What is Powder Coating?

Powder coating has become such a mainstream process that we see it everywhere. Having metal products powder coated can create such a sleek, luxurious design and in doing so, you’re bound to get noticed!

• Higher durability
• 1625 colours to choose from
• Modern style
• Luxurious finish
• Cost-effective
• Reclaimed overspray

• Produces a thick layer
• Curing time
• Colour match can be difficult

Powder coating is a dry finish process that took a sudden upturn in popularity after its introduction during the 1960s. It’s based on a polymer resin system that’s then combined with a number of different additives including; levelling compounds, curing agents and colourings/ pigments. This medley of elements will then be melted and mixed together. Once mixed it’s left to cool for a while until it’s ready to be ground up into a fine powder that usually resembles flour.

Once ground, all of this powder will be applied to the item that you’re powder coating. So, whether your powder coating a window or even a car wheel you’d typically use a process called ESD or Electrostatic Spray Deposition. This involves using a spray gun which is equipt with the ability to apply an electrostatic charge to the particles in the powder. This means that the particles are then attracted to the grounded metal that you’re covering.

After the entirety of the metal item has been sprayed with the powder coating it’s then put into a curing oven. This allows for an even spread of heat to be applied to the coating. This heat promotes a chemical reaction in which long-chain molecules. These chains have a higher density and allow for resistance to breakdown so that the coating lasts longer and doesn’t rust over time.

Powder coating is known for its high durability and great quality finish for most, in not all of the products it’s applied to. Not only do we use architectural powder coating for our aluminium windows, but many manufacturers of machinery will use powder coating for their products too. This is often due to the fact that a Powder coating will create a tough, rust-resistant layer around almost anything that it’s applied to.

Due to the durability of powder coating, it’s often used on our aluminium windows to reduce the risk of scratches, shipping and weathering. This means that the windows usually last longer and offer better value for money. But this process can be replicated on UPVC too, which means that they too will be better protected against discolouration, cracking and much more.

Powder coatings can come it all sorts of colours, thicknesses and even finishes ranging from a textured style to a seamless gloss which means you have a multitude of choices to make!

The finish of powder coating is usually much thicker than that of a liquid coating. With liquid coatings, There’s running and dripping of the paint which can sometimes produce a poor quality finish but also a thinker layer of paint. Similarly, the fact that powder coating is made up of solid material means that it should take fewer passes with a spray gun to get a thicker finish. This can help to reduce the turnaround time for the products that you’re powder coating!

We’re also able to choose from a range of colours thanks to the use of the RAL colour scheme.