Pad Printing Silicone hardness is a key parameter affecting print quality, pad service life and production cost, many companies do not pay enough attention to hardness selection when purchasing pad printing silicone, leading to unsatisfactory printing effect or too short pad service life. Shenzhen Hongyejie Technology Co., Ltd. Hongye Silicone, combining nearly 20 years of pad printing silicone R&D and application experience, introduces basic knowledge of pad printing silicone hardness, impact of hardness on printing effect, how to choose appropriate hardness pad for different products, helping companies correctly select.
Basic Knowledge of Pad Printing Silicone Hardness
Pad printing silicone hardness is usually expressed in Shore A, larger value means higher hardness and harder pad, smaller value means lower hardness and softer pad. Hongye Silicone pad printing silicone series offers four standard hardness models, 901 economical type 23 Shore A, 912 multi color eco friendly general purpose type 25 Shore A, 902 high wear resistant long life type 28 Shore A, 916 extra soft type 16 Shore A, covering full scenario requirements from extra soft to high hard, companies can choose appropriate hardness based on product shape and printing requirements.
Hardness directly affects pad deformation ability, wear resistance, ink pick-up and release performance and service life. Higher hardness pads have dense texture, good wear resistance, long service life and high pattern clarity, but relatively weaker deformation ability, not suitable for large radius curved products. Lower hardness pads are soft with strong deformation ability and good conformability, suitable for large radius curved and irregular products, but relatively weaker wear resistance with shorter service life, pattern clarity may be slightly affected.
Impact of Hardness on Printing Effect
Impact of hardness on printing effect mainly reflects in following aspects. First, pattern clarity, higher hardness pads have dense texture with more stable ink pick-up and release, sharper pattern edges, suitable for fine patterns and text printing; lower hardness pads have soft texture with slightly blurred pattern edges, suitable for large area color blocks and simple patterns.
Second, product conformability, lower hardness pads have strong deformation ability, can fully conform to large radius curved, deep concave and irregular surfaces, ensuring complete pattern transfer; higher hardness pads have limited deformation ability, may 出现局部接触不充分 on large radius curved surfaces, causing pattern missing or unevenness.
Third, pad service life, higher hardness pads have good wear resistance and strong tear resistance with long service life, suitable for high volume continuous production; lower hardness pads are soft with relatively weaker wear resistance and shorter service life, requiring more frequent replacement.
Fourth, printing pressure, higher hardness pads require larger printing pressure to ensure full contact, lower hardness pads can fully conform with smaller pressure, different requirements for printing equipment pressure adjustment.
How to Choose Appropriate Hardness for Different Products
Based on product shape and printing requirements, choosing appropriate hardness pad printing silicone is key to ensuring print quality.
Flat products and small curvature curved products, such as stationery, tools, hardware, electronics housings, flat gifts, with relatively flat surface or only slight curvature, recommend medium to high hardness models such as Hongye 902 (28 Shore A) or 912 (25 Shore A). Medium to high hardness pads have good wear resistance, clear patterns and long service life, with sufficient conformability on flat and small curvature surfaces, best choice for these products. Among them, high volume continuous production with high pad life requirement choose 902, export requiring eco certification choose 912.
Medium curvature curved products, such as toy figurine bodies, curved gifts, round product sides, with certain curvature but not particularly large, recommend general purpose medium hardness such as Hongye 912 (25 Shore A) or 901 (23 Shore A). Medium hardness balances deformation ability and wear resistance, can conform to medium curvature curved surfaces while ensuring pattern clarity and pad life, strong adaptability, general choice for most products.
Large radius curved and irregular products, such as spherical products, humanoid figurine faces, animal shape toys, deep concave products, irregular shaped gifts, with large surface curvature or irregular shape requiring strong pad deformation ability to fully conform, recommend extra soft Hongye 916 (16 Shore A). Extra soft pads have strong deformation ability with elongation ≥400%, can fully wrap large radius and irregular surfaces ensuring complete pattern transfer, only reliable choice for large radius curved products.
Multi color overprinting products, such as toys, gifts, stationery requiring multiple colors, recommend hardness selection based on base color and pattern area. Large area color blocks can choose slightly softer pads to ensure uniform inking, fine patterns and text can choose slightly harder pads to ensure clarity. Multi color overprinting requires high pad batch consistency, recommend models with stable batch quality such as Hongye 912, ensuring consistent pad performance across different batches for accurate overprinting.
Export products requiring eco certification, such as toys, electronics, gifts, children products exported to Europe and America, must pass RoHS and REACH eco certification, recommend Hongye 912 multi color eco friendly general purpose type, RoHS and REACH certified with test reports available, meeting export requirements, multiple colors available with stable batch quality, reliable choice for export companies.
Hongye Silicone Four Models Hardness Features Comparison
Hongye Silicone pad printing silicone series offers four standard hardness models covering full scenario requirements. 901 economical type 23 Shore A, entry-level preferred, simple operation high cost-performance, suitable for newcomers, small batch multi-product and cost-sensitive companies. 912 multi color eco friendly general purpose type 25 Shore A, RoHS and REACH certified, multiple colors available stable batch quality, golden general purpose hardness handles flat and small curvature surfaces, suitable for export toys, gifts, electronics, stationery. 902 high wear resistant long life type 28 Shore A, highest hardness best wear resistance, long service life, suitable for high volume continuous production, high frequency pressing, stationery and tools industry. 916 extra soft type 16 Shore A, strongest deformation ability, suitable for large radius curved, deep concave and irregular products.
Companies can comprehensively consider based on product shape, printing requirements, production volume and eco needs when selecting, if unsure contact Hongye Silicone technical support, provide product samples and printing requirements, technical engineers will recommend most suitable model. Hongye Silicone also provides 1kg trial kit, companies can trial first to confirm effect before bulk purchase, reducing selection risk.
Hongye Silicone Technical Support and Service
Hongye Silicone has focused on
liquid silicone for over 20 years, providing full range pad printing silicone products and technical support for various industries. The company has professional technical service team with average industry experience over 10 years, providing full technical support from model selection guidance to process optimization, including recommending appropriate hardness pads based on product shape and printing conditions, pad mold design review, printing parameter adjustment, common issue troubleshooting, helping companies correctly select, improve print quality and reduce production cost.
As pad printing industry continues to develop with increasing requirements for pad printing silicone performance and eco standards, Hongye Silicone will continue R&D and innovation, providing higher quality, more eco friendly, higher cost-performance pad printing silicone products and solutions for various industries. Whether you are small batch multi-product gift company or high volume continuous production stationery toy company, Hongye Silicone can provide suitable pad printing silicone products and professional technical service.
Shenzhen Hong Ye Jie Technology Co., Ltd
