What’s in Solid surface?

Most solid surface materials combine two main ingredients: a natural mineral (the “filler”) and a resin (the “binder”) , along with various additives.

White Cararra Solid Surface Shower Walls and Base
These are Natural Slate Stone Indoor Tiles and then cast in a curing process that results in a sheet or a shape.
ATH
The filler of choice in most solid surface is called alumina tri-hydrate, or “ATH.” ATH has great physical properties. It has excellent chemical and Best Slate Tiles China; excellent water-resistance; nice translucency; hard enough to give superb impact-resistance but “soft” enough to be machinable; and one last almost magical property: not only will it not burn, but because it has “water in hydration,” when attacked by heat ATH actually releases steam. This makes it a natural fire-retardant..
Other Fillers
Other materials have been used as fillers for solid surface. Calcium carbonate was used in the first Corian sheets. Quartz is used to make some sinks, but yields a material too hard and brittle to be easily machinable. One brand uses glass fibers to add strength and impact-resistance to its product but at a cost of beauty and shine. Special fillers like glass beads have been tried and used to achieve specific effects.
Resins
Two main “families” of resins are used to make solid surface: acrylic and polyester. A purely acrylic-based resin yields a sheet that is thermoformable--that is, it can be heated, bent to a new shape, and cooled without any loss of its performance characteristics. The other chief difference between acrylic and polyester resins is that acrylics are unaffected by the ultraviolet rays present in natural light. Polyester resins (including those which are “acrylic-modified,” that is, mixed with acrylic resins) are used in many high-strength demanding applications besides solid surfacing, including outdoor applications like boats and aircraft cowlings. Solid surface products made with these resins are generally not considered to be thermoformable, although some manufacturers as well as fabricators do in fact cite some thermoformability for their products. Both acrylic and polyester resins start life as petroleum, and thus their cost is tied at least indirectly to the price of oil. But other supply and demand factors enter in to make the chemical market extremely volatile (no pun intended) price-wise. At today’s prices, acrylic is two to three times the cost of polyester.
Additives
Crystal White Marble product contains numerous additives.These include pigments, but also a host of additives that improve or enhance chemical and performance properties, or even affect such mundane things as the “pot life” of the resin in transit and storage: UV absorbent, cross-linking agents, stabilizers, the list goes on. One important additive which all solid surfaces share is a catalyst. This is the chemical, usually a peroxide, which causes the mixture to harden, or cure.

Sandstone Classic Solid Surface Vanity Top with Integral Bowl and Bull nose EdgeFor more information, please visit:www.projectmarbles.com.