coatings and stains. “We continue to
modify existing product lines to meet
the performance demands while lowering VOC emissions and offering
more acrylic and waterborne resin
technology to advance our product
offering,” said Morris. “Waterborne
acrylic products generally will have
better performance characteristics
such as color retention, adhesion,
flexibility and appearance than traditional solvent-based products. They
are often easier to apply and water
clean-up is a real advantage.”
ICA Group has for more then twenty years been investing heavily in
waterborne coatings. “Our production plants have been progressively
geared towards producing waterborne coatings,” said Paniccia. “This
transformation has been achieved in
advance of market demand for it,
which has allowed us to manage the
change in the most natural way possible. Indeed, our role within the
market, ever since we started formulating our first waterborne products,
has been focused on promoting the
benefits of water over solvent.”
ICA Group has focused its efforts
mainly in the field of waterborne coatings in general and on gloss coatings
and UV-cured coatings in particular.
“Moreover, in the past few years, the
range of waterborne coatings has been
expanded thanks to the introduction
of a line of specific products for the
cold-coating of glass,” said Paniccia.
Minwax has introduced a number of
new products into the market for
2009. “This year we’re adding Minwax
Super Fast-Drying Polyurethane for
Floors (350 VOC) to this growing roster of products,” said Ferrara. “This
clear, oil-based durable protective finish was specially formulated for
floors. It has a maximum VOC of 350
g/L, meeting regulations in the OTC
and LADCO states. It provides superior durability for hardwood floors
and optimized drying technology
resulting in faster recoat times with
no sanding between coats.”
Cabot recently launched Lockzall, a
100% acrylic white primer designed for
exterior wood species with exceptional
tannin resistance. “This product will
offer exceptional performance on woods
containing natural tannins–waterborne
extractives that are common in wood
materials like cedar and redwood that
naturally exist and extend the durability of wood,” said Morris. “Often times
these tannins will migrate to the surface and discolor the wood like a brownish tea stain. While tannins are inherent in top quality wood products, the
discoloration will often inhibit a consumer from using these products.
Lockzall offers acrylic waterborne resin
technology that will chemically react
and seal these tannins and keep them
from migrating to the surface after
painting.
One of Thompson Water Seal’s
newest products is a multi-purpose
exterior cleaner. “Cleaners are an
increasingly important part of the
deck care category,” said Kozlowski.
“Thompson’s Water Seal Oxy Foaming
Action Exterior Multi-Surface Cleaner
removes dirt and mildew from wood
and composites, concrete and more. It
is an effective, oxygen-powered cleaner concentrate that is biodegradable
and gentler than chlorine bleach-based formulas.” CW
ICA GROUP SUPPLIES FURNITURE MAKER
WITH WATER-BASED UV COATINGS
ICA Group, based in Civitanova Marche, Italy, has been
supplying GFL, an Italian-producer of wood cabinets
and furniture, with water-based coating products. Due to
recently introduced legislation, ICA Group has been
driving forward with its program to substitute traditional solvent-based coating technologies with water-based equivalents. ICA supplies GFL with some of its
flagship products, including pigmented UV basecoat/top
coat UVA5173/N and transparent UV top coat
UVA94G20. These products comply fully with EU regulations for the coating sector.
GFL’s coating plant, which has been fully operational
since 2005, allows the company to manufacture 15,000
cupboard doors per month using ICA Group’s water-based coating cycles. According to the company, the
water-based coatings deliver exceptional levels of yield,
meaning that 30% less product need be applied to
achieve the same result as would be achieved with solvent-based coatings. GFL’s close cycle coating system,
which has two automatic sprayers and a tilt/shaft
device, makes it possible for ICA Group’s coatings to be
applied to both sides of the cupboard door at the same
time. Once the the doors have been loaded and dusted
down, an oscillating sprayer with eight airmix guns
applies the coating products, and subsequently, after the
doors have been through two different ovens, each side
of the door is exposed to two UV lamps before the cycle
comes to an end in a cooling hood.
