Print House Client Quits Press Check After 25 Minutes, 2.2M-Baht Deal Re-Tendered Over Printing Ink and Press Wash Smell

The printing ink and press wash smell your team no longer notices may be the first thing a corporate client notices in your lounge. Here is what that smell really is, why an open door will not clear it, and how ozone paint odor removal with the Master Ozone Generator can help.

A Newly Decorated Client Lounge, and the Smell Behind the Glass Door

This story is a composite based on situations we commonly see; names and places are fictional.

Few printers ever talk about printing ink and press wash smell, mostly because the people who work with it every day have stopped smelling it. That was exactly the blind spot facing Chonticha "Chon", 38, the second-generation managing director of Ruang Khao Printing, a family-run offset print house in Bang Kruai, Nonthaburi, just outside Bangkok, that has been in business for 27 years.

The building has two floors. At the front sits the client lounge and proof-check room, 5 by 6 metres with a 2.8-metre ceiling. Behind a glass door is the pressroom, home to one four-colour and one two-colour sheetfed offset press, and a team of 22 people.

Early in the year, Chon renovated the lounge to impress the listed companies she hoped to win. She laid charcoal carpet tiles, brought in a new fabric sofa set, hung curtains and built a display shelf for the annual reports the company had printed over the years.

June: A Third Press, and Solvent Drums in the Wrong Place

By mid-year, demand was up and the company bought a used four-colour press as its third machine. To make room, head pressman Boonlert, who has worked there for almost 30 years, moved the 200-litre drum of press wash and the bin of used wiping rags into the corridor right beside the lounge.

What nobody noticed was that the wall between the lounge and the pressroom only went up to the ceiling tiles. Above the gypsum ceiling, the void was open all the way across, and the glass door was often propped open.

The First Tuesday of August: 25 Minutes That Changed Everything

The biggest job of the year had arrived: 6,000 annual reports and 4,000 sustainability reports for a food company, worth 1.38 million baht. The client booked three press checks. The team was Nanthida, the corporate communications manager, Phakin, the graphic designer, and an account executive from their agency.

A press check here usually took two to three relaxed hours. But that morning the client team arrived at 9:30, just after the crew had washed the blankets for a colour change.

The moment the lounge door opened, a wave hit them: a sharp, kerosene-like solvent smell, the heavy oily note of ink, and a faint whiff of alcohol. Within ten minutes, Phakin, who has allergic rhinitis, was sneezing with red, watering eyes. Nanthida had a headache and asked to check the sheets standing in the car park instead.

The first press check was over in 25 minutes. Nanthida said politely, "Next time, could you send the sheets to our office? Or just photograph them and send them on LINE first."

Week 2: Approving Colour from Phone Photos, and a Reprint

The client did not come back for the second or third checks. Sheets went across town by messenger, each approval took almost two extra days, and some signatures were signed off from phone photos.

After binding, the client spotted that the corporate green on the financial charts had shifted. The printer had to rerun that signature, 6,000 sheets, at a cost of about 46,000 baht in paper, plates, ink and overtime. The reports arrived just one day before the shareholders' meeting.

Week 4: The Supplier Evaluation

At the end of the month, the vendor evaluation came in from procurement. "Work environment and press-check readiness" scored 2 out of 5. The overall score fell from 4.5 to 3.8, and next year's print contract, worth about 2.2 million baht, would be opened to two other printers.

Meanwhile, sales coordinator May, whose desk sits just outside the lounge, was getting headaches most afternoons and asked to move.

When Chon raised it at home, her father Surachai shrugged: "A print shop smells like a print shop. Clients understand." Boonlert agreed: "I can't smell a thing." Chon realised she was dealing with a problem the people closest to it simply could not detect.

Printing Ink and Press Wash Smell Is Not Just "the Smell of the Trade"

When your clients are corporations with procurement teams and supplier scorecards, the air in your client lounge quietly becomes a measure of professionalism. The damage shows up in four places.

