Polyox is a polymer of ethylene oxide. It is soluble in water and commercially available. The effects of Polyox in fountain solutions were studied and evaluated. The same concentration (one-half percent of Polyox in water) at different pH and blending times, was tested for physical properties and printability. The physical property tests made were of viscosity, surface tension and contact angle. The printability tests were conducted as roll-up, ability to clean up the plate, resistance to scumming, printing sharpness and resolution properties. The experiments were conducted under controlled press conditions and the properties of each test solution were reported. Roll-up, the ability to clean up the plate, and resistance-to-scumming test were repeated five times and the average taken. Printing sharpness and resolution tests at high and low ink film thickness were run two times and 25 samples of each test were taken for obtaining the average. The results show that the effect of Polyox in fountain solution is as good as standard fountain solution
