Choose furniture coating additives by the first property that fails: laydown, tactile feel, or handling. CHLUMILE® 3345 is the broad wetting and leveling route, CHLUMIFE® 3166 is the feel and abrasion-screening route, and CHLUMIAG® 3501 is the anti-sticking/handling route. They affect different stages of the coating process and should not enter one uncontrolled additive cocktail.
First stabilize the substrate, sanding and sealer, coating viscosity, application weight, flash, and cure. An additive cannot reliably repair grain telegraphing, contaminated compressed air, retained water or solvent, poor atomization, or incomplete crosslinking.
Furniture coating additive decision map
| First repeatable failure | First route to screen | Required guardrail |
|---|---|---|
| Orange peel, craters, weak substrate wetting, or uneven gloss | CHLUMILE® 3345 | Foam, intercoat adhesion, and edge coverage |
| Film lays down but feels dry or lacks the specified slip | CHLUMIFE® 3166 | Pinholes, whitening, foam stability, and recoatability |
| Appearance passes but stacked or packaged parts stick or mark | CHLUMIAG® 3501 | Gloss, repair adhesion, gluing, and print/pack contact |
| Produk | Published system fit | Supplier starting guidance | Best first-screen use |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHLUMILE® 3345 | UV, pelarut, dan berbasis air | 0.1–1% of total formulation; may be added at any stage | Wetting, flow, leveling, and surface appearance |
| CHLUMIFE® 3166 | UV, pelarut, dan berbasis air | 0.05–1% of total formulation | Feel and abrasion-oriented screening after laydown is stable |
| CHLUMIAG® 3501 | UV, pelarut, dan berbasis air | Request the current supplier recommendation | Anti-sticking and finished-part handling |
Start with 3345 when laydown is the failure
3345 is a polyether-modified polysiloxane with a published surface tension of no more than 25 mN/m. It is the logical first comparison when a repeatable panel still shows orange peel, weak wetting, craters, or gloss variation after viscosity, atomization, contamination, flash, and film weight have been controlled.
Surface-tension reduction is not automatically better at the highest dosage. Use a blank plus a compact ladder inside the supplier range. Record wetting and leveling together with foam, crater count, vertical sag, edge coverage, intercoat adhesion, and repair behavior.
Use 3166 when feel is the defined commercial target
3166 should enter after the film already wets and levels acceptably. Its useful question is not “does the panel feel smoother?” but “does the specified tactile change survive cure, conditioning, abrasion, cleaning, and warm storage without creating another defect?”
The supplier specifically flags pinholes, whitening, and foam stabilization as possible risks. Include those checks in the first screening round. A hand-feel pass does not compensate for microfoam, loss of clarity, weak intercoat adhesion, or a surface that cannot be repaired.
Use 3501 when handling becomes the bottleneck
3501 is the more relevant route when the appearance is acceptable but coated parts block, pick up marks, or become difficult to separate after stacking or packaging. Reproduce the actual time after cure, contact face, pressure, temperature, humidity, and dwell time. A room-temperature finger-touch check is not a substitute for the real stack condition.
Because the public product page does not state a universal dosage, request the current technical recommendation for the resin and cure package. Confirm any later printing, gluing, recoating, polishing, or repair step before approval.
Build a furniture-production test panel
- Lock the substrate. Use the same wood species or board, moisture range, sanding sequence, sealer, stain, and cleaning method.
- Lock application. Hold viscosity, temperature, gun setup, line speed, wet-film weight, flash, and cure constant.
- Run one additive route at a time. Compare a blank and two or three levels inside current supplier guidance.
- Measure appearance. Record leveling, craters, pinholes, gloss, haze, color, clarity, sag, and edge coverage.
- Measure performance. Check adhesion, hardness, abrasion, scratch/mar, water and chemical resistance, and blocking after full conditioning.
- Challenge downstream work. Repeat sanding, repair coating, tape, glue, packaging contact, and warm-stack conditions used by the factory.
ASTM D523 describes specular-gloss measurement, ASTM D4060 covers Taber abrasion for suitable planar rigid samples, ASTM D3363 covers pencil film hardness, and ASTM D3359 covers tape adhesion ratings. Select only methods suitable for the furniture substrate and agree film thickness, conditioning, and acceptance criteria before the trial.
Read common failure combinations correctly
Leveling improves, but bubbles remain
Separate the wetting/leveling problem from air release. Review mixing, pump shear, spray atomization, viscosity, substrate porosity, flash, and defoamer compatibility before increasing 3345.
Feel improves, but the clear film turns hazy
Reduce 3166, confirm dispersion and compatibility, and repeat at the real dry-film thickness. Check after full cure and warm storage rather than approving the freshly coated panel.
Blocking improves, but repair coating loses adhesion
Treat the result as a failure unless repair is outside the product requirement. Lower the surface-active route and repeat both blocking and intercoat adhesion after full conditioning.
Related guides by coating system
Use the wood varnish additive guide for a varnish-specific feel, leveling, and handling comparison. Use the waterborne wood coating guide when waterborne compatibility is the main boundary, or the 2K PU clearcoat guide when pot life and crosslinking make the trial system-specific.
Frequently asked questions
Can I combine 3345, 3166, and 3501?
Only after single-additive trials establish what each product changes. A combination should use the lowest effective levels and repeat every appearance, foam, adhesion, blocking, and downstream-process check.
Which additive should be tested first in a water-based furniture coating?
All three pages list water-based compatibility, but the first route still depends on the defect: 3345 for laydown, 3166 for tactile feel after laydown passes, or 3501 for handling after appearance passes.
Is a smooth hand feel enough for approval?
No. Approval also requires the specified gloss and clarity, cure, abrasion, chemical resistance, block resistance, adhesion, and repair or assembly performance.
Request a furniture coating additive comparison
Send the resin and crosslinker, water/solvent/UV system, substrate and sealer, application method, film weight, cure, defect photos, current additive package, and required downstream tests. Ask Longchang Chemical for a 3345, 3166, or 3501 screening plan.