Keep Your Whites White
Even though white tends to cover and hide imperfections well, they can be hard to apply and whether it’s base coat-clear coat or powder coating you may need to take additional care when coating a part in white powder.
How to Keep White Powder Clean
The biggest issue with white powder coating is that it can discolor or show contaminants easily when cured. This means you need to be diligent when handling white powder, prepping the part, applying white powder, and curing the white powder.
Cleaning Parts before Powder Coating White
A lot of the issues with discolored white powder coated parts is from improper preparation of the parts before coating. If the surface or pores of the metal have any dirt, grease, or contaminants in them you will find that it will transfer or rise through the white powder and may yellow or discolor the powder. It can also mix with the white powder as it flows out and show up as small black/gray specks in the surface. We suggest blasting and pre-baking your parts before applying powder this will blast anything off the surface and also bake out any impurities that may only show up during curing. Also make sure that you’re handling parts and the powder supplies with clean, nitrile gloves as dirt or oils on your hands can also get on the surface and cause an issue.
Sift Your White Powder
During filling, or transfer to your gun dirt or impurities can float into your white powder and lay on the surface when curing. We suggest sifting your powder with a fine screen as you dump it in the hopper to assure the powder is as clean as possible. We DO NOT suggest using reclaimed white powder as it’s asking for problems with contamination!
Careful Curing of White Powder
Over curing powder is a real problem. Too high of a curing temperature can cause adhesion and discoloration issues. The same can be said for curing a part for too long. If you have a part you want to be a pure white make sure you closely follow the application and curing temps and times as only a small mistake could give a slight yellow hue to your white part!
Easy Cleaning
The nice thing with powder coating is that it is extremely durable and once it is applied and fully cured it won’t stain, chip, or discolor like liquid paints. A white powder coated part can easily be wiped down with most any cleaner and will even resist exposure to oil and grease. If you need to polish your powder to remove swirls or light scratches you can also use our Powder Coat Polish
If you’d like to check out our entire line of powder coating guns, powders, and supplies you can visit our Powder Coating Site HERE.