Powder coating is a great way to protect your products while maintaining their design. When considering powder coated steel versus aluminum, learn the benefits powder coating can provide, from better protection to more environmentally friendly practices.
- The Durability of Powder Coated Steel vs. Aluminum
- Benefits of Powder Coated Steel
- Applications for Powder Coated Steel
- Can Aluminum Be Powder Coated?
- Powder Coat Your Products With Keystone Koating
The Durability of Powder Coated Steel vs. Aluminum
Manufacturers often choose steel because of its strength. When you develop your products and equipment using steel, you decrease their chances of denting or bending during their life spans. Further, stainless steel products can withstand heavy weights, making them popular for construction and furniture frames.
However, exposure to moisture and air makes it easy for steel to rust, decreasing its strength and causing it to break down. Some manufacturers turn to steel alternatives, like stainless steel and aluminum, to mitigate corrosion risks. While both options can better resist corrosive processes like rusting, stainless steel is costly and aluminum isn’t as strong as steel.
Manufacturers who want to keep steel’s main benefits can instead coat their steel with powder. The powder coating process involves fusing powder particles to your product’s surface using a specialized powder gun that emits electrostatic waves to help the powder stick. Then, the coating cures by baking in an oven.
The powder coating process results in a product surface that will protect steel from corrosion while maintaining steel’s natural strength and durability. With a powder coating, you can ensure your products will be safe and protected outside from rust and other corrosive processes while maintaining steel’s lower price and increased strength.
Other Benefits of Powder Coated Steel
While powder coated steel already has a lengthened life span because of its added durability and corrosion resistance, your company can benefit from the other advantages offered by powder coating your steel equipment and products, including:
- Maintaining your product’s aesthetic: You have a specific look in mind when you design your products. Many customers will associate that design with your products or company, making it an essential aspect of your product. Powder coating allows you to protect your product without compromising its design. When coating with powder, you can choose from several colors and textures, so you can consistently achieve the look you want.
- Reducing UV ray damages and fading: Paint and other protective coatings can fade after facing continual exposure to the sun, decreasing their quality. If you have outdoor equipment or products, you can protect it with powder coating, which can withstand prolonged exposure to the sun with minimal fading, so you can ensure its protection, functionality and aesthetic.
- Resisting weather: Powder coating your steel products and equipment can help make them more resistant to weather. Especially for outdoor objects, you will want to ensure they can withstand rain, snow, ice, humidity and wind. Powder coating is less likely to chip than paint, protecting your outdoor equipment and products safer.
- Decreasing air pollution: The powder coating process is more environmentally friendly than paint. The powder coating process uses no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), ensuring cleaner air quality free from powerful pollutants that hurt the planet. Especially if you have a high volume or large parts, you may want to choose this option to help protect the environment and air quality.
- Reusing unused powder: When you use powder coating on your products and equipment, you can help reduce your company’s waste. The powder coating process allows you to reuse powder that doesn’t stick to your products for later use, creating a more environmentally friendly and circular coating process that produces less waste than other coating options.
- Decreasing maintenance: With stronger durability and higher resistance to corrosion, weather and fading, you can spend less time and money on product or equipment maintenance. Powder coating provides thorough and lasting protection, so you can ensure your products will withstand the elements.
Durability and resistance from corrosion are essential factors to consider when determining how to protect and coat your products. However, powder coating offers so many benefits that companies can use. Whether you need something to protect your equipment and products during long periods outdoors or want to reduce your environmental impact, you can trust powder coating to provide high-quality care and protection.
Applications for Powder Coated Steel
Steel is a versatile metal you can use in various projects and products. When you powder coat steel, you increase your application possibilities since the added protection allows you to use steel in more outdoor or moist settings. Some common applications for powder coated steel include:
- Outdoor furniture: Powder coated steel offers excellent weather and strength protection, making it an excellent choice for creating strong, anti-corrosive furniture frames. Especially since steel is already strong, you can ensure that your product’s structure can support how your customers use their outdoor furniture.
- Construction equipment: Many construction companies choose powder coated equipment, like cranes and platforms, to support building efforts. Construction sites have unique risks for employees, and powder coated steel equipment can reduce those risks and ensure the equipment is safe and strong enough to complete the project.
- Exterior building features: Many exterior building features, like windows and doors, benefit from powder coated steel. While steel can help lengthen their life span and ensure quality protection at a building’s entry points, the aesthetic flexibility of powder coated steel allows architects and designers to cater better to their desired style.
Regardless of what your company manufactures, you can protect your product’s steel with powder coating. Powder coating steel enhances the metal’s natural features. Powder coating allows steel to withstand extended exposure to the elements without rusting or fading, making it an excellent choice for outdoor products. Further, powder coated steel’s aesthetic flexibility allows companies to tailor products to their specific design needs.
Can Aluminum Be Powder Coated?
When determining the best metal for your products, you have more choices than powder coated versus aluminum. You can also use powder coated aluminum to reap the metal’s benefits while adding extra protection. While aluminum is naturally rust-resistant, moisture can cause it to form a chalky texture on its surface that can take away from its aesthetic appeal. Further, aluminum is less durable than steel, resulting in a higher risk for dents and bends in your products.
Powder coating aluminum can help reduce the downsides to aluminum and support its benefits. As with steel, powder coating aluminum protects it from moisture and the elements, preventing the chalky material from forming on its surface and maintaining its design. Because powder coating enhances strength and durability, your aluminum products will also be safer from dents and bends.
Aluminum is a great lightweight metal, ideal for outdoor furniture or other home items that people often rearrange. Powder coating aluminum maintains its lightweight nature while adding extra protection and is more suitable for outdoor use than other coating options, such as paint.
Powder Coat Your Products With Keystone Koating
Powder coating steel and aluminum can help you enhance the metal’s natural properties while adding extra protection for better durability and a longer life span. Especially since steel has so many applications, powder coating your steel products can bring your company several benefits.
At Keystone Koating, we are experts in powder coating and will guide you through its process from start to finish. Our coating process is efficient and high-quality, so we can handle high-volume projects with a quick turnaround, allowing you to receive your finished product sooner.
Request a quote from Keystone Koating today and discover how we can protect your steel and aluminum products.