1. Health: Clients, Front-Office Staff and Press Crews

• Short-term symptoms from solvent vapours in a closed room commonly include headache, dizziness, stinging eyes, nose and throat irritation, and sometimes nausea.
• People with allergies or asthma may react more easily, as can children, older adults, pregnant women and people who are unwell.
• Staff who sit near the source every day should have their long-term exposure kept as low as possible.
• Press operators need proper local exhaust ventilation and suitable personal protective equipment.

2. Money That Never Shows Up as "Odour Costs"

• Reprints when colour is approved in a hurry or from photos.
• Messenger runs and overtime when deadlines get squeezed.
• Most costly of all, long-term contracts that slip away to competitors.

3. Reputation with Corporate Buyers

A company paying for a premium annual report expects its work to be handled in a clean, controlled environment. A lounge that reeks of solvent suggests a process that is not under control, however beautiful the printing is. And corporate communications people talk to each other about suppliers.

4. Relationships and Trust

• Clients stop visiting, and with them goes the face-to-face time that builds loyalty.
• Front-office staff feel their complaints are brushed aside.
• In family businesses, generations see the problem differently, and the tension follows everyone home.

What Is That Printing Ink and Press Wash Smell, Really?

What people call "the print shop smell" is actually a mix of volatile organic compounds (VOCs): carbon-based chemicals that evaporate easily at room temperature. In offset printing they come from several places at once.

Source 1: Press Wash and Used Rags

Every colour change means cleaning the rubber blankets and rollers with press wash, and many formulations are based on petroleum solvents. These evaporate very quickly, which is why they give off that sharp smell, similar to kerosene or thinner.

Solvent-soaked rags tossed into an open bin keep releasing vapour all day long. An open rag bin is effectively a small odour chimney that never switches off. Those rags are also flammable and belong in a closed metal container with a lid.

Source 2: Offset Ink

Sheetfed offset inks combine pigments, resins and oils such as vegetable or mineral oils. The ink dries partly by soaking into the paper and partly by reacting with oxygen in the air, and that drying process gives off heavy, oily odours. Freshly printed stacks can keep smelling for hours.

Source 3: Fountain Solution and Coatings

Many pressrooms still add isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to the fountain solution, which adds an alcohol note. Varnishes, coatings and laminating adhesives in finishing join in. Clients cannot name the mix, but they know they "don't want to sit here long".

Why the Lounge Smells Worse Than You Think: Absorption and Off-Gassing

Vapours do not just drift through a room. They are absorbed by porous materials such as carpet tiles, fabric sofas, curtains, gypsum ceilings and even the stack of sample books on the shelf. Later, those materials slowly release the odour again (off-gassing).

That is why Chon's lounge still smelled on Sundays when every press was silent. Meanwhile, people inside develop olfactory fatigue, or "nose blindness", while visitors walking in from outside smell everything from the first second.

Why the Usual Fixes Don't Clear Printing Ink Smell from a Client Lounge

Like most printers, Chon tried almost everything herself first.

1. Opening doors and running fans. It helps on a breezy day, but odour soaked into carpet and upholstery takes days or weeks to fade, and a room open to dust and heat is no place to judge colour.
2. Air freshener sprays and scented diffusers. These only mask the smell. Perfume layered over solvent often makes people feel worse, and the vapours are still there.
3. Bamboo charcoal and baking soda. Their capacity is tiny compared with a room of more than 80 cubic metres, and they saturate quickly.
4. A home air purifier. Small units are sized for bedrooms, their filters saturate fast, and they only treat the air that passes through them, not the odour trapped in materials.
5. Shampooing the carpet and replacing the curtains. This helps only the items cleaned. The ceiling, walls and ceiling void still hold odour, and if the source is not fixed, new fabric simply soaks it up again.

