We already had the most comprehensive range of cationic dyes for paper in the world. But the introduction of Cartasol Red K-3BN and Cartasol Scarlet K-2GL makes this range unbeatable.

Both are brand new molecules and unique to Clariant. They are based on environmentally-friendly chemistry, which makes them not only compliant with EU legislation but also with the ETAD code of ethics. Products of our advanced research and development programme, they offer significant benefits over traditional products including outstanding bleedfastness without the need for a fixative.

But the story doesn’t start or end there... there’s so much more to the research and reasons for continuously developing new paper dyestuffs at the forefront of technology.

Our goal is to sustain and grow our business with novel products from our intensive, innovative research programme. We strive to be the leaders in technical advancement, with new shades and improved economic efficiency, showing ecological and toxicological perfection. We even go so far as to displace technically inferior products with more advanced alternatives that are still economically interesting to the customer.

Our target for technical excellence for paper dyestuffs ensures that our products achieve the highest fastness properties, cleanest backwaters, shade stability, high substantivity and remain economically attractive.

In addition to these targets, we aim to make the products environmentally sound by looking to formulate products that are active content and water only. They must have reduced metal contents to ensure ISEGA/BfR compliance, low Nitrogen and COD contents and, of course, no hazardous amines.

Clariant is dedicated to ensuring the products sold meet the highest international environmental demands. As an active member of ETAD, Clariant is committed to ensuring that products on our ranges are in line with the latest environmental regulations. This means use of our products can assist our customers in achieving internationally recognised eco-labels.

International regulations are constantly changing and being updated, sometimes resulting in accepted products no longer being deemed acceptable, due to environmental or toxicological reasons. The final molecule itself or any one of the many raw materials used in the manufacture of the product can be deemed potentially problematic. As a result, these products need to be withdrawn from the range, to be replaced with products that no longer contain such materials. Replacing these products is not a simple task; it requires intensive research and sophisticated technology to come up with ways to produce similar coloured dyestuffs with equal or better properties, but with substituted raw materials.

Clariant has dedicated paper dyestuff research and development departments, based in Reinach, Switzerland. Here, the teams of researchers work on hundreds of new molecules each year to find those most suited to paper applications. It’s a difficult and demanding job, but the results speak for themselves as new products advance the boundaries of dyestuff chemistry.

Cartasol Red K-3BN liquid and Cartasol Scarlet K-2GL liquid are a tribute to these efforts. Both are patented molecules, based on the latest technology, resulting in cationic direct dyes that meet our customers’ needs on an ongoing basis. We’ve pinned back the eco-tox issues with these two new products.

Dyestuffs consisting of active content and water only, such as Cartasol Brilliant Blue RF and Cartasol Blue F7B-HP, are testament to Clariant’s commitment to developing environmentally friendly recipes. Our major ongoing investment in research and development ensures that all our customers’ needs are met today, and will be tomorrow.

Benefits of cationic direct dyes:

• High substantivity;
• Low backwater coloration;
• Full exhaustion, even in soft water without the need for a fixative;
• High strike-rate giving:
• Rapid colour changes;
• Tight colour control;
•  Possibility of late addition resulting in less contamination of the approach flow.