Bathtub Refinishing

UV COATING SYSTEM - We want to give you an update on the progress and direction we are pursuing on the UV coating system. A lot of refinishers are having great success with the UV system, but equal amount are having a tough time applying the UV base coats. The UV base coats are difficult because they are VERY temperamental. I feel the technology for applying UV base coats is not up to our normal standards in terms of ease of application, so we decided to formulate a different base coat that is WATERBASE, dries quickly, is VERY easy to apply, and equals our aerospace primer in terms of adhesion. By formulating a new base coat that, with UV clear coat will make the UV coating system VERY, VERY easy to use.

POLYOXIDINE WATERBASE PRIMER - We are now introducing our new poly primer for the UV coating system. This primer is a WATERBASE (ECO-GREEN) polyoxidine primer/basecoat. This is a two component, 3 part resin to 1 part catalyst mix (can be used as a 4 to 1 for a filler primer), there is a 10 minute induction time but you will have a 4 hour pot life. You can reduce with water and clean your gun with water. It is a WATERBASE coating that equals the adhesion of our aerospace primer. The odor is VERY minor, equivalent to an interior latex wall paint. The hardest part of formulating this product was getting a water base product to cure fast. Normally 1 to 2 hours is considered fast for water base coatings before applying a topcoat over it, but we were able to achieve a 20 to 30 minute cure time before you are able to apply your UV clear. The poly primer sprays very smooth, almost like a lacquer and also covers very good. Its ease of application will make it more efficient to do UV. We can also make this primer in any color, where you are limited with UV base coats. The cost will be equal to the aerospace primer (give or take a few dollars), making it a lot less expensive than the UV base coats. You can also use our new WATERBASE primer applying a solvent base topcoat over it, you will have to wait the 30 to 40 minutes before applying. I feel it is not feasible since you are still using a solvent base topcoat, it sort of defeats the purpose of using it. We want to stay GREEN all the way with UV, and this is where our new primer/basecoat will excel.

APPLICATION OF POLY PRIMER - Clean your surface as you would for normal solvent base products. Spray THREE even light/medium coats over surface, pausing 2 to 3 minutes between coats. To speed up the cure time, you can use a hair drier or your turbine between each coat for a minute to cause a faster evaporation of the water. After spraying your third coat, you can also use a hair drier or turbine for 5 minutes to also cure it out quicker. Normal cure without forced air is 30 to 35 minutes, using forced air 20 minutes. The coating will dry hard enough to lightly sand with a 400 to 600 grit sandpaper if you want to achieve a dust free (as good as possible) surface, this will also give you the green light that it is ready to be topcoated with the UV clear. Then apply two coats of UV cure, make your 3 passes over surface with your UV light at 10 to 12 inches away and your all set, bathtub or surface is ready to be used. By introducing this primer/basecoat to our UV coatings system, it will be very EASY to do, also you are only using your UV light for a small amount of time because the new POLY PRIMER dries by air.

RE-FORMULATION OF OUR UV CLEAR - We have also reformulated our UV clear to make it more friendly to your health. Some refinishers experience a minor skin irritation, so we took our formula to a coatings biologist, who pinpointed a couple of our raw materials that would cause this, so we were able to find supplements for these raw materials that should take care of this problem. The problem was minor, about 15% of refinishers did complain about this, but the change will help out a lot. Also we were able to knock down the odor by 10%, which every little bit helps. One of the BIGGEST changes to our UV clear, we were able to make it RECOATABLE without losing any pencil hardness or chemical resistance. TO RECOAT, just lightly scuff up the surface with a 400 to 600 grit sandpaper, wipe down with MEK or Acetone, then reapply and re-cure. You can do this 4 to 5 times if needed, but two times alone will make your surfaces, especially countertops very smooth (like glass) if that is what you are trying to achieve.

TIP FOR UV GLOSS - A lot of refinishers feel our clearUV gloss is to glossy, so they are adding 20 to 30% of satin clear to the high gloss UV clear to give the bathtubs a more natural gloss. We will eventually have a formulated bathtub gloss separate from the high UV gloss.

BREATHING MASK FOR UV HELMETS - We have found, and used a face respirator that fits very well under your UV helmet. It is a 3M mask (7500) part number 152-20096 which sells for $28.00. The filters are part number 153-5076 which is $49.00 for 12 replacement cartridges. You can call northern safety products at 1 800 635-1591 or go to their web site at www.northernsafety.com to order these products.

We will always stay on top of new technology, being a manufacturer gives us great opportunity to achieve our goals. All refinishers are always welcome to visit out facility in Orlando or Lodi New Jersey to see we are indeed manufactures and not distributors.

Thank You,
Midwest Chemicals