Story at a glance:
- VYNGUARD Performance Coatings is a line of OEM-applied PVDF-based coatings and lacquers with proven resistance to abrasion, tough stains, UV rays, and bacteria.
- VYNGUARD Anti-Graffiti, for example, allows surfaces to resist Sharpie marker, ketchup, mustard, coffee, blue jean dye, betadine, and other tough stains.
Moisture, sunlight, stains, and abrasions can wreak havoc on vinyl and fabric surfaces. Exterior building components like awnings and sunshades can fade and become stained with mold and pink stain bacteria. Indoor furnishings and décor like seating and wall coverings can become stained, abraded and worn, especially when exposed to high traffic in settings like hospitality, health care, and education. Both indoors and outdoors, these components and furnishings can also be targets for graffiti.
Faded, degraded, and stained components and furnishings are typically destined for the landfill, leading sustainability-minded building professionals to look for options that look good and stay in service as long as possible.
Component and furnishing manufacturers are responding with products protected by VYNGUARD® Performance Coatings, a line of OEM-applied PVDF-based coatings and lacquers with proven resistance to abrasion, tough stains, UV rays, and bacteria.
The Great (Dirty) Indoors
Building maintenance crews may use more aggressive cleaning chemicals than product manufacturers recommend, leading to early degradation of surfaces coated with off-the-shelf formulations containing lower-quality, commodity polymers. Photo courtesy of APV Engineered Coatings
High-traffic indoor furnishings and décor are exposed regularly to dirt, stains, and abrasion. Unforgiving stains challenge the longevity of the products’ surface, especially as plasticizers migrate out of the substrate and provide a pathway for stains to penetrate back into the topcoat.
Product manufacturers’ requirements for stain resistance vary, and APV Engineered Coatings customizes our VYNGUARD lacquer and coating systems to provide the specific performance properties desired for each application. VYNGUARD Anti-Graffiti, for example, allows surfaces to resist Sharpie marker, ketchup, mustard, coffee, blue jean dye, betadine, and other tough stains. The coatings also allow the furnishing’s or décor’s fabric or vinyl surface to remain flexible and accept an emboss without compromising the integrity of the finish.
While vinyl and fabric products protected with high-performance PVDF-based coatings can resist dirt and stains, surfaces do need to be cleaned from time to time. The increasing use of harsh cleaners and disinfectants, including quaternary ammonium chloride compounds (quats), isopropyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, peroxide, and chlorine bleach, places additional performance requirements on coated furnishings. However, coatings can be custom-engineered to resist the absorption of alcohol-based disinfectants and oxidative degradation facilitated by chlorine and peroxide-based cleaners. Building professionals should make sure the coated furnishings they specify stand up to these harsh chemicals.
The Weather Outside is Frightful
There is no conventional way to clean pink stain because the dye causing the stain has been absorbed and is no longer on the surface. Photo courtesy of APV Engineered Coatings
Just like indoor furnishings, outdoor vinyl and fabric products need to be protected from stains and abrasion. However, they also need to stand up to damaging weather elements including exposure to moisture.
Pink staining is a common problem on seating surfaces in wet environments. Pink stain—caused by bacteria growth—fouls and discolors surfaces and it cannot be cleaned or removed once it appears.
PVDF-based VYNGUARD Anti-Microbial topcoats help prevent pink stain from occurring and extend the service life and aesthetics of outdoor furnishings by resisting film deterioration caused by gram-negative and positive bacteria. Their broad-spectrum activity also can fight against fungi, algae, and yeast.
Unlike traditional lacquers, VYNGUARD Anti-Microbial topcoats block vinyl’s plasticizer from penetrating its protective layer, shutting down the pathway for stains and microbial growth to reach the vinyl substrate.
Advanced PVDF Technology
VYNGUARD Coatings use the power of advanced PVDF compositions, high-cross link density and UV inhibitors to exceed industry standards for resisting weathering, shedding dirt, and protecting against stains. They are highly resistant to abrasions and marring, while matching the flexibility and pliability of the substrate with soft haptics or hand feel.
Because they are thermally resilient, VYNGUARD Topcoats offer the added benefit of being able to be embossed with a pattern after the coating is applied, extending their use to furnishings and décor with aesthetics such faux leather, linen, twill, canvas, basketweave, dotted patterns, and wood grain.
VYNGUARD Coatings undergo rigorous abrasion, stain, and cleanability testing to ensure that they protect and extend the longevity of high-traffic furnishings. In addition to industry standard tests, APV employs other robust testing, the most severe of which involves placing a printed and lacquered upholstery fabric wiped with quat cleaner in a 70°C/158°F oven for 15 consecutive days, after which the samples are evaluated for changes in color, gloss, haptics, flexibility and hardness.
Furnishing specifiers should ask their suppliers how their coated products meet or exceed these commonly tested characteristics:
• Colorfastness: Ability to resist change or loss of color caused by exposure to light.
• Washability: Ability to withstand occasional sponging with a specified detergent solution.
• Stain resistance: Ability to show no change in appearance after application and removal of specified reagents.
• Crocking resistance: Ability to resist transfer of color from the surface when it is rubbed.
• Scrubbability: Ability to withstand scrubbing with a brush and a specified detergent solution.
• Abrasion resistance: Ability to withstand mechanical actions such as rubbing, scraping or scrubbing that may tend to progressively remove material from the wallcovering surface.
• Breaking strength: Ability withstand a pulling force.
• Tear resistance: Ability to resist the propagation of an existing tear.
• Coating adhesion: Measure of the strength of the bond between the coating layer and the vinyl or fabric surface.
• Cold cracking resistance: Ability to resist cracking of the coating or decorative surface when folded, during exposure to low temperatures.
• Heat aging resistance: Ability to resist deterioration of the coating or decorative surface when a furnishing is exposed to elevated temperatures over an extended period.
• Flammability: Ability to resist flames spreading at a fast rate when exposed to a source of ignition.
• Mildew resistance: Ability to deter the growth of (fungal) mildew on the surface.
• Shrinkage: Ability to not shrink more than 1% when soaked with water for 30 minutes and then dried.
Without proper protection, indoor and outdoor furnishings are susceptible to stains, abrasion, and fading. Building professionals can keep these components in service longer—and out of the landfill—by choosing furnishings coated with VYNGUARD Coatings.
