Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Clear vs Rubber Stamps

The cheaper silicone stamps - I don't think will ever stamp as well as rubber. The material just does not exhibit the desired qualities of ink pick up and transfer as rubber. The ink has a tendency to bead up and provide less coverage with the silicone material.

Rubber: the surface of rubber is more porous. If you were to look at the rubber surface under a microscope you would see lots of tiny cups and valleys. This pocketed surface allows rubber to pick up and transfer more ink than the smooth surface of a photopolymer stamp.
Therefore, an image stamped with rubber is always going to be darker and more vibrant - because more ink has been transferred to the stamped surface.

Photopolymer - the surface of a photopolymer stamp is very smooth. It has been formed/hardened against a plate of glass. So the amount of ink that can sit on the surface of the photopolymer stamp is less than what sits on the surface of a rubber stamp.

2 comments:

Aimee said...

I prefer rubber over clear any day!!!

Laserwrite Promotions said...

I definitely think rubber is more superior and longer lasting