Enhancing the look, feel and performance of artificial and synthetic materials
Artificial and synthetic materials have arisen as alternatives to natural leather as a consequence of cost, ethical, sustainability or performance drivers and are now widely used in automotive, garment, shoe and furniture applications. Polyurethane (PU), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and bio based materials are used to create the multilayer structures which are then finally coated with traditional finishing products, often with the intent to mimic the texture, haptic and sensory properties of natural leather.
For the finishing process, HYDRHOLAC™ and OPTI-MATT™ Acrylic and polyurethane Dispersions, ROSILK™ and DOWSIL™ Silicone Emulsions, and DOWSIL™ Silicone Additives help the coatings formulator to enhance application properties and final gloss/ mattness, hand feel/ haptic, anti-squeak, abrasion resistance, anti-soiling and chemical resistance.
In addition to providing raw material components to formulators to create their own formulations, Dow also offers a range of fully formulated polyurethane finishing products under the VITHANE™ brand for use by the synthetic manufacturer themselves.
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