InkAid White Matte precoat for Inkjet Printing 1 Pint Bottle

VERT CLEVER PRODUCT, SOLVED A DIFFICULT PROBLEM FOR ME.

To anyone who is looking at making your optical discs inkjet printable, this product will work! First, what happened to me is I was making backups to bluray that were factory inkjet printable (I can't go back to permanent marker or sticky labels after using direct print type discs), I had unfortunately printed the wrong label on a DL BD and didn't want to waste the disc and start over, I worked on trying to wash of the ink from it and let it dry and reuse, unfortunately, the printable layering came off too. I didn't want to go without so I researched for anything that could be applied to make it printable again. That is where I came across this product, it appeared that it would be possible to print the disc once this product is applied. I received some hints to use a sponge type brush instead of bristles and then apply and let it sit and dry so the solution would eventually flow evenly on the surface. Before starting, you will want to wear gloves, and I suggest that you wear clothing you don't mind potentially ruining. Anyway, my suggestion is to first practice any method with either the protective discs that are usually found on the top of a spindle and/or the bottom of the spindle or if you don't have these, to try any discs that are trash or can handle losing. If none of that is possible, then it is better to practice on a blank CDR and getting comfortable with it then to go straight to a BD and ruining that at the cost of an expensive learning curve. Anyway, the first test, I tried using the pie pan to hold the disc and then used the brush to apply this product. For the second test, I used the brush but held onto the disc (with gloves). For a third test, I tried pouring a layer of this product in the bottom of the pie pan and setting the disc in label side down. A final test, I tried using a rod to apply the solution. The problem I had with the first method was that when attempting to brush the disc, it would spin in the pie pan making the pan messy and the application looked terrible, it improved slightly when applying it the same way you would clean a disc, by going from center to edge instead of around the disc. I was aiming for a very smooth, even layer of the product to work with but it still had sponge brush strokes in it. Also, because of the mess, the solution ended up getting on the data side of the disc. The second method, I had a lot more control when applying the solution, it did apply better, but there were two things to watch out for. This method for some reason created a bunch of air bubbles, the large ones I could just simply pop, the very small ones I had to leave there and hope they would go away on their own. The other thing I had to watch out for was making sure not to accidentally lean my fingers and thumb towards the disc as it would potentially leave prints in the solution. This method also ended up with the product on the data side of the disc and it too left brush strokes. The third test appeared to provide the smoothest application that did look really nice, but the solution ended up getting all over the data side, worse than then brushing methods. Also, you have to fish it out of the solution carefully and cleanly, I used a thin hook so it didn't end up the best. I was unable to test this, but I think if you had a graple that fit through the center whole and the disc could lay flat, that if you carefully dip the disc into the product and out, that this might work best (think coloring Easter eggs for this method). The final test, using the rod at first seemed the most promising as it did not leave brush strokes as the other methods did, however, it didn't want to apply evenly, causing some areas to have a thicker application and others a thinner layer. Sometimes it didn't want to apply at all. Another note, the layer does not need to be that thick, and in fact, if you do make it thicker, it will actually crack instead. Of all these methods, the one that actually ended up working the best for me was just simply holding it in my hand with gloves and applying the solution. I also had some CD skins that I tried using to protect the data side from accidental application, but these surprisingly failed to protect them at all and I eventually did without them. Another test I did try was not about the best method of applying but testing how to remove the solution when it goes where it shouldn't. To test this, I purposefully applied this product on the data side of a commercial DVD. I then let all of these discs dry overnight so they would be printable. I did this to an assortment of discs. This included typical discs that are branded and completely meant for permanent marker to label them, which some of the discs were labeled with permanent marker already and others were without any labeling. This product covered the branding just fine, but on the discs with permanent marker, it still showed through. When printing on these, you could still slightly see the permanent marker, which if you are going to print using dark colors, this will probably not be an issue. If you want to prevent this then using rubbing alcohol is good at removing permanent marker on any smooth surface such as smooth plastic or glass and this will eliminate that problem. Once the discs were dried overnight, I then proceeded to test the best method of cleaning up the dried surface and found that for small blotches on the data side, carefully applying rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab and using a lint free cloth worked very well. Of course you need to be very, very careful not to accidentally spread it on the label side. For the discs that were completely covered (as if you applied it on the wrong side), the same basic principle worked well. Instead of a cotton swab (way too small for this job), I used a cloth safe for discs and soaked it in rubbing alcohol and wiped the surface down. This will take a lot of effect and care as the product wont come off very easy but will with persistence. For the side edge (aka not the data side or label side, but the very thin side), what I found that worked very well is taking the pointed end of a toothpick or bamboo skewer and scraping it off as this chips away easily. One thing I did notice though that there is not much that can be done is if using cheaper discs or in general, the solution is able to get between the different sandwiched layers of the disc, usually not much, except for maybe the center hole, which more seems to collect. There is nothing you can do about this and I don't know, but it could be a sign that the disc will suffer disc rot. The other thing to notice is that if you went to the very edge of the label side, when viewing it from the data side, the edge will show as white instead of clear since you applied this to the edge. I've tried removing it carefully with a skewer but it seems to want to chip a bit from the surface you want to keep, so it may be best to go ahead and leave it and pay it no attention. Anyway, after removing all of the material I could from the commercial disc, I was successfully able to play it without any noticed issue. I can't guarantee this for everyone as it all depends on how much care was taken into removing it and how scratched the disc was to begin with. I also have not attempted to try burning the disc afterward but I suspect if the one disc was readable, there should be no reason blank discs wouldn't still burn once properly cleaned up. Also, when I came back to the discs after drying overnight, I noticed there was a bunch of dust that found itself in the surface and was worried about it since it looked bad to me, but once the disc was printed on, I couldn't see the dust anymore and looks fine in that sense. Now, as far as doing this project in the first place, would I suggest doing it? Well, probably for something like a BDR I would, especially for home use, but to go convert a whole spindle of discs to printable discs? Definitely not, unless this is something you enjoy and like to do. I purchased this for a single DL-BD and will probably use the rest on branded discs so they are printable, but I am better off buying printable discs to begin with. Don't get me wrong, this product does definitely works as advertised but does take a lot of practice, care, and time to get it right. I am glad to have found this product and hopefully I never need to again, but if I do, I would purchase more of this product. Now if someone can suggest a waterproofing coating for this disc and the best method of applying to an optical disc specifically, and maybe a better way of applying this product to the disc than what I have discovered, I would greatly appreciate it. 12/14/2018 UPDATE The discs do clean up a little bit. I use a a bamboo skewer to scrape off the solution from the inner and outer rims, does a decent job. Note that this solution will seep into the different layers if they weren't sealed correctly. Also, I have not figured out how to prevent it from going to the very edge of the disc as there is couple millimeters that is plain, clear plastic of the disc that ends up getting covered as well. Anyway, as for the data side, I found it less messy to let it dry and use rubbing alcohol and preferably a lint free cloth to wipe the dried solution off. This does create a cloudy, dirty look to the data side but for the tests I've done on cd and dvd, burns and reads fine, just cosmetic, so I would use those for unimportant discs. I would love to hear from the manufacturer what they suggest to prevent the cloudiness though. For printing on the disc, it is mostly fine, just a couple notes. If you are labeling a disc that you used marker on or branded discs, make sure to either remove the branding as best as possible or add thick enough to cover, probably could try printing with dark colors too. The other thing is that, at least with my Canon printer, it doesnt print to the physical edge, only to clear plastic edge mentioned previously. Means that either figure out how to cleanly remove it, make the background white, fancy the white border, or attempt in vain to color it the same color as the background. As for the print quality itself, this it does a very nice job with printing and it appears to hide the brush at least to me. Make sure to do this job in a dust and lint free area as the other problem I had was dust and dirt getting on the discs. To finish the project, i use CD/DVD Guard Inkjet Protection Spray (www.amazon.com/CD-DVD-Guard-Inkjet-Protection/dp/B000LTZW7G/) with a lot of ventilation and again, do it in a dust/dirt free area as it will really show up. As for this spray, if the surface is smooth, the spray will be glossy, but if there is any roughness or texture it seems to be more or less flat, satin at best. It may get glossy on texture or rough discs after several layers but did not for me even with 5 or 6 coats. I did test the spray with identical CDs, these were generic roofs from China, both from the same spindle. On both I wrote in permanent marker but one I sprayed three layers and only waited until it was dry to the touch. First I ran both with hot tap water and noticed ink on untreated disc faded as the ink washed off, not the treated disc. I then used soap and sponge to try washing off for a few minutes, untreated disc only slightly fainted more. The treated disc might have lightened ever so slightly that may have gone unnoticed in real world use. Finally, I tried with steel wool, the untreated disc was cutting through the label and leaving scratches. The treated disc definitely had scratches but appeared to only go through the protective spray, the ink was still untouched. Obviously these are not circumstances that will be seen in real world use, unless Fido or Baby get into them, but if just looking for color steadfastness, it does the trick. I'm sure you can find cheaper protective sprays that will work, this was just a first attempt. At any rate, I would definitely buy printable discs instead of this printable liquid and if you dont want to toss good branded discs, this does work as advertised, but it will look like a DIY project and not professional, save these discs for less important projects. Most important question... would I buy again? The answer is YES, I definitely would, should the need arise.

