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Thread: Weatherproof coating for Stainless

  1. #1
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    Weatherproof coating for Stainless

    .A few days ago I visited my local supplier of stainless steel plate to get a few small pieces for a laser engraving (Cerdec) job. While the plates were being cut I had a bit of a chat to the boss, and he was kind enough to share some of his industry knowledge with me. My favourite gem from him was about the rust staining that SS often gets in a marine environment. He called this a "tea stain", and told me that it can best be avoided by using a protective coating of...hairspray! Apparently hairspray is basically lacquer and a coating will last well over a year. On his own boat he wipes down the SS surfaces with acetone and recoats with a can of $1.99 super-hold hairspray every year, and hasn't had a problem. I tried it on a sample I had kicking around and it came out great. The black areas look more definite and solid, and the plate has a pleasing gloss. I would guess that in an indoor setting the lacquer would last for quite a while. I hope that somebody here might find it useful, but in any case I hope readers will forgive the lack of paragraphing in this thread. For some obscure reason the "enter" key on my keyboard is having no effect while I am typing this despite working in other programs I have open.

  2. #2
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    Bob,

    Assuming the Marine environment you are concerned about is salt water stainless steel is not the preferred material because it is not resistant to salt. In a fresh water environment stainless doesn't need a coating. However, if stainless is what you have to work with then his coating tip sounds like it will work. FWIW I would try melting acrylic in acetone and painting it on the surface to see if it would last longer then one year.

    BTW Inconel is what Newport News Shipbuilding uses on their piers and in any other area that is exposed to salt water. Anyone else who can afford inconel prefers it as well where salt is a problem.
    .

  3. #3
    I am surprised at this as water is a solvent for every hairspray I've seen.
    Mike Null

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  4. #4
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    Blow-drying the boat after use would probably keep the stains away too.
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  5. #5
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    When I installed shelving gondola in drug stores I would strike a chalk line then spray it with Aquanet hair spray so it would stay until the flooring was stripped and waxed.

  6. #6
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    What I have used is a product made for graffiti control. Very expensive but nice signs outdoors in a marine environment are often subject to vandalism and a little goes a long way. I think I paid $75/gallon several years ago, and a customer (parking management) once provided me with some that was more like $300/gallon. Grainger has several brands, I think both Krylon and Rustoleum make it but not available at big box stores.

    http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pain...ffiti-coating/



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  7. #7
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    Keith, The reason I posted this is not so much for the protective qualities of hairspray on SS (although it could be handy), but for the cosmetic (pun intended) use. The coated item has a much better appearance than a standard flat Cerdeced plate. I've also got doubts about the longevity of hairspray in a wet environment, but it appears that at least some of the ingredients are not water-soluble. Inconel is probably a better material for a marine environment, but I don't know whether or not Cerdec will work on it as well. Curse you, enter key!

  8. #8
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    Bob,

    Thanks for the tip and I will give hairspray a second look for a project in the future. I second the idea of the coating making a big difference in the look of the sign and unless stainless steel is highly polished it is a pretty bland material.

    I grew up in the nuclear power plant construction industry, we used a lot of stainless steel in those days. Of particular interest were the beautiful belt buckles that tradesmen made in those days, many were works of art and they were innovative when designing custom buckles. I used to fabricate custom center pieces for some of my friends buckles, in those days I was pretty handy with a Dremel tool and solid carbide burrs. I reproduced a lot of custom logos for horse ranches that were based on cattle branding iron designs of the past. We used a lot of twisted stainless steel tig wire and EB ring to enhance a lot of buckle designs that were built from pipe, tubing, bolts and hex heads along with simple designs made from stainless electrical spacers. Had I known that we might have been able to use hairspray as a coating no doubt I would have used it often
    .

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    I am surprised at this as water is a solvent for every hairspray I've seen.
    I am sure there are a lot of recipes for hairspray - it is probably risky to lump them all into one catagory - and some may actually be suitable as a coating for stainless. Traditionally I think hairsprays tended to be lacquer-based but these days it is pretty hard to know. I just picked up a can and it has a long list of chemicals including various co-polymers. Although some hair spray may be water-soluable (with the trend these days to more environmentally-friendly products) the sprays that my daughters used in the bathroom certainly weren't soluable in water . . . I found that it required ammonia to remove hair spray from vinyl. (Ammonia is common in floor strippers.)

    Usually I lean toward finding a commercial product that is actually intended to be used in a certain way for a certain purpose. Hair spray is formulated for a certain purpose and commercial lacquer for another. Hair spray is cheap and readily available so it it works for a specific purpose then great . . . However, for consistency I would be more comfortable using a can that says "provides protection for metal" on the label.

  10. #10
    Then how did they wash it out of their hair?
    Mike Null

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  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    Then how did they wash it out of their hair?
    I always wondered that myself, Mike! I never used it on my hair, but when I was a printmaking major, we used hairspray when we ran out of rosin for making aquatint plates. It really is/was lacquer! Acid-proof!
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  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    Then how did they wash it out of their hair?
    Good question - but I don't have an answer for that . . . except they used shampoos that also have a long list of chemicals on them . . .

    But that reinforces my point - hair spray is formulated for a specific purpose and has to release from hair using soap and water and ? after some number of hours. I really don't know the chemistry behind the hair spray or the shampoo, or how they react to vinyl floor or stainless. And the hair spray manufacturer won't recommend the product for anything besides use on hair.

    Although sometimes one can come up with an "off-label" use for a product, the user is on their own and sometimes it takes quite a bit of R&D & $ to figure out what works and what doesn't.

  13. #13
    Leave the hair spray at home and make sure you are using 300 series stainless......316 below waterline and 304 above.....

    just my .2 cents....
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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Phillips View Post
    Leave the hair spray at home and make sure you are using 300 series stainless......316 below waterline and 304 above.....

    just my .2 cents....
    the OP was specifically mentioning using it in a marine environment

    Quote Originally Posted by Atlas Specialty Metals
    Corrosion Resistance

    Excellent in a range of atmospheric environments and many corrosive media - generally more resistant than 304. Subject to pitting and crevice corrosion in warm chloride environments, and to stress corrosion cracking above about 60°C. Considered resistant to potable water with up to about 1000mg/L chlorides at ambient temperatures, reducing to about 500mg/L at 60°C.

    316 is usually regarded as the standard “marine grade stainless steel”, but it is not resistant to warm sea water. In many marine environments 316 does exhibit surface corrosion, usually visible as brown staining. This is particularly associated with crevices and rough surface finish.
    -
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  15. #15
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    Nice tip on the hairspray idea but when you have to guarantee your work will last for years outside in a harsh environment, this is what we use.
    http://www.nicindustries.com/clear_coatings.php
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