Important: if the smell has an ongoing source, such as open solvent drums and rag bins, control the source first. Move storage away, use closed containers, install local exhaust at the wash station, seal the ceiling void and make sure press crews wear proper protection. Only then should you tackle the odour and VOCs that have built up in the room, which is where ozone treatment comes in.

The Solution: WHD Ozone Paint Odor and Chemical Residue Removal with the Master Ozone Generator

With the source under control, Chon still needed the lounge, proof room and front corridor to become places clients were happy to linger in again. She contacted World Health Disinfection (WHD) for its ozone paint odor and chemical residue removal service using the Master Ozone Generator.

How Ozone Works

The machine releases ozone (O₃) into a closed space, mimicking the way nature purifies air. Ozone is a strong oxidiser, so it breaks the molecular bonds of odour molecules, chemical vapours (VOCs) and germs at the source, both in the air and on carpet, upholstery, curtains, ceilings and hard-to-reach corners.

The key point is that ozone destroys odour rather than masking it. Once the cycle ends, ozone naturally decomposes back into oxygen (O₂), so it leaves no chemical residue on surfaces or on the printed samples in the room.

Proof Through Before-and-After TVOC Readings

The WHD team measures TVOC (Total Volatile Organic Compounds) with an AM1310 meter before and after treatment, backed by instrument calibration documents. WHD is one of the few providers in Thailand that shows TVOC reduction results measured at real job sites. On a supplier scorecard, before-and-after readings carry far more weight than "the smell is gone now".

Fast, and Scheduled Outside Working Hours

Technicians can work when the space is empty, such as after the last shift or at the weekend. Once the cycle is complete, the ozone has decomposed and the area has been ventilated, most spaces are ready to use within about 2 hours, with no need to stop production.

10 Reasons Print Houses Choose WHD Ozone Odor Removal

1. It Breaks Down Printing Ink Smell Instead of Covering It

Ozone attacks odour and solvent molecules directly. Clients are not left breathing synthetic fragrance on top of press wash.

2. It Reaches Carpet, Sofas and Curtains

As a gas, ozone spreads through the whole closed space and reaches carpet fibres, upholstery and corners that wiping or a small purifier never touch.

3. TVOC Numbers You Can Show Corporate Clients

Before-and-after TVOC readings from your own site can be attached to a supplier corrective action plan. Learn more on the chemical residue removal with ozone page.

4. No Chemical Residue on Printed Samples

Ozone reverts to oxygen, so it leaves no film on sample books or documents. For valuable originals, technicians will recommend storing them in a closed cabinet first.

5. The Presses Keep Running

Treatment is booked when rooms are empty, such as a Saturday evening, so presses run as usual on working days. With ozone odor treatment, most areas are ready again within about 2 hours.

6. Several Rooms in One Visit

Lounge, proof room, corridor and sales office can all be planned into a single site visit, saving time for everyone.

7. Trained Technicians and Clear Safety Procedures

Technicians assess the site, make sure people, pets and plants are out, and protect ozone-sensitive items such as natural rubber and delicate electronics before every cycle.

8. Works on Many Chemical Odours in the Print Trade

Beyond printing ink and press wash smell, the service also helps reduce thinner, lacquer and industrial adhesive odours, as well as musty smells in paper stores.

9. Tackles Germs and Mustiness Too

Air-conditioned rooms with fabric furnishings often trap musty odours as well. Ozone deals with chemical and musty smells in the same cycle.

10. Confidence Before the Client Walks In

Booking ozone chemical odor removal ahead of a key press check or supplier audit lets your sales team focus on the client, not on apologising for the air.

Before / After Ozone Odor Treatment in a Print House Client Lounge

How the WHD Team Works

1. Site survey and baseline TVOC check. Technicians assess room volumes, odour sources and any source controls that should be in place first.
2. People, pets and plants out; sensitive items protected. Artworks, valuable originals, natural rubber and delicate electronics are removed or covered as needed.
3. Area sealed and the Master Ozone Generator set up. Doors to the pressroom are closed and "no entry" signs go up.
4. Cycle run to suit the room volume. Technicians control the machine from outside the treated area throughout.
5. Decomposition and ventilation. Ozone is left to break down and the space is aired before anyone re-enters.
6. Follow-up TVOC and odour check. Readings are compared with the baseline.
7. Handover. The area is typically ready to use within about 2 hours, with advice on keeping it that way.

