Cleaning is Crucial

Have you ever painted an outdoor fence or deck and tried to skip the cleaning/sanding step? It probably didn’t take long to figure out that step is crucial and makes all the difference. The same concept applies to electroplating. The cleaner the part, the better adhesion to the electroplated coating.

 

Standard Cleaning Might Not Be Enough

Sometimes, depending on the shape/size of the part and what is coated on top of the part prior to arriving at an electroplater, the cleaning process can be difficult. Standard practices of cleaning in electroplating shops is a combination of alkaline soak, electro-clean and acid activation. Depending on what type of oil or coating is on the part, standard cleaning procedures might not be enough to clean it before the plating process.

Numerous Inspections at Beringer Plating Inc.

Because we serve in multiple fastener industries, we see all kinds of different parts across the board and due to our customer base our shop is prepared to react to numerous scenarios where changes to the electroplating process become unique to the job. This is thanks to our quality manual and the procedures that each of our operators are trained to follow. Below is a diagram of the steps taken at Beringer Plating Inc. to ensure cleanliness of all parts coming and going from our shop.

Customer Tip

A good way to assist your electroplater is to share the characteristics of the protective coatings on top of your raw parts. That way, we have more knowledge of what exactly we are plating and can adjust if needed. Matt Schario, Director at Columbia Chemical goes in depth in an article featured on Products Finishing about which rust inhibitors and oils are the trickiest to remove, such as solvent or waxed based rust inhibitors and non-water-soluble oil (The Problem With Unclean Parts Prior to Plating, 2025).

This article is a great resource for distributors and manufacturers!

Reference List

Matt Schario, May 2025, The Problem With Unclean Parts Prior to Plating, https://www.pfonline.com/articles/the-problem-with-unclean-parts-prior-to-plating