Thinner or Penetrating Agent? How to choose?

Products used for leather after-treatment usually can be either applied by hand or sprayed. Generally, in the case of spraying, the product needs to be diluted in advance to avoid clogging the spray gun. When choosing diluted products, many customers will have questions like “Since your product is water-based, can I directly add water to dilute it?” “Why sometimes suggest using Thinner and sometimes suggest Penetrant Agent?” Let’s dive into the discussion of choosing a suitable product today.

Question 1: What is Thinner?

The main component of Thinner is organic solvent or water etc. That is used to reduce the viscosity and thin down the product for spray. But it needs to be selected according to product performance.

Question 2: Can water-based leather chemicals be diluted with water directly?

This is the most common question raised by customers. Since water-based leather chemicals are water-based systems, can they be directly diluted with water? Theoretically, it is possible to add water to water-based leather chemicals, but this water should be pure water without any impurities instead of tap water.

Although pure water can function as dilution, the increase in the proportion of water in the product will lead to changes in product performance, such as lower solid content, poor flow and leveling, and poor storage stability, etc.

Question 3: What is Penetrating Agent?

As the name suggests, Penetrating Agents work to improve the penetration of the product. Its main components are surfactants and other additives, which can improve the wetting of the product to the leather, helping the product to penetrate, and at the same time, improving the adhesion of the product to the leather. Especially for leather with poor absorption, the effect of adding Penetrating Agent to the product is obvious.

Question 4: Can alcohol be used as Penetrating Agent?

Many operations in the market will directly use alcohol as a Penetrating Agent. Although alcohol is convenient and affordable, it is not recommended. Due to the fact that alcohol will change the particle size of the product, and degrease the leather surface, resulting in an unpleasant dry handle, and in some cases producing a poor break.

Lorence Penetrating Thinner ST-118

In some cases, the Penetrating Agent can also play the role of dilution, so why sometimes the technician recommends the use of Thinner and sometimes recommends the use of Penetrating Agent? This is mainly due to the cost consideration since Penetrating Agent is more expensive than thinners. If it is purely for the purpose of diluting products, Thinners are generally used. In some specific cases, penetrating agents are considered.

After considering all the above factors, Lorence launched a Penetrating Thinner ST-118, which balances the cost and performance of the product. In the application of spraying, adding it to water-based leather chemicals can help to open the pores on the surface of the leather, allowing the product to penetrate into the fibers of the leather faster. In addition to increasing the adhesion of the leather, it helps to create a transparent natural look on the surface of the leather.

Please contact us to get more information on Lorence Penetrating Thinner ST-118.