If you have an object that requires high-quality surface finishing, you will most likely be looking at having it spray painted or powder coated. So that leaves the question many people in your situation have asked themselves, ‘Spray Painting or Powder Coating?’.
Both procedures have their merits, but here at APT, we believe that spray painting is the best way to go. Why else would we build a company based on this service? We’re big advocates of spray painting, and the wide variety of finishes it can achieve. In this article, we’re going to outline why we choose to carry out spray painting services over powder coating and hopefully help you to decide which procedure is best for your product.
What material is your object made of?
Powder coating can only be carried out on metal objects, whereas spray paint can be applied to a vast range of materials. Because the powder coating process involves heating the object at approximately 200 degrees Celsius, it isn’t suitable for plastic items. If your object cannot withstand extreme heat, a powder coated finish will not be possible. Spray paint can be applied to plastic, glass, many different types of metal and steel, melamine, timber and carbon fibre.
What type of finish do you need?
Both powder coating and spray painting can produce a range of finishes. However, there are more finishes available when spray painting an object. While powder coating has a reputation for being extremely durable, it’s important to note that spray paint can also achieve a thick, hardy finish. It may just take a few more coats or 2 pack paint. Powder coating, however, is not ideal for jobs that require an ultra-fine finish. When the polymer is thinned, it becomes lumpy and unsightly. If you need a sheer finish, spray painting is the best application. When spray painting an object, single pack, 2 pack and water-based paints can be used to achieve gloss, matte, satin, special effects, metallic, anti-graffiti or ceramic high-temp finishes, to name a few.
How complex are the colours you need?
When coating an object with wet paint, you can choose from a vast variety of custom colours. Powder coating, on the other hand, has a limited colour range which can make finding a specific shade from your logo or company branding difficult.
How big is the job, and your budget?
Asking how big the job is, refers to both the physical size of the object/s and how many objects you need to be coated. For the best quality spray painting, you want to ensure that the application is carried out within a spray booth. The booth’s controlled environment maintains a debris-free coat every time. So the size of the object is restricted to the size of the spray booth. Similarly, with powder coating jobs, the item needs to fit within the oven.
Powder coating can be expensive to undertake for a single item. The equipment needed to carry out powder coating has high running costs. The process is much better suited to large product runs. Spray painting, however, is suitable for both single item jobs or large jobs with multiple objects. With booth spray painting, you receive a high-quality finish without having to pay for expensive running costs. It’s often the most cost-effective solution.
What’s your deadline?
The turnaround time for powder coating is typically shorter than spray painting as it only requires one coat. However, if you feel that, because of the limitations of powder coating, spray painting is the better finishing technique out of the two, there is a way to get your items painted faster. APT Spray Painting offers swift and thorough services for their clients. Because we carry out all of our painting in a spray booth and have thirty years of experience under our belts, we can manage a standard 7-10 day turnaround for items, with quality workmanship guaranteed. Our spray booth is 10m x 5m x 3m, so if you have machinery, equipment, plant or an asset that will fit within these dimensions and needs spray painting, contact us today!
