Power coating is frequently applied to balconies, railings, gates and fences. When applied to objects, it’s in the form of free-flowing powder. The major difference between powder coating and liquid paint is a lack of solvent. Unlike liquid paint, powder coating doesn’t need a solvent, which would be used to keep filler and binder parts in liquid suspension. Invented in the 1950s, powder coating has continued to undergo evolutions and improvements. Today, it’s one of the most popular dry finishing processes used for decorative and functional finishes. Powder coating is sold by almost every major retailer, and it’s available in several textures and colors.
How Powder Coating Works
Before understanding the benefits, it’s useful to have a basic understanding of how powder coating works. When organic powder is electrostatically applied to metal parts, it is called powder coating. Baking or heating is used to cure the powder, which produces a continuous, hard coating. In most cases, the process for powder coating requires pretreatment, application of the powder and high-temperature curing. The pretreatment process is usually simple and requires nothing more than a quick cleaning of the metal’s surface. After the pretreatment, the metal must be thoroughly dried. After the metal has been fully dried, spray or fluidized-bed techniques are used to apply the powder. As the powder is applied to the metal surface, it’s electrically charged. Once the metal has been coated, it’s placed into a curing oven, which causes it to become hard, durable and beautiful.
The Benefits of Powder Coating
When compared with liquid paint, powder coating has several advantages to offer. Even if it’s not compared to paint, it’s still one of the most beneficial types of finish available. It can significantly improve the overall quality of window guards, balconies, railing, gates, fences and metal work. If superior performance is the goal, powder coating is almost always better than paint. Many of the problems that arise when wet paint is used can be eliminated by using powder coating.
Unmatched Performance
One of the greatest benefits of powder coating is the performance. In comparison to liquid paint, it offers significantly better resistance to weather, chemicals and corrosion. It makes surfaces more capable of resisting scratching and chipping. Unlike wet paint, powders don’t drip or run, so they can deliver a coating that is much more uniform than what is possible with liquid paint. The color vibrancy of powders also stays fresher and brighter than liquid paint. The end result of using powder coating is a finish that is durable, attractive and long lasting.
Superior Durability
Powder coatings offer significantly better durability than paint and provide consumers with an unmatched finish. Something that makes powders even better are the fact that they can be applied to virtually any type of metal. Powder coatings are commonly applied to fences and gates, but they can be applied to almost any metal product imaginable. A typical powder coating is far more resistant to fading, wearing, scratching and chipping than most other types of finishes.
Unbeatable Color Selection
It’s common for consumers to assume that powder coatings come with a much smaller color selection. Fortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Some of the color choices for powder coatings are wrinkle, fluorescent, clear, metallic, high gloss, satin and flat. Typical powder coatings have color that stays bright and lasts longer. There are also many textures to choose from. Some top textures are matte, wrinkled and smooth. In many cases, rough textures are ideal for hiding surface imperfections.
Better For the Environment
One of the major benefits of buying products that are powder coated is the environmental friendliness. Powder coatings are made with an emphasis on the environment, so they don’t contain solvents.Liquid paint is known to contain several types of solvents. Standard paint could have a wide range of VOCs, which are also called volatile organic compounds.Powder coating doesn’t contain solvents, and it releases a negligible amount of VOCs into the environment. The environmental friendliness of powder coating makes it one of the best types of finishes that can be applied to a product.
