Why Isn’t Powder Coating More Popular Than Paint? Our Car Protection Team Explains
While a vehicle’s body without paint is a beautiful thing, it’s not especially practical. Sure, the silvery lines of where every delicately formed piece of metal meets another slice is stunning and is a testament to man’s artistry and creativity, but it has to be covered if the vehicle is going to be used. This is especially true for pickup trucks. As you likely already know, trucks aren’t meant to be coddled and protected — they’re used to get down into the grit of the hard work. It’s a vehicle that’s just as familiar with the simple joys of getting your hands dirty as you are, and to accomplish that, it needs to be protected by some surface finishing on top of all that carefully welded metal that the body consists of. The colorful exterior of your truck isn’t just a decorative element, it’s completely utilitarian and creates a barrier between the elements and your truck. But, there are some disagreements surrounding the different types of surface finishing a vehicle should be equipped with.
The body of the car can be protected with either wet paint or a powder coating. Both of these different types of surface finishing for the body of your vehicle have pros and cons of their own. The differences, as you might have guessed, are all a result of the chemical composition of the two different methods. You may wonder why you haven’t heard more about powder finishing, as you’ve likely seen quite a variety of vehicles with paint, rather than powder. Let’s check it out.
Texture Matters
Previously, the only texture most cars displayed in their paint job was high-gloss. The cars shimmered in the sunlight and light bounced off their hoods in broad, bright rays. But, lately, that’s all been changing. Everything with matte finishes have come back into style, from wall paint to car paint, and because of that, paint is getting less popular. It used to be that only wet paint could achieve that high-gloss look that was so coveted. But with people favoring more textured colors with more depth, powder coatings are getting applied more regularly because they can provide a variety of surprising textures.
Color Options
If the color of the vehicle is more important than anything else, then wet paint is still the main contestant. It’s easy to create totally custom colors for paint jobs — paint can be mixed together on-site because it’s liquid and mixes together easily. The powder, however, cannot be used to mix in the shop. Adding blue and red powders won’t give you a hue of purple, it’ll just look weird. So, if you’re more concerned about the way a car looks, rather than how functional or durable it is, wet paint is still considered the winner in that regard. In fact, wet is often used in most applications due to this specific phenomenon over anything else.
The Longevity of The Surface Coating
Powder coating is far better at providing reliable long-term protection for the body of your car. It’s far more resistant to any chipping, scratching, and other wear-and-tear that your vehicle comes across. That means that any of those abrasions that would potentially sacrifice the protective seal and allow for corrosion to begin its process on the body of your car are far harder to create, which limits the possibility of corrosion happening at all. This is because powder coatings use thermal bonding techniques that are applied while curing the powder. Because of this curing process, the color is actually more resilient to weathering factors like the sun, hail, and more.
Safer For You
Paint is a questionable material and has a history of including a variety of unsavory additives that can cause health issues. In comparison, powder is much healthier for you and the person who will be applying your surface protection on your vehicle. Liquid paint isn’t just bad to breathe in, it’s also very flammable, but the main problem is that it puts off dangerous compounds into the air called volatile organic compounds or VOCs. When you’re exposed to these chemicals over a long period of time, it can cause long-lasting health issues. There are plenty of VOCs in things that we can’t avoid like interior paint and carpeting, but we can avoid using them on your truck’s exterior and save your lungs for another day.
Application Process
All of the benefits that powdered coating can claim over painting is due to the application process. At EPSCO in Boise, we use superior techniques that are specifically designed to get the absolute most out of your surface protection.
Wet paint is applied in a thin, fine spray that’s drizzled over the entire car. Liquid coats of paints are finicky and often leave streaks and other issues if the application isn’t properly done. Powdered coating, however, is much easier to apply evenly, so instead, the technician can focus on toggling the thickness of the powder to help with resilience to weathering and other factors. Liquid painting is also more time-intensive and costs more because of it. Powder applications, however, don’t take as much time and therefore allow professionals to focus more on your specific needs for the surface protection, rather than getting the color even. When the powder has been applied, the car’s body is then placed in a curing oven where the powder then turns into a thick, shell-like gel. This superior curing process is what creates the thermal bonds between the powder and the metal of the body on a particle level. This creates the smooth, hard finish that is well-known for being so hard to crack or disturb.
Invest in Powder Coating From EPSCO Powder and Industrial Coatings and LINE-X of Boise
As you can see, the main reason people choose liquid paint or powder coatings is all cosmetic. Because it’s harder to create that super high-gloss finish with powder coatings, it’s often undervalued. However, it’s the perfect coating for trucks because it’s so hardy and utilitarian. If you’re looking forward to investing time and money into your truck, you’ll want a powdered coating to protect it. For all those days out on the lake, hauling things through the countryside, and all the other rough and tumble things you’ll get up to with your truck, you’ll want to know that the body is protected. Don’t invest in an inferior solution. Reach out to EPSCO today to find out more about how our powder coating technology and services will suit you. We’re always happy to let you know more about our services and what they can do to make your life easier. Contact us today.
