Digital BW, The Print

Duane wrote:

> I believe Tilex has changed the formulation ...
> it now has tetrapotassium EDTA listed ...
> 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.

These surfactants are where a whole lot of action is.  They all coat 
things.  It's how they work.  With one end being hydrophobic (not 
liking water) and one end being hydrophilic (liking water), they tend 
to line up at the edges of water and other substances, including 
pigment particles.  All of our pigment particles have always 
been "coated" in this sense.  Balancing the various characteristics 
of these substances to get the gloss (or lack thereof), 
dispersion/stabilization, and adhesion one is after is how the 
various companies pay their bills.   

Although finding the cocktail that does what one wants becomes very 
tricky with the pigments, for cleaning I suspect a lot of them will 
work well.


> ...  The ink now drains completely into the bottom and no
> longer leaves any residue on the side of the bottle. 

Interesting.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com