Snel antwoord: coating and ink additives should be chosen by the formulation problem they need to solve, not by product name alone. In practical buying terms, the main decision path usually starts with one of five questions: do you need better flow and leveling, better Bevochtiging van het substraat, more stable pigment dispersion, tighter surface control, or stronger cleanability and anti-graffiti performance? That is the useful role of the CHLUMICRYL® coating- en inktadditieven line.
Instead of treating additives as a raw-material list, buyers should screen them as solution tools inside a real coating, ink, or varnish workflow. A UV ink project with pigment instability should not start from the same shortlist as a high-gloss coating project with poor leveling, and neither should use the same first additive review as a difficult plastic-film wetting problem.
What coating and ink additives actually solve
Most additive selection problems come from one of the following formulation pressures:
- Flow and leveling: the coating or ink does not lay down evenly, leaves texture, or shows gloss inconsistency.
- Substrate wetting: the liquid does not spread well on film, plastic, metal, or other difficult surfaces.
- Pigment dispersion and color stability: the system struggles with color development, floating, flooding, storage stability, or grind consistency.
- Surface control: the system needs tighter behavior around crater resistance, repellency, slip, stain resistance, or special surface response.
- Cleanability and durability: decorative or industrial surfaces need better resistance to contamination, marking, or difficult cleaning environments.
If you are choosing additives without first deciding which of those problems matters most, the shortlist usually becomes noisy and expensive.
How to choose additives by formulation problem
| Formulation problem | First additive direction to review | Why it belongs early |
|---|---|---|
| Poor flow, uneven gloss, or surface texture | Leveling additives | They help evaluate surface uniformity, flow behavior, and appearance control first |
| Poor spreading on plastic, film, or metal | Wetting additives | They belong early when substrate coverage and edge wetting are the real bottlenecks |
| Pigment instability or color-strength inconsistency | Dispergeermiddelen | They are the most direct route when pigment behavior is driving storage or print-performance risk |
| Extreme surface tuning or difficult defect control | Fluorine surfactants | They fit more specialized surface-control work where standard routes are not enough |
| Need for better cleanability or anti-graffiti behavior | Anti-graffiti additives | They belong when final surface-use conditions matter as much as basic application performance |
When to start with leveling additives
Leveling additives deserve early review when the main issue is not adhesion or pigment stability, but appearance and film laydown. That usually includes high-gloss systems, decorative coatings, premium packaging varnishes, and other formulations where surface texture is commercially visible.
The current CHLUMICRYL® line already includes a dedicated Egaliseermiddel branch, including products such as CHLUMICRYL® LA-D559. This is the right first route when the job is to improve flow-out, gloss consistency, or surface smoothness rather than to repair pigment wetting.
When to start with wetting additives
Wetting additives move to the front when the real problem is substrate coverage. If the system pulls back on film, struggles on low-surface-energy material, or shows uneven edge coverage on metal or plastic, a wetting route should usually be reviewed before changing broader resin or pigment choices.
CHLUMICRYL® already separates this into a dedicated Bevochtigingsmiddel branch. Buyers working across coatings and inks on plastic films, flexible packaging structures, or difficult decorative surfaces should usually keep this route high on the shortlist.
When to start with dispersants
Dispersants are the stronger first move when the formulation problem is driven by pigment behavior. Typical signs include unstable color development, grind inconsistency, floating or flooding, storage drift, or poor pigment distribution in higher-loaded systems.
The CHLUMICRYL® structure already includes a Dispergeermiddel branch with products such as CHLUMICRYL® DP-D2645R. For pigmented coatings and inks, especially where repeatability matters more than just first-pass appearance, this is often the most commercially useful first screening direction.
When fluorine surfactants belong in the shortlist
Fluorine surfactants are a more specialized route, but they become important when the standard additive toolbox is not enough. That can happen in systems with persistent surface defects, special repellency needs, extreme wetting demands, or unusual substrate/surface behavior.
Longchang already groups this under fluorine surfactants, with examples such as CHLUMICRYL® FS-D8980. These should usually be treated as a more targeted surface-performance route, not the default first answer for every coating or ink issue.
When anti-graffiti additives are the better fit
Anti-graffiti additives belong earlier when the buyer’s target is not only application performance, but also how the finished surface behaves in use. Decorative panels, infrastructure coatings, exposed industrial surfaces, and some public-facing systems may need stronger cleanability or resistance to difficult marking.
CHLUMICRYL® already has a dedicated Additief tegen graffiti branch, including products such as CHLUMICRYL® AG-D9000. This route is narrower, but commercially strong when the use case depends on long-term surface maintenance.
How buyers should choose additives for coatings vs inks
1. Start with the dominant failure mode
Do not begin with a long mixed list. Decide whether the failure is mainly flow, wetting, dispersion, or final-surface behavior.
2. Separate appearance problems from pigment problems
A coating that levels poorly and an ink that disperses poorly may both look bad, but they do not belong to the same first additive shortlist.
3. Keep substrate difficulty visible
Plastic films, metal surfaces, paper structures, and decorative panels do not all reward the same additive logic.
4. Keep end-use conditions in scope
For some projects, cleanability, stain resistance, surface feel, or visible gloss quality matter as much as basic application success.
5. Use a short first screening set
One product family per formulation problem usually gives a cleaner answer than mixing five different additive types in the first round.
Recommended CHLUMICRYL® solution paths
- For flow and surface leveling: CHLUMICRYL® Leveling Additives
- For substrate wetting: CHLUMICRYL® Wetting Additives
- For pigment dispersion: CHLUMICRYL® Dispergeermiddelen
- For extreme surface control: CHLUMICRYL® Fluorine Surfactants
- For cleanability and anti-graffiti performance: CHLUMICRYL® Anti-Graffiti Additives
FAQ
What is the first additive type I should test in a high-gloss coating?
If the main issue is flow-out, gloss consistency, or visible surface smoothness, start with a leveling additive route first.
What if my ink problem is mainly pigment stability?
Start with dispersants before treating it as a flow or leveling problem. Pigment behavior usually needs its own first screening path.
When should I look at fluorine surfactants?
When standard additive routes do not solve wetting, crater, or special surface-behavior problems, fluorine surfactants deserve a more targeted review.
Are anti-graffiti additives only for decorative surfaces?
No, but they are most valuable when the finished coating is judged by how easy it is to clean and how well it resists marking in real use.
Need help narrowing the additive shortlist?
If your coating, ink, or varnish project is limited by flow, substrate wetting, pigment behavior, or final-surface performance, start with the dominant formulation problem and use that to choose the CHLUMICRYL® branch first. That usually creates a faster and cleaner buying path than treating additives like a flat catalog list.