This question came up last week and it tends to come up now and again. “Does it do any good to apply aqueous coating or varnish to an uncoated paper stock.”
The short answer is “Yes, it does, but…”
Both varnish and aqueous coating are applied to paper for two basic reasons:
(1.) To provide rub protection and (2.) to provide a visual effect.
On a coated paper a gloss flood or spot varnish will protect against ink rub and will appear glossy on the sheet even if the paper is dull coated.
Aqueous coatings will protect for ink rub and have a visual effect on coated paper relative to it’s finish.
Not true with uncoated paper. Both varnish and aqueous coatings will provide rub protection on uncoated paper but the visual effect of varnish or aqueous is lost on the uncoated sheet. The coating may darken the ink and make blacks blacker but that is the extent of the visual effect. Varnish and aqueous coating will absorb into the the uncoated paper and will not have the visual result.
If you do choose to use a coating on an uncoated paper stock it’s recommended that you use a dull or matte coating as the gloss may accentuate the highs and lows in the paper surface and appear mottled and uneven.
