Why Liquid Paint?

Whether liquid or powder, paint is comprised of two principal ingredients: resin and pigment.  Resins are what determine paint performance characteristics such as adhesion, gloss-retention, and resistance to abrasion/scratching.  Pigments provide the color.  Specifying liquid or powder is, in essence, specifying the application method desired, not the actual finish material.

What is the benefit of specifying one method over the other?  Each application method meets the AAMA range specifications (AAMA 2603, AAMA 2604, and AAMA 2605).  Liquid and Powder are comparable in their environmental performance when considering the life cycle of the coating.  While Liquid paint produces VOC’s, most applicators use thermal oxidizers to destroy up to 95% of VOC’s emitted during application.  The heat energy generated from this process is then “recycled” into other processes such as the heating of curing ovens.  On the other hand, Powder applications do not generate VOC’s. However, the manufacturing process for creating the powders consumes more energy, thus creating a much larger carbon footprint.

Both methods have advantages.  Airolite uses the liquid paint application and here’s why:

• In House color matching for new colors upon request
• In House blending allows fast, same day, or next day production
• Liquid includes a primer for enhanced adhesion and corrosion protection
• Liquid has a lower film thickness so it is less expensive, especially in a custom color spray
• Bright Mica & Metallic colors are only attainable with liquid
• Liquid can be repaired/touched up in the field
• Excess Liquid paint can be recycled to create a new color

While Airolite strongly prefers liquid applications, we have access to both methods.