Wax
What is a wax ribbon?
A wax ribbon is a ribbon coated with an ink made with wax-based components. Wax ribbons are the most popular thermal transfer ribbon for thermal transfer printers. Wax-based inks have a good adhesion on almost all types of substrates and are suitable for printing barcodes and other types of labels.
Wax ribbons will deliver a great print quality on the following label materials:
- Rough vellum papers
- Matte coated papers
- Glossy coated papers
What are the typical uses of wax Thermal Transfer ribbons for barcode printers?
- Storage
- Shipping
- Crate
- Distribution labels
- Tags
- Bag of parts/products
- Signage and logos
What are the advantages of wax Thermal Transfer ribbons?
Ideal for short-term use
Good ink blackness, even on rough label materials like vellum.
Low energy required to transfer the ink, helping to extend the print head life time.
Good printing quality: ensures good readability/scanning of barcodes, digits and characters.
Competitive ribbons: lower prices than wax-resin and resin ribbons.
Fast print speed up to 12 ips depending on the label/ribbon combination.
Receptor multi-compatibility: the ink has good adhesion on coated or uncoated labels.
What makes a wax ribbon different from wax-resin and resin ribbon?
- Print durability: It’s a softer ink more vulnerable to scratching and smudging. For applications requiring a more durable ink, it will be appropriate to use wax-resin or resin ribbons.
- Printer compatibility: Wax ribbons are working on Flat-head printers, whereas Wax-resin and Resin ribbons can also run on Near-Edge printers.
- Printhead heat setting: Wax inks have a lower melting point temperature compared to Wax-resin and Resin ribbons. They impose less stress to the printhead.
- Label compatibility: Wax ribbons are suitable for uncoated or matte coated surfaces. For synthetic labels, Wax-resin and Resin ribbons are more suitable.
ARMOR-IIMAK Wax ribbons
The AWR®/AWX® range of Wax Thermal Transfer films is an economical label printing solution using flat head thermal printers. ARMOR-IIMAK Wax ribbons offer particularly high levels of performance for printing entry-level or coated paper labels.
They have been designed to offer ribbon users optimum protection of the print head.
The various Wax Thermal Transfer ribbons vary according to the amount of print energy they require, by their darkness and by their level of resistance to abrasion.
Among the ARMOR-IIMAK range, wax ribbons are available with a specific cost/performance ratio:
Wax ribbons are also available in a variety of colors to suit a multitude of applications.
Need more information?
