Packaging board does two jobs at once. It has to protect what is inside the carton, and it has to sell it – which means a bright, smooth surface that takes ink cleanly. For most board mills, the coating section decides whether the board meets the brand owner’s expectations.
Our coating range is built around clay. Kaolite-90 is an ultra-fine, spray-dried coating clay that many mills now use in place of imported Kaofine-90 grade clay, and KCC Fines from IRC Group is a premium coating kaolin for top coats. For general coating and pre-coat, we supply coating clay in powder and lumps, along with GCC powder and titanium dioxide for extra brightness and opacity.
Building a better coating colour
- Binders – PIDICRYL 128-M acrylic binder from Pidilite, with oxidised starch as a co-binder.
- Dispersion – PIDICRYL 6250 and PIDICRYL 6300J for high-solids, low-viscosity coating colour.
- Runnability and finish – SAPCOTE C-104 calcium stearate lubricant to reduce dusting and improve gloss.
- Water resistance – PIDIFIX 361 as an insolubiliser.
- Brightness – optical whitening agents.
Underneath the coating, board still needs stiffness. Our dry strength resin and cationic starch help mills build strength in the middle and back layers, especially when running recycled fibre.
Share your current coating recipe and we will suggest where our clays and binders can improve quality or reduce cost.