Chemical Education

Aromatic Polyurethane is the most common used in the truck bed liner industry. They are used by most of your franchise and dealerships that spray truck bed liners. They are very durable and have fantastic flexibility, once cured they are like a thick rubber washer. The flexibility gives you the durability against heavy objects being dragged across the surface; this coating can take a tremendous beating without chipping off. The one negative aspect about this coating is its UV capability. Even though we have an UV blocker you can add to our aromatic polyurethane, it still will yellow up to 5% over time. The yellowing will only occur to light colors especially white, and light blue. If you pick a dark color or colors that have a yellow hue to them, such as the brown and the yellow, the yellowish of the product will be hard to notice. NOTE: You do NOT need the UV additive for indoor use; only sunlight will cause a slight yellow hue to certain colors.

Aliphatic Polyurethane are 100% UV protected and also bring the highest form of chemical resistance to the table. You can go with white without having it turn yellow at all. The drawback of this coating is the flexibility. They are not as flexible as the aromatics, but in certain industries flexibility is not needed, such as boat decks and walkways. Another factor is the cost, Aliphatic polyurethane run about $13.00 more per gallon, but if you add in the cost of buying UV protection for the aromatic, it only comes down to $4.00 more per gallon.

In closing, use the aromatics when at all possible, and use the aliphatic when you need a white surface on a non-industrial use such as boat decks and walkways. If you need any questions answered please feel free to call us at 800 270-0777 between the hours of 8:00 am to 5:30 pm est. or use our question and comment link on our website.

Thank you,
Grizzly Grip