PU Remains Brightly Colored as New! Challenge and Solution to Polyurethane Gas Fading

Everlight introduces Everaox® 504 performance-blend stabilizer, which can effectively prevent polyurethane (PU) products from fading, retain the aesthetic beauty of products, and increase their value!

 

“Color” is one of the most directly observable features of a product. It endows the product with a unique style and ease of recognition. At the same time, long-term color stability is synonymous with high quality. In order for polyurethane (PU) products to remain brightly colored and fade-resistant over time, it is necessary to overcome the phenomenon of gas fading caused by exhaust gases while solving the problem of material photo-oxidation. Thus, Everlight brings out the Everaox® 504 performance-blend stabilizer, which can effectively prevent PU from fading, retain the aesthetic beauty of products, and increase their value!

 

 

First impression matters most! Why is product color crucial?

 

Today's markets are fiercely competitive. New products appear and displace older ones at a rapid rate, and consumers’ purchasing decisions are also speeding up to keep pace with this. The products with vivid and bright appearances are usually the ones favored by consumers, yet it is by no means easy to maintain a color which looks flawlessly new for a long period of time. As soon as a product shows signs of color fading, consumers will doubt its quality and reduce their trust in the brand, which will gradually affect the value of the brand and lead to loss of market competitiveness. That’s why maintaining the aesthetic beauty of a product, especially the stability of its colors, is of utmost importance in improving the attractiveness and value of the product.

 

 

Invisible killer－threats of gas fading

 

Polyurethane (PU) is currently one of the most used polymer materials, and it often finds application in popular and fast fashion products such as sports shoes, clothing, bags, and so on. However, after consumers purchase these products, they often find them yellowing and fading after only a few uses. This is because there are pollutants in the air such as highly reactive nitrogen oxides (NOx), which combine with polymers to turn the product’s appearance into a yellowish or pinkish color, and this process is called “gas fading”. Polyurethane materials are particularly affected by this problem. It only needs a small amount of NOx present to cause an irreversible and severe color change reaction, resulting in discoloration of the polyurethane products. (Recommended reading: Brand New Anti-NOx Solution Fights Yellowing Factors Hidden in the Air)

 

 

Throughout the life cycle of polyurethane products, including their production process, product storage, and even during the period of consumer use, there is still a high possibility of exhaust gas discoloration occurring even if the products are seamlessly packaged and not exposed to sunlight or high temperature environments. It doesn’t only cause unnecessary waste in the costs for manufacturers, but also greatly increases the cost of handling scrap, customer complaints, and negative reviews, and may also have a negative impact on brand image. That’s why it is critically important to solve the problem of exhaust gas discoloration of PU materials.

 

 

Don’t despair! Everlight helps you meet challenges of PU gas fading

 

With years of experience in weather resistance, Everlight develops Everaox® 504, an “anti-gas discoloration and fading” performance-blend stabilizer, which is capable of efficiently inhibiting the impact of environmental exhaust gases on the appearance of PU products, and effectively guarantees the color stability of polyurethane. As shown in the chart below, we used PU foam—a material very sensitive to environmental factors—as the test sample. We do the test through the gas fumigation method for two hours. It can be clearly seen from the test results that the control group, which had no additives, became severely yellowed and even the sample added with other brands of anti-yellowing additive showed a dramatic change in color. Whereas, the sample added with Everaox® 504 performance-blend stabilizer recorded a color difference value of only 8.6, demonstrating an obvious resistance to discoloration and fading.

 

 

Next, we put a PU product to the test. The test sample we choose is the cute strawberry cake made with PU foam material, a little healing and stress-relieving product available on the market. As shown in the chart below, after 48 hours of fumigation, the cake color of the control group changed from a strawberry pink to a yellowish color, which was significantly different from the original color. Comparatively, the strawberry cake added with Everaox® 504 performance-blend stabilizer, still displayed outstanding resistance to exhaust gas discoloration even after a long period of fumigation, showing no yellowing or fading and maintaining a vividly bright appearance! This meets consumers’ expectations and requirements for product appearance and color, and greatly enhances product attractiveness and value.

 

 

 

If you are confronted with trouble of PU product yellowing during storage or discoloration caused by exhaust gases, the Everaox® 504 performance-blend stabilizer brought out by Everlight can help you effectively solve this problem. We have also launched a series of Eversorb® light stabilizers and other Everaox® antioxidants specifically designed for polyurethane, to effectively protect PU products, improve their weather resistance and heat resistance, prolong their service life and increase their product value! If you wish to find out more, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

 

 

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