Industrial coating provides substrates with a protective barrier that prevents your equipment from getting damaged by frequent motion, harsh chemicals and liquids, and strong force. However, this coating will inevitably wear off or wear down to the point where it’s no longer protective. How long until this happens? It depends upon a wide variety of factors, including how well you maintain your coatings. If you want your coatings to last as long as possible, regardless of what they’re made of, here are a few of our expert tips on how to improve coating longevity with regular maintenance. If you’re ready to coat your industrial components, you can get high-quality coatings and coating services with Sun Coating Company!
Use Cleaning Products That Are Designed or Safe for Your Coatings
Regular cleaning is an important element of maintaining your equipment, so it stands to reason that this level of care will need to be applied to any coating as well. Establishing a regular cleaning schedule will ensure that built-up residue and other contaminants aren’t allowed to stay on the coating long enough to cause damage over time. That being said, you shouldn’t just use any cleaner for your coating. Coatings will have some products they’re unable to come into contact with. Some products may not be so hydrophobic, while others could be vulnerable to salts. These unique properties mean that you need to evaluate various cleaning products to see if certain cleaners could pose a risk to their structural integrity. For example, a Whitford nonstick coating may be suitable to apply water too, as these coatings are advertised as hydrophobic. Check to see what could be a problem with your coating, then look for a specifically designed cleaner or come up with your own suitable solution.
Conduct Regular Inspections to Determine the Need for Overcoating
Are you checking in on your coatings regularly? If you aren’t, you could be missing signs that it’s time to apply an overcoat to certain parts of your machinery. When the coating begins to wear down, it will begin to become powdery and chalky, crack, sink in, and experience a wide range of other issues that will be easy to identify. If your coat is not looking so good but it’s still in fairly good condition, adding an overcoat can help you extend its life without having to strip everything off and apply a new coat. Just take care to make sure that the previous coating is properly prepared and that you’re using a new coating that is compatible with the old one. Also, keep in mind that there may be some scenarios in which overcoating isn’t the best choice. In that case, you can add a new coat and then use these maintenance tips to help it last longer than the previous coating.
Improve Conditions and Employee Training
Certain coatings, like weld spatter-resistant coating, are designed to hold up against harsh conditions. However, that doesn’t mean you should test it to its limit to see how long it lasts before it’s destroyed by its surroundings. Improving conditions so that your coatings experience reduced stress will naturally help them hold up against various manufacturing processes. With that in mind, it’s not always the environment that’s the problem. If your employees aren’t handling coatings correctly, this can wear them down, too. Taking care to train your employees so they know how to handle your coatings will go a long way in helping them last longer instead of succumbing to hazards they shouldn’t be regularly introduced to.
Contact Sun Coating Company for High-Quality Coatings
Coatings are designed to last, but they still depend on you to care for them over their lifetime. If you’re in need of a new coating and looking to take better care of this one, start here with Sun Coating Company. Request a quote from us today!