In metal finishing and manufacturing, the quality of your final product often depends on the surface preparation process. Surface preparation removes impurities, scales, and oxides before a part undergoes plating, coating, or other finishing techniques. These impurities can interfere with the adhesion of the finish and the overall performance of your final product.
Seacole’s technical team will work with you to identify a solution from our extensive product catalog that will ensure your surfaces are properly cleaned, conditioned, and optimized or the next stage of production.
Surface Preparation: An Essential Step
Surface contaminants such as oils, rust, oxidation layers, and scale can cause defects in coatings, reduce corrosion resistance, and impact the overall durability of your product. Poor adhesion and coating failures can lead to rework, delays, and extra costs. Surface preparation removes these substances and reduces the chances you will need to rework parts.
Role of Chemical Cleaners in Surface Preparation
To achieve a pristine surface on your parts, the expert Seacole team will work with you to understand your finishing process and recommend appropriate cleaners. Strong acidic and/or alkaline cleaners remove contaminants from the part substrate and keep them from re-adhering to the part, resulting in a clean, descaled part ready for the next step in the plating or other finishing process. These chemicals work in the following ways.
Dissolve Oxides and Scales
Strong acids, often referred to as pickling solutions, remove rust and oxidation from your part’s surface. At Seacole, we may recommend several different acidic descalers and rust inhibitors for your surface preparation process. Our 531 Descaler is an acid-based scale remover and cleaner that removes rust, oxides, mill scale, and heat scale on most metals. For rust inhibition, our technical team may recommend one of our rust inhibitors, such as 578 Rust Inhibitor. This product passivates the surface of steel, iron, and yellow metal parts and is compatible with most alkaline compounds.
Break Down Organic Contaminants
Alkaline cleaners effectively remove grease, oils, and other organic residues. Seacole’s Spraydet S is a highly alkaline detergent that removes contaminants from all ferrous metal surfaces without requiring the acid pickling, neutralizing, and rinsing steps. Another product in this line, Spraydet 14EX-Caliber, attacks baked-on carbon deposits and carbonaceous oil, grease, and grime.
Keep Impurities Suspended
Once a cleaner lifts contaminants from a part, the cleaning solution ensures they stay suspended in the liquid rather than redepositing on the part and recontaminating it. This ensures the part is cleaned, descaled, and ready for the next step in the plating or finishing process.
A Closer Look at Etching
Etching is a common step in the surface preparation process and a critical step in the electroplating, anodizing, and painting processes, where a strong bond between the substrate and the coating is essential.
Etching chemistries can be acid or alkaline depending on the needs of your process. Seacole’s Acid Etch AL200 is designed for treating aluminum alloys for the electroless nickel, anodizing, welding, or chemical conversion coating process. It is especially effective on difficult-to-plate alloys and ideal for high-finish aluminum.
A Greener Clean
At Seacole, we understand that sustainability and regulatory compliance with all wastewater regulations are top priorities for many manufacturers. We can help you source biodegradable cleaners that reduce the use of hazardous solvents and other chemicals in your wastewater. We can also recommend safer acid replacements to lower risk to workers without sacrificing cleaning quality or efficiency.
Whatever your surface preparation chemistry needs, Seacole’s diverse product line and talented technical team can help you find the right solution for your process. Reach out to a member of our team today for expert support.
