VOCs. No-VOC waterbased adhesives are also the least expensive to use. There are several limitations to the study results. |