Tips for Selecting Pad Durometers

Choosing your pad printing pad durometer should be taken care of by the company you are purchasing the pads from. However, it is always a good idea to be somewhat aware of the process. The following is a list of our top tips for choosing pad durometers:

• Use hard pads for textured surfaces. You can also use them when you need to print an image in a lower-leveled area next to a raised surface. The pad will have to roll over the “step”.
• Hard pads can be used in a pad “nest” or matrix, when you need to use one machine with many pads that are placed with small gaps between them e.g. when printing computer keyboards.
• Softer pads are ideal when printing onto heavily contoured surfaces and fragile items.
• Use a softer pad if the power of your machine can’t compress the pad adequately to achieve a satisfactory rolling action.
• Try as much as possible to avoid using pads of different hardness on the same application. The thickness of the ink deposit will vary on the substrate. This is particularly true when dealing with a pad matrix.

For more information about choosing the correct pad durometer, please contact our pad printing support team: [email protected]