Keeping up Appearances

For water-based adhesives, a near-requirement for ideal aesthetic quality is corona-treated film, in addition to standard good film/ink/adhesive compatability, and proper selection of adhesive products, maintains H.B. Fuller's Tom Rolando, program technical manager, Flexible Packaging Adhesives & Coatings Group. He stresses coating weight control in any adhesive application: "It is best to pre-qualify adhesives with inks and coatings on a lab scale or pilot line prior to any production work to determine the compatibility of chemistry involved."