How the Story Ended: Clients Who Sit Down Again

Chon started with the source. The press wash drum moved to a chemical store at the back of the building, the rag bin was replaced with a lidded metal container, an exhaust fan went in above the wash station, the ceiling void was sealed with gypsum board right up to the floor slab above, and the glass door got a closer so it shuts every time.

On a Saturday evening after the last shift, the WHD team took TVOC readings in the lounge, proof room, corridor and sales office, moved the original artwork into a closed cabinet and ran the ozone treatment step by step. The follow-up readings showed a clear drop in TVOC, and the rooms were ready before 8 p.m.

Two weeks later, Chon invited Nanthida and the procurement team to visit, with the before-and-after readings and her written odour control plan on the table. This time they stayed for almost an hour and a half. Phakin did not sneeze once, although a faint ink smell still lingered near the pressroom door, as it does in any working print house.

In the tender, Ruang Khao Printing won back the annual report, while the client gave its other print work to a second supplier. It was not a total victory, but it was far better than losing everything. Even Surachai admitted, "The room really is easier to breathe in."

Tips to Keep Printing Ink and Press Wash Smell Out of Client Areas When You Next Renovate or Expand

• Fully separate client areas from the pressroom. Walls should run all the way to the slab above, with self-closing doors.
• Keep press wash and used rags in closed containers, well away from client spaces.
• Install local exhaust ventilation at presses and wash-up points, and give press crews proper PPE.
• Ask your suppliers about low-odour or low-VOC inks and press washes, and about reducing alcohol in the fountain solution.
• Choose flooring and furniture that do not absorb odour, such as tiles and faux-leather seating, instead of carpet and fabric sofas.
• Schedule wash-ups so they don't coincide with client visits.
• Book ozone treatment before major press checks or supplier audits, and check TVOC levels periodically.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do we need to leave the area during treatment?

Yes. People, pets and plants must stay out for the entire cycle and may return only once the ozone has decomposed and the space has been ventilated, as advised by the technician.

How long does it take?

It depends on the size of the space and how strong the odour is, but areas are typically ready to use within about 2 hours.

Does ozone leave anything behind?

No. Ozone naturally decomposes back into oxygen, so there is no chemical residue on surfaces. Re-entry happens only after the decomposition and ventilation stage.

What size of space is it suitable for?

Anything from a small client lounge, meeting room or office up to warehouses and factory areas. Technicians calculate the cycle from the actual room volume.

Do we have to stop the presses?

No. Treatment can be booked outside working hours. Only the rooms being treated need to be closed and empty; the pressroom itself should rely on proper ventilation to control odour during production.

Will the printing ink smell stay away after one treatment?

If the source is not controlled, new odour can build up again, so fix the source first. Ozone treatment reduces the odour and VOCs that have already accumulated, and the before-and-after TVOC readings show the difference.

Can paper, samples or press parts be damaged?

Technicians assess this beforehand. Valuable originals, press blankets and other rubber items should be removed from the treated area or protected.

Further Reading

• Ozone Cleaning Service
• Disinfection Spraying Service
• Ozone Disinfection Machine
• US EPA: Volatile Organic Compounds' Impact on Indoor Air Quality
• WHO: Air Quality, Energy and Health

Don't Let Printing Ink and Press Wash Smell Decide Contracts Your Print Quality Should Win

Talk to the WHD team about ozone treatment and TVOC measurement for your client lounge and proof room.

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · Email worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com
88/268 Kanlapaphruek Road, Bang Khae, Bangkok 10160, Thailand