How important is the cleaning process to the quality and performance of the coating?

Ans. Proper cleaning of the parts is the single most important part of the coating process. The method in which the parts are cleaned prior to coating will have a direct impact on the appearance and performance of the powder coating. The pretreatment process involves cleaning of the soils and chemicals from the metal parts, rinsing in clear water and applying a conversion coating. The most common conversion coatings are iron-phosphate and zinc-phosphate, but these are not environmental friendly coatings and result in a lot of sludge formation, thus A-1 Fence uses the Oxsilan technology which results in zero sludge formation and better adhesion than iron and zinc phosphating. The pretreatment process takes place in a series of stages: 3-stage, 5-stage, or more. Generally, increasing the number of stages in the process, increases the quality of pretreatment.