Digital BW, The Print

Thanks Paul. I believe Tilex has changed the formulation of their
product since I first used it. I just looked at a new bottle in the
grocery store and see that it now has tetrapotassium EDTA listed on
the bottle as well. The original supply I have been using did not show
that. It's surfactant was alkyl polyglycoside along with the isopropyl
alcohol. Both in a range of 1 to 5%.
Interestingly enough, a search on this surfactant led to studies
showing that it functioned in much the same way as the polymer
coatings you mentioned the other day, when used in small
concentrations. It surface coats the particles and prevents clumping.

I haven't yet had time to do much work with it but did use it to make
a base dilution for your carbon six set just to tinker. One thing I
did observe was that it took some time for it to do it's thing. The
initial mix tended to leave a thin coat of pigment on the side of the
poly bottle, as do all of the inks I've seen to date. However, after
sitting for a couple of days, there was a marked change and that no
longer happened. The ink now drains completely into the bottom and no
longer leaves any residue on the side of the bottle. Sometime over the
next few months I'll investigate it a bit more.

Regards
Duane




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "pr_roark"
<pr_roark@...> wrote:
>
>  "dlruckus" <dlruckus@> wrote:
> >
> > ... I was looking for commonly available products that contained
> > surfactants possibly suitable for use in ink dilutions.
> > The Tilex MSDS showed one of interest to me. 
> > That, along with the fact that it's only
> > other listed ingredient besides H2O was the isopropyl, 
> > led me to give it a try. 
> 
> It does have fragrances in it.  
> 
> > Unless you are a commercial or educational enterprise, it's
> > often difficult to get access to small quantities of this sort of
> > chemical.
> 
> Edwal LFN wetting agent is a relatively concentrated possibility that 
> has been used for photography for some time.  See
> http://www.digitaltruth.com/products/msds/LFNWettingAgent.pdf
> 
> It appears to have 3 different ethoxylated linear alcohols (<35%) as 
> well as isopropyl (<15%).  These types of alcohols are mentioned 
> often with respect to inkjet and other surfactant needs.  
> 
> I mention it mostly because it is one of the possibilities I've 
> considered testing for use in inks.  I have not yet tried it.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>