Letterpress Tack Reducer – 100ml

Lyme Bay Press Foundry Tack Reducer is a natural oil based tack reducer. It can be easily mixed with any ink to help prevents picking and promotes an even ink film when printing large solids. It’s particularly helpful for traditional print work when printing large solids where the ink is patchy or the stock is a difficult or fibrous material.  Lyme Bay Press Foundry Tack Reducer is gentler and more traditional, so you may need slightly more to achieve the same reduction in tack.

• Prevents Picking/Striping
• Improves Large Solid Areas Of Ink
• Improved dot sharpness
• Smoother solids

Typical additions

• 0.5–1% — Slight tack reduction, minimal effect on ink strength.
• 1–3% — Common working range for difficult papers or large solids.
• 3–5% — Significant tack reduction; use with caution as drying and sharpness may be affected.
• Over 5% — Generally not recommended for fine letterpress work, as the ink can become too loose, detail can soften, and drying times increase noticeably.

Practical guide

For 100 g of ink:

• 0.5–1 g oil = light reduction
• 1–3 g oil = normal reduction
• 3–5 g oil = strong reduction

For paper picking problems

Start at 1% and test. You can always add more, but once you’ve over-reduced the ink it’s difficult to recover without adding fresh ink.

Compared with modern reducers

Products such as modern tack reducers are often effective at lower percentages because they contain multiple additives. Our Linseed Oil tack reducer is gentler and more traditional, so you may need slightly more to achieve the same reduction in tack.