The role of wax emulsions in wood finishes

Wax emulsions can be added to wood finishes in order to improve the smoothness of the paint and to increase the resistance to adhesion, scratch resistance, abrasion resistance and water repellency.

Wax emulsions are surface conditioners for waterborne wood finishes. The adhesion resistance of a coating is related to the surface free energy of the coating, the surface microstructure, the hardness of the coating and the glass transition temperature of the base material of the paint film. The wax present on the surface of the coating changes the surface state of the coating and thus acts as an anti-adhesive agent.

　Wax emulsions for waterborne wood finishes improve performance by:

1, Easy to construct degree: water-based paint has water dilution without adding TENA water, easy to construct and use directly; while nitrocellulose paint and polyester paint need to add TENA water or related curing agent, and must follow the fixed ratio, so, nitrocellulose paint and polyester paint need professional guidance in the construction process.

2, Wear resistance, yellowing resistance, durability: water-based paint using advanced aliphatic polyurethane system, the surface of the paint film is hard, wear-resistant, flexible film, will not turn white due to collision; no yellowing, the film remains clear and transparent for years; artificial aging resistance 800 hours, long outdoor durability performance. And nitrocellulose and polyester paint has the disadvantages of easy to collide and turn white, easy to yellowing.

3, Feel, fullness:  because of the water-based paint using a thin coating + “virtual texture” technology, after painting the feel and fullness have been greatly improved.

The abrasion resistance of wax emulsion is related to the elasticity, toughness, hardness and strength of the coating. For abrasion resistance and slip increase, the harder the wax, the better the effect. The particle size of wax particles is similar to or slightly larger than the thickness of the coating, and its slip increase, scratch resistance and abrasion resistance is better because the wax particles slightly above the surface of the coating play a role similar to that of bearing lubrication.