Are you sure your coating solution is the right one?
Coatings can work for their intended purpose, but fail when being stored or cleaned

There are so many different possible coating solutions available, that choosing the right one can be a minefield. It’s important to get it right because there are a number of reasons why coatings can fail.

We worked with a bakery customer who had problems with a previous coating supplier. They coated their baking trays and all was fine - the baked goods didn’t stick to the trays, which were easy to clean afterwards.

The primary purpose of the coating had been achieved.

However, very quickly the coatings began to fail. The vertical rack that they were stored on had a metal frame and as the trays were being stored, the edge of the tray would rub against the metal and this caused the coating to wear much quicker.

In this situation, the coating supplier had only addressed the primary application and hadn’t considered how the trays would be stored.

It was an unfortunate situation as it had left the customer with a bad impression of how effective coatings can be. After all, not many people know that there are hundreds of different coating material grades, each with slightly different properties.

They took some convincing, but we were able to talk them round to the benefits of using our coating service. As we were able to take into account environmental implications and provide them with a coating with improved wear resistance, their newly coated trays performed well and lasted much longer than the previous ones.

Importantly, they now better understand the service a good coating supplier can offer, and the cost savings and convenience of PTFE coated baking trays.

In this situation, the customer lost some money due to having to get the trays coated a second time, but it wasn’t a critical issue. But, what if…

• ...the wrong coating on bolts had meant they couldn’t be released as easily as needed?
• ...the wrong coating on a moving part had caused more friction instead of less?
• ...the wrong coating on a critical component had worn too quickly?

The right coating solution should prevent problems occurring and this is essential in the critical operations of many industries.

Get in touch with AFT Fluorotec to discuss your project and the technical expertise we can provide.