SURFACES Future-proof
SURFACES Future-proof wood protection In view of resource scarcity and advancing climate change, environmentally friendly coating solutions tailored precisely to current and future climatic conditions are in greater demand than ever before. With innovative and sustainable products for the surface protection of wooden windows, doors or furniture made of wood, Remmers is consistently moving towards a “green future”. Extremely resource-efficient: the water-based, hydrophobic impregnation Induline IW-130. Induline IW-130: Environmentally friendly and resource-conserving coatings The water-based, hydrophobic impregnation Induline IW-130 is a genuine innovation. For instance, this innovative product is ideal for coating dimensionally stable components and significantly expands the recycling possibilities of the natural building material wood. This means that numerous wood products and components can be returned to the recyclable material cycle at the end of their service life. This is because the impregnation does not contain any film-preserving or wood-protecting biocidal agents that make material recycling more difficult or prevent it in many conventional coating structures. Induline IW-130 also impresses in terms of performance. The special formula provides preventive, physical protection against moisture, thereby significantly reducing the risk of surface blueing. The new product also has good flow properties on raw wood and can be processed without any unpleasant odours. Induline LW-722 [eco]: “Green” coating for timber/aluminium windows An important part of the new Remmers [eco] range is the resource-saving, water-based and transparent coating Induline LW-722 [eco] – a perfect solution for the surface protection of wood-aluminium windows. The innovation is based on a biomass-balanced binder. For the production of this binder, the fossil raw materials were almost completely replaced by renewable raw materials, ensuring a sustainable reduction in CO 2 emissions. What’s more, Induline LW-722 [eco] has excellent environmental properties that contribute to a healthy living climate. Induline LW-722 [eco] can be easily processed in single-layer and multi-layer applications and makes windows virtually maintenance-free. The coating has a good flow and is also UV and colour resistant. Induline LW-742 Xclimate: Perfect for tough climatic conditions Remmers recommends the water-based, glazed intermediate and finishing coat Induline LW-742 Xclimate for wooden components that are exposed to particularly challenging climatic conditions. It is characterised by a temperatureindependent, permanently elastic and therefore extremely weather-resistant surface. This means that it can also withstand extreme direct weathering outdoors, thereby protecting the wood reliably and permanently from all weather events, today and tomorrow. LW-742 Xclimate will be available from summer 2023. COOL+: Cooling effect for windows and external doors Due to rising climate temperatures and the associated heating of windows and external doors through solar radiation, Remmers has developed the powerful cool-coating-technology. The COOL+ pigmentation principle is both simple and intelligent. Through the use of special colour formulas, the particularly heat-intensive infrared portion of sunlight is largely reflected in the system structure and heating is thus reduced by up to 25 %. This cooling effect is particularly effective with dark colours. The result: lower surface temperatures and an extension of the service life and maintenance intervals of the coated wooden components. Remmers offers two water-based, opaque intermediate and finishing coats with COOL+ pigmentation for windows and doors: Induline DW-601 Aqua Stopp and Induline DW-625. The new products in the wood protection sector will be launched from 17 – 22 April 2023 at the Remmers stand at the leading international trade fair BAU in Munich (Hall B6, Stand 402). www.remmers.com 24 No. 1 • March 2023
USER REPORT Digital printing as a success factor in flooring production Even 10 years after their introduction, the JUPITER Digital Printing Lines from Hymmen are the technology of choice for Classen Classen has relied on the single-pass JUPITER technology from Hymmen right from the start and now uses 5 digital printing lines to finish its flooring. On the 10th anniversary of the commissioning of the first line to produce laminate flooring at the Baruth site, it is worth taking a look back at the success story of digital printing at the flooring manufacturer. The market situation for decorative surfaces in the flooring sector The standard “beech ship’s floor” look for flooring was already out in 2012. Customers showed the need to design their furnishings and thus also their floors more individually. And this at affordable prices. Sales staff at Classen – a leading supplier of laminate and PVC-free designer flooring – had been observing this market trend for some time and therefore expected their own customers – specialist and DIY stores – to be even more keen to differentiate themselves from their competitors in the future. This would bring with it a greater variety of decors to which they would have to adapt. A challenge for all flooring manufacturers. Up to now, only papers printed with decors have been purchased from external service providers and glued (laminated) onto the core board. The minimum purchase for such decors is enormous, so that often 15,000 to 20,000 m² of flooring must be processed. However, if customers from the specialized trade often only wanted to purchase high-quality, exclusive flooring in quantities of less than 500 m², this would inevitably lead to high capital-binding inventories that might not even be needed later. The machine and plant engineering company Hymmen from Bielefeld also anticipated this market trend and, with foresight, began developing digital printing technology for decor specialists in the wood-based materials industry back in 2008. After all, digital printing is the answer to the evolving needs for flexibility, variety, and small batch sizes. Compared to other industries, special needs had to be met: Relevant for the success of digital printing technology in the flooring industry are its industrial capacity, the applicability to a wide variety of substrates and the connection of the digitally printed surfaces to further processing in the production process (pressing, finishing in liquid coating systems). In addition, extraordinarily high demands are placed on the quality of the surface. Not only regarding the decor, but also regarding aspects of chemical and physical abrasion resistance. Joint development project Ten years ago, in 2012, digital printing technology for flooring was still in its infancy. “Nevertheless, we at CLASSEN had the idea at that time to enter digital printing and to print certain decors for our laminate floors ourselves,” recalls Daniel Schwoch, today head of the precoating and digital printing division with 70 employees at the Classen Industries laminate plant in the Classen Group blog. “On the one hand, we wanted to constantly improve and be the innovation leader in our field. On the other hand, we wanted to be able to respond even better to our customers’ wishes for smaller batch sizes, exclusivity, decor variety and flexibility,” he says, describing Classen’s motivation for setting up a digital printing project team. Together with the No. 1 • March 2023 25
