2019
UK
The Company
A speciality manufacturer of high quality 2K polyurethane wood coatings for furniture and play equipment.
The company was faced with numerous claims and complaints from various customers relating to bubbling and down-glossing of their polyurethane systems. Customers were blaming the coating systems, resulting in claims against the manufacturer. This meant lengthy, time consuming and costly studies by the manufacturer to try and determine the cause and refute the claims.
Further investigation revealed that the problem was largely due to the variety of wood qualities used by the customers as they tried to produce more profitable products by reducing their own costs. The problem was identified as being the moisture content of the wood. Lower quality grades were found to contain higher moisture levels than the better-quality grades being used.
The Solution
The coating manufacturer carried out extensive studies on the broadest range of wood grades possible and incorporated various levels of Incozol 2 in the polyol side of the systems to try and eliminate the problems.
They were successful in finding a suitable level of Incozol 2 which would ensure that the problems caused by the moisture content of the different wood grades would be eliminated. As an added safeguard against any further problems, the company included an extra amount of Incozol 2 in the final formulations.
The Benefits
Incozol 2 acts as an effective moisture scavenger in polyurethane coating systems. It is used to eliminate moisture from solvents, polyols and prepolymers and also from plasticisers and pigments. It removes residual moisture from the formulation and prevents bubbling and down-glossing caused by high moisture levels either on the substrate or from the atmosphere.
Incorporating higher levels of Incozol 2 in their systems has resulted in a higher raw material cost for the manufacturer but in turn the benefits are:
- Elimination of the costs associated with claims from customers
- Increased peace of mind for the customers
- Improved tolerance to high humidity which helps those customers who use less sophisticated application methods
- An increased potential customer base that now includes less well-equipped coating companies
