Protect your print from Bacteria!

We live in a world that is full of Bacteria. So before I tell you how you can protect your print here is a quick science lesson.

Bacteria cells grow until they double in size. Like all cells, bacteria cells are surrounded by a membrane. When the bacteria cell doubles in size, a membrane grows down its middle. When this membrane is complete, the bacteria splits. This middle membrane becomes the new cell boundary for the new bacteria cells. They separate to become two new bacteria. This process is fairly rapid and requires 6 things to happen. These are Food, Acidity, Temperature, Time, Oxygen, and Moisture.  BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

The point is that as a society we are constantly concerned with minimizing the spread of bacteria. Consumers buy all sorts of specially treated items such as paint, hand gels, clothing, toothpaste and even vacuums that are built with treated plastic parts. These purchases are made because we are concerned about the spread of bacteria. Marketers have capitalized on this and more and more Antimicrobial products have been moved into the mainstream.  In fact just today I saw antimicrobial paper towels. Personally I believe that much of this is overkill. A few germs are good for you and overdoing the whole germ-a-phobe thing may be worse in the long run.

However, there are instances and locations where germs need to be attacked and minimized.  These include and are not limited to the following:

• Medical and Dental Offices
• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Laboratories
• Long-Term Care Facilities
• Restaurants and Food Service 

In all these locations bacteria is a concern. These locations already do a significant amount to reduce the spread of bacteria. Now, they can do more.

Together with our partners, LCP has created Pro-TekCoat.

Pro-TekCoat is an aqueous based print coating that uses silver ion antimicrobial technology to protect the coating layer of a printed piece. It works on both coated and uncoated stocks and has been laboratory tested. In the chart below you can see the results showing Pro-TekCoat to be 99.9% effective at reducing bacteria after a 24hr test when compared to a control (ISO 20743 – test).

In order to help you differentiate your collateral and let others know you are doing all you can to keep your printed piece clean, LCP also will make available to you a logo much like a recycle logo for you to print on your collateral. 



Please feel free to ask any questions in the comment area of this post or email me your questions at jjh@lakecountypress.com