Take a proven and cost-effective approach to fraud and forgery by embedding security fibers into your products.
One of the most common and effective strategies for making your paper products difficult to replicate is using security fibers. Security fibers are materials that are added during the paper manufacturing process. Fibers are a cost-effective security method that has been used for decades. Because they can be embedded into the paper document, they are impossible to remove without damaging the paper itself. The fibers are also visibly random in the paper.
Fiber can also be added to plastics, coatings, nonwovens and other applications. The fibers can add another level of anti-counterfeiting technology. These fibers can be seen as a decorative feature to the unsuspecting eye, but when examining, they can expose the fake products. Fibers can also be invisible and only fluoresce when exposed to UV light.
Types of Security Fibers
There are several kinds of security fibers, all of which behave differently in your products to bolster your fraud protection strategy.
- Light-sensitive fibers can be designed to fluoresce under different wavelengths of light. UV-visible fibers are the most common – they light up underneath UV light. Fibers can also be designed to be visible or invisible in daylight.
- Temperature-sensitive fibers can change colors when hot or cold temperatures are applied to the area. One common example of heat-sensitive fibers is a fingerprint-sensitive area of a check, where the paper darkens from white to red after you use your fingertip to press or create friction (and therefore heat) against the paper.
Both types of material can be visible or invisible fibers that can only be detected by light or heat.
What Type of Documents Can Security Fibers Be Added to?
Security fibers can be integrated into countless paper or mixed-material documents. Common and well-known examples include government materials like money and passports, but security fibers are also found in checks, anti-counterfeiting labels, packaging, plastics, lottery tickets, stamps, and nonwovens.
During the manufacturing process, security fibers can be a certain diameter and can be cut to any desired length and embedded and dispersed into the material. While most fibers are either rayon, nylon, or cotton, leading flock professionals such as Claremont Flock can process fibers made with other materials if needed.
Improve Product Legitimacy with Security Fibers
In 1975, Claremont Flock, a division of Spectro Coating Corp, developed its first security fiber for use in the paper industry, which provided a means of low-cost fraud detection and helped revolutionize paper security. Today, Claremont Flock continues in its quest for innovative new ideas and solutions. As the world’s largest independent producer of flock fiber, Claremont Flock produces a wide range of fibers for use in security and other papers, from optical white to fluorescent orange, from rayon to nylon, in a wide variety of deniers.
When it comes to security, industry professionals need to stay one step ahead of con artists and counterfeiters to preserve the legitimacy and value of their product. Claremont Flock, a division of Spectro Coating Corp, offers a wide variety of custom-designed security fiber products. Call us at (978) 534-1800 to find the solution you need for your paper products with a sample or consultation.