It may be that entire walls or floors need to be stripped within a business premises, graffiti needs to be removed from the outside of a facility or production line machines that apply paint need to be cleaned. Whatever the scenario, an efficient method of paint stripping is essential to get the job done quickly and thoroughly.
Traditional paint stripping solutions – including mechanical methods such as grinding, sanding and hydro jetting – may prove efficient, however these methods can damage substrates if not carefully controlled. Thermal paint stripping, using extreme heat and cold to remove coatings, efficiently breaks adhesive bonds but can weaken metal substrates underneath.
Another method is chemical stripping which breaks the bonds between the paint and the surface. For a long time chlorinated solvents (DCM -Dichloromethane) were used. However these present significant health and environmental issues. Thankfully these days there are sustainable ways to get a paint stripping job done without the use of DCM. Sustainable paint removal technology and paint stripping offers an efficient solution for both maintenance and cleaning.
Sustainable Paint Stripping
The need for a paint stripping process often occurs on walls, floors, equipment and other surfaces around a facility. Whether the paint is applied for aesthetics, safety reasons or protecting surfaces, in time it will need stripping and replacing.
When stripped before applying a new coat, it’s essential to use products that methodically remove paint layers without damaging the surfaces beneath. It is also important to decide whether the surface that needs stripping can or cannot be moved. With larger, more intricate fixed surfaces such as on machines/equipment, the removal of paint can sometimes be an awkward process, but products such as Chemstrip Advanced and GB 601 create ease of application that benefits the overall process.
For removable parts and equipment including devices that hold or apply paint such as paint guns, then submerging these parts in a liquid stripper allows longer contact that penetrates deeper. This is particularly important on factory lines where nozzles applying paint may have clogged over time. However immersing in a tank can create an inordinate amount of additional chemical waste if the paint stripping product is extremely hazardous.
Traditional methods of paint stripping using Chlorinated solvents (DCM) has been heavily regulated now in Europe. This chemistry can be very effective as a stripper but DCM along with some other nasty solvents such as methanol, not only damage some surfaces but pose a health risk for workers and the environment when they are disposed of.
Dip N Remove is a modern solution for Dip tanks that allows for efficient results without the harmful effect of chlorinated solvents or methanol. A thickened version for fixed surfaces, GB 601 is also available in bulk.
By using well-chosen quality products, consumers can be safe in the knowledge they are protecting both the environment and the workers who carry out paint removal jobs.
The Science of Paint Stripping
Let’s break down the process of how paint bonds together.
There are 4 main components of a paint. You have the pigment, a solid substance that determines the colour. Then there is the binder, a natural or synthetic compound that affixes paint to a surface. The 3rd main component of the mix is the solvent. This blends the pigment and binder together to create liquid paint. Depending on the final application additives are also used to give the required properties. Example of these include anti-corrosion agents, defoamers and viscosity modifiers to give the desired thickness.
So, you can see that chemistry is at the core of how paint works. The same is true for paint strippers.
Removing paint from surfaces and parts requires products that break the chemical bonds created by the binder, without using chemicals that risk damaging the surfaces beneath the paint. NCH range of paint strippers focuses on breaking chemical bonds through the formulation of better science without causing surface damage, personal risk or environmental damage.
The Right Product is a Sustainable Product
Modern maintenance solutions companies like NCH Europe have the technology and know-how to create products that target the chemical elements within paint in-order-to break them down.
NCH’s team of chemists continually revise their formulations to improve product outcomes, whilst prioritising the creation of formulas that eliminate unsustainable or regulated components such as chlorinated solvents and methanol.
NCH formulations remove paint easily and sustainably across many facility scenarios, they specialise in products that perform and protect when tackling different types of paint, on different surfaces, under different conditions.
Contact us to find out more about the unbeatable range of paint stripping solutions for your facility.