Consumers love the special feel and look of a velvet surface that brings a luxury, tactile element to the product. Up to now this velvet effect was created by using a “soft-touch” plastic film that is laminated onto the printed sheet.

Unfortunately, plastic film is not the most environmentally friendly method. Plastic film is hard to separate from the cardboard in the recycling process and there is a lot of energy needed to separate the 2 materials. There is also the risk that a product ends up in landfill, or even worse, loose in the environment. The plastic film will not dissolve and will stay in the environment forever.

We have fantastic news! CCS is now offering a sustainable alternative to create this luxury velvet finish effect. Instead of using a plastic film, we are applying a water based soft-touch varnish onto the printed sheet. This is an inline process on our printing press which provides quicker turnaround compared to applying film. There is less material and energy involved in this process and the end result has the same ‘WOW’ factor as the film. It’s truly a win/win!

Please contact us for more information. Product samples are available.