Process for making a non-woven substrate with vibrant graphic thereon

1. A process for making a non-woven substrate having a vibrant graphic applied thereto, said process comprising:

feeding to a printing apparatus a non-woven substrate comprising a fibrous non-woven web composed at least in part of polyolefin fibers;

supplying the printing apparatus with an ink composition having a viscosity in the range of about 28 seconds to about 35 seconds as determined using a Zahn #2 cup and comprising at least one solvent having an evaporation rate relative to n-butyl acetate of less than 0.8;

operating the printing apparatus to apply the ink composition to the fibrous non-woven web while the fibrous non-woven web is in a dry condition to form a graphic thereon having a thickness of less than or equal to about 5 microns; and

allowing the ink composition to dry on the fibrous non-woven web.

2. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein the step of feeding a non-woven substrate to the printing apparatus comprises feeding to said printing apparatus a non-woven substrate comprised at least in part of a fibrous non-woven web composed at least in part of polyethylene fibers.

3. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of magenta having a color density of at least about 0.5 as determined by a Color Density Test.

4. The process set forth in claim 3 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of magenta having a color density of at least about 0.6 as determined by a Color Density Test.

5. The process set forth in claim 4 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of magenta having a color density of at least about 0.7 as determined by a Color Density Test.

6. The process set forth in claim 5 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of magenta having a color density of at least about 0.8 as determined by a Color Density Test.

7. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of black having a color density of at least about 0.5 as determined by a Color Density Test.

8. The process set forth in claim 7 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of black having a color density of at least about 0.6 as determined by a Color Density Test.

9. The process set forth in claim 8 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of black having a color density of at least about 0.7 as determined by a Color Density Test.

10. The process set forth in claim 9 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of black having a color density of at least about 0.8 as determined by a Color Density Test.

11. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of cyan having a color density of at least about 0.5 as determined by a Color Density Test.

12. The process set forth in claim 11 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of cyan having a color density of at least about 0.6 as determined by a Color Density Test.

13. The process set forth in claim 12 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of cyan having a color density of at least about 0.7 as determined by a Color Density Test.

14. The process set forth in claim 13 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of cyan having a color density of at least about 0.75 as determined by a Color Density Test.

15. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of yellow having a color density of at least about 0.5 as determined by a Color Density Test.

16. The process set forth in claim 15 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of yellow having a color density of at least about 0.55 as determined by a Color Density Test.

17. The process set forth in claim 16 wherein at least a portion of the graphic has a dominant primary color of yellow having a color density of at least about 0.6 as determined by a Color Density Test.

18. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein the printing apparatus is a flexographic printing apparatus.

19. The process set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of operating the printing apparatus comprises operating the flexographic printing apparatus at a print plate set point relative to an impression cylinder of the apparatus in the range of about 0.115 to about 0.135 inches.

20. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein the step of supplying an ink composition comprises supplying an ink composition comprising at least one solvent having an evaporation rate relative to n-butyl acetate of less than about 0.5.

21. The process set forth in claim 20 wherein the step of supplying an ink composition comprises supplying an ink composition comprising at least one solvent having an evaporation rate relative to n-butyl acetate of less than about 0.25.

22. The process set forth in claim 21 wherein the at least one solvent comprises propylene glycol n-propyl ether (PnP).

23. The process set forth in claim 1 wherein the ink composition has a viscosity in the range of about 28 to about 32 seconds using a Zahn #2 cup.

24. The process set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of operating the printing apparatus comprises operating the flexographic printing apparatus in a block type printing process to apply the ink composition to the fibrous non-woven web.