This is a great product for diy anything you can run through the printer projects..... make sure you apply a nice coat or you will get spotty results ie. air brush missed areas... good luck getting this item now, maybe because of the winter shipping issues? But not sure

I did not buy this on Amazon, I bought it directly from the seller in a "sample" set that included six small bottles of different coatings. The Matte White Precoat is simply amazing. It allowed me to print onto plain white copy paper using a high-resolution matte photo setting on my printer. The images were crystal clear, and bright. If you have any experience printing high res onto copy paper you know the color is somewhat dull and the ink does not have terribly clear edges since it soaks a bit into the plain paper. It is described as being "very water-resistant". This is an understatement. I got my paper completely wet and let it sit to dry. I didn't tamp off the water, I just left it sitting. It NEVER smeared or bled! That opens up the door to so many other possibilities as there are so many companies trying to sell sealers and coatings for inkjet printouts that are pricey and don't work so well. This means that you can print onto the coating and then put a layer of decoupage glue (waterbased), or Dimensional Magic (waterbased) and not destroy your image. Believe me, there are hundreds of videos on youtube of people attempting to waterproof a printed inkjet image and if they had coated their paper with this stuff there would have been zero need to do so. Again, lots of appliactions for this. Planning on buying a bottle of the matte inkjet precoat to see if it has the same magic.