Solid Surface has fast become a favoured choice of material for homes and commercial facilities throughout the UK due to its seamless, sleek finish and its hygienic properties.- but what is it exactly and how is it made?
Solid Surface is a man-made stone, created from a combination of acrylic and a by-product of aluminium mining known as ATH.
ATH itself is a fine white powder, which is derived when bauxite ore, the by-product of aluminium mining is refined.
The material itself is a mixture of 1/3 acrylic combined with 2/3 natural minerals, which are cured, with pigment and crunched up Solid Surface added, to create a hard as stone, beautiful, hard wearing, surface material.
Inspired by nature, with some colours that truly emulate those of stone, marble and granite, Solid Surface is a worthy addition to the ranks of other, luxurious, natural products and engineered stone.
You can only imagine the reaction of DuPont’s scientists when their combination of raw materials produced what became known as Corian®…
They took the Aluminium Trihydrate, more commonly known as ATH- a fine white powder derived from bauxite ore, (incidentally the worlds main source of aluminium, which is also one of the most recycled, and recyclable, materials in use today, as well as being the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust)
This, they combined with methyl acrylate, (acrylic resin) (or in some cases polyester resin) much like a cake batter, to create the raw mix of Solid Surface.
It is at this point that the pigment and particulates (crunched up pieces of Solid Surface) are added to the mix, enabling the different colours and patterns to be achieved.
At this stage of the process, the mix is poured into a mould and left to cure. After this point, the material is cut into sheets and made ready for despatch.
Keep your eyes peeled for our next blog, which will be about why Solid Surface is actually called Solid Surface, in the meantime, if you missed our previous blogs, please click the link at the bottom 👇🏻
Solid Surface