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Wood as a versatile building material that has been around from times immemorial, is used to construct everything from the walls and floors of the family home to the furniture and cabinetry that fill it. For greater and durable functioning, wood needs to be protected from abrasion, chemicals, moisture, UV radiation, weathering, and attack from microbes such as fungi and mold. This is best ensured through Effective Wood Coatings. With such a wide range of substrates (hardwood, softwood, MDF, aged wood, or green wood) and applications (exterior, interior, furniture, building, residential, industrial) it is no surprise that Top Wood Finishes are a billion rupee industry with a glut of players and products that have been there to best facilitate us in living a comfortable and beautiful life.
In this article we provide an overview of wood coatings technologies and products as well as traditional coatings such as stains and varnishes:
There are a quite few options, varnishes, shellacs, stains, lacquers, polyurethanes, epoxies, and other wood finishes all have properties that work best when paired with the right application. Which wood coating you need depends on the type of wood and the end-use of the substrate. A lot of these terms are used to refer generally to a finish, even though they denote specific finishes. Below is a brief description of different wood coating types and their properties.
Talk of Glossy Varnish, it is a Transparent Protective Finish that dries hard and is usually glossy (can also be matte or semi-gloss). The basic components of varnish are a drying oil, resins, and a solvent. The resin can be acrylic, oil, polyurethane, epoxy, and others. Moreover, it is a hard-wearing finish that is suitable for both indoor and outdoor use as it is waterproof, durable, tough, and versatile.
You might not be fully aware of these, so to put it in plain words, Shellac Finishing is a softer form of finish that uses naturally-occurring resin (the shellac) dissolved in ethanol to provide color and a high-gloss finish for wood products. It is mostly used for furniture and instruments as it is not as durable as varnish, and alcohol spills will cause the shellac to dissolve.
Lacquer is yet another coating and basically, it is a form of finish in which the resin is dissolved in a solvent (unlike shellac which uses alcohol). It is harder than shellac and is used to give a clear or colored shiny, glossy finish for furniture making it radiate. The high VOC content in lacquer makes it a less popular option than water-based varnishes but that does not mean it is less effective in any way.
See Also: Top Wood Furniture Markets In Pakistan
A Wood Stain is a great coating material that consists of dyes or pigments dissolved in a vehicle with a small amount of binder. After application, it soaks into the wood substrate and, depending on whether it is transparent or opaque, accentuates the wood grain or flattens out the wood with color in a glowing way. Make sure, stains are used to give wood a particular color, and not for protective properties. If protection is needed a clear varnish is often applied over the top of it.
Regardless of the fact that whether you are using paint, varnish, or stain, it is important to use the correct application methods and processes. A primer cannot be used as a final topcoat, and though some topcoats can be applied as all-in-one systems, not all can do the same job likewise.
To start with, the Impregnation, Wood Preservation Method where protective chemicals are ‘impregnated’ into timber through the application of pressure. It helps timber maintain its durability and protects it from pests i.e. mold, fungi, and insects. The preservatives are copper-based (a natural biocide), sodium silicate, thinned epoxy resins (preservative and sealer in one), or oil-based (coal-tar creosote), it is you that has to choose any. There are also fire-retardant impregnation chemicals that reduce the surface spread of flame, heat, and smoke and are therefore very much preferred in Pakistani homes.
Wood coatings are more about protecting the substrate while letting the beauty of the Wood Shine through. With technologies improving all the time, it is possible to powder coat wood substrates now, as well as protect them from fire. Some very useful information on these specialty wood coatings is given below:
Intumescent/fire retardant paint for wood: Fire is obviously the Greatest Danger For Wood. There are two coatings that act as passive fire protection measures for wooden substrates: one is intumescent and the other is Fire Retardant Coatings. The wood used as House Exterior Siding Materials is also very hard to keep safe from weather effects. Therefore like Interior Wood Finishing, Exterior Finishing is also very necessary. Intumescent Coatings swell up in the presence of extreme heat, forming a protective layer of char between the wood and the fire. Fire retardant paints work by releasing flame-damping gases to prevent ignition and secure the much-needed safety as well.
Anti-skid paint for wood: Wood surfaces can be very slippery when wet, whether decking, stairs, ramps, or walkways and can cause you serious harm. Anti-skid Wood Paint works through the inclusion of a non-slip aggregate or by creating a rough surface that provides more grip in wet or dry conditions and ensures much-needed safety.
Powder coating wood: it is yet another process of using an electrostatic charge to cause a dry powder to adhere to a substrate and then baking and curing the powder in an oven. The resulting coating is immensely durable and attractive, as well as environmentally friendly due to the lack of solvent. Powder coating wood is now gaining widespread popularity, particularly for coating furniture, and is widely used in Pakistan as well.
Now, since you have Wood Furniture and you want it to be coated then it is your choice to go with any Wooden Coating option but make sure to keep in mind the recommendations and tips that we have stated above to ensure better results!
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