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The Difference Between Black Anodized and Black Paint
Oct 07, 2021

It seems that Architects and Designers are in love with the countless options that paint can cover.  It can often be difficult to change their minds and rightly so, it is their creative vision of the project that you are taking issue with. So what are the reasons for changing to anodizing over paint and how to bring them to your customer or designer? 

First ask if they have ever considered anodizing and be sure to have a sample to share. Let them know that you have had good results and have an excellent partner in the anodizing industry. You might be asked, “why would we switch?” Let them know that an anodized finish is much more durable and with all the unknowns and hazards on a job site, an anodized finish gives the job the best chance for success. 


Additionally, black anodized holds up much better in high traffic areas.  It seems like when you look at a black painted door wrong it gets a mark on it, and worst of all when you try and clean it off it may remove the paint or dull it and forever damage the finish. Because the color in anodizing is actually in the metal it is nearly impossible to mar and normal to aggressive cleaners only have the effect of cleaning the material.


If your counterpart is still not convinced, call your local anodizer and for more technical information about hardness and chemical resistance. By reaching out you will be providing even more resources to the project as many anodizers have other services to offer like fabrication and special packing.

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Pretreatment Processes and the Benefits of Good Planning

27 Sep, 2021
I was recently reminded of how important thinking through the whole design of a project and how it relates to the anodizing process is. We are working on a Mural project with a local artist and he would like to use aluminum panels to paint on. We are doing an acid etch to prepare the panels for a base primer to allow the artist plenty of time to work out his design. The Etch process is a normal preparation for anodizing and makes one of the best pretreatments for paint. The Artist wants the whole panel to be utilized in the mural so avoiding rack marks is important to everyone.  After speaking with the installer we learned that the panels were being mounted on brick and holes were going to be drilled in the perimeter of the panels. This was perfect! We would be able to hang the panels from the holes and avoid rack marks altogether. Furthermore, communicating this to the painter helped their process and planning. All of this planning gives us the best chance of making our customers happy and both of our work look the best.
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