Top 10 Reasons to Choose Liquid Color

Liquid color, also known as liquid masterbatch or liquid colorants, is made up of pigments and additives dispersed in a liquid carrier that are mixed into plastics to impart color.

The technology has been around for decades, but recent improvements in gravimetric technology and sealed delivery systems have increased popularity.

Liquid color offers several advantages over solid masterbatches. We explore the top 10 areas that extrusion and molding plastics processors can benefit.

1. Significantly Lower Cost

   Less color is needed to achieve the same shade. This is of particular benefit considering recent economic constraints and price volatility in commodity resins. With Riverdale liquid color you can reduce your cost of coloring by 50%.

2. Improved Color Dispersion

   We mill each color separately, ensuring full strength is achieved. Liquid colors are easier to disperse uniformly than solid colorants when used at low levels for tints, providing greater color strength in the final product. Often 30% less pigment is needed when using liquid color. This gives recyclers an easier time to provide the industry with more post consumer material (PCR) to replace virgin.

3. Faster Color Change Times

   Liquid color leaves less residue on screws and barrels, allowing for quicker changeover times. With Riverdale liquid color, production rates are improved, purge time is reduced, allowing plastics processors to cut their color change losses in half.

4. Improved Yield

   Liquid color can achieve the same strength of color with a lower percentage in weight in the formula, resulting in higher yield.

5. No Heat History Degradation

   Liquid needs lower process temperatures than solid masterbatch, resulting in no heat history degradation, eliminating pre-decomposition concerns.

6. Higher Color Control Accuracy

   Gravimetric control is the only proven way to assure metering accuracy, reduced color usage and a lower cost of coloring. To ensure the accuracy required, Riverdale Global provides, as standard, its proprietary gravimetric metering system, manufactured exclusively for Riverdale by Maguire Products. Gravimetric technology typically saves 10% savings over volumetric technology through precise metering.

7. Lower Energy Costs

   Dispersing pigment into liquid uses 90% less energy than compounding pigment in color. Liquid color provides reduced screw torque, lower process temperatures and less demand on chillers. This leads to overall energy savings as high as 16% when coloring product with liquid versus pellet.

8. Easier to Create Special Effects

   Liquid color provides the best pearlescent and metallic effects, helping brand owners and packagers enhance shelf appeal and add value, while using lower let-downs of colorant than pellet masterbatch. Like other liquid color and additives from Riverdale Global, these special effect colors are provided in a sealed container to keep your process clean, avoiding spillages and leaks.

9. More Color Vibrancy

   We mill each color separately for full color development before blending. This provides brighter colors, and allows for lower let down ratios, while providing greater strength in the final product.

10. Non Carbon-Based Sustainable Carriers

    We offer a proprietary blend of natural carrier systems, which contain no petroleum so plastics processors can continue to meet their sustainability objectives.