Whether for industrial contracts, designer paintwork or classic car restoration, wood and glass, plastics and aluminium – anyone who can create special-effect paintwork such as chrome effects or give chrome-plated parts a new, mirror-like shine has great potential. However, this only applies if the shine is long-lasting.
A recurring problem in the production of chrome-like surfaces is that it has been difficult to guarantee long-lasting protection against yellowing, matting or infiltration of the wafer-thin mirror layer – especially when the surfaces are exposed to sunlight, weathering and mechanical influences. It is therefore all the more astonishing that a chrome spray system for chemical spray metallisation, or CSM for short, presented by the company Verchromen24 S.L, now appears to have passed extensive quality tests. ‘Chemical spray metallisation was originally developed as a cost-effective alternative to real chrome plating,’ explains Verchromen24 S.L managing director Ulrich Kuitkowski. ‘Meanwhile, thanks to the development of fully automatic coating systems on an industrial scale, this process of effect coating represents a technically mature solution.’
The CSM system from Chromlack proves its durability by passing climate change tests such as the Florida and Arizona tests, as well as a 1,000-hour salt spray test without any problems. ‘By adding UV inhibitors, among other things, we have optimised the clear coat belonging to the CSM system so that we can also guarantee UV resistance,’ adds Kuitkowski. ‘The Chrome System thus complies with the DIN EN 9227 standard, which is crucial for the automotive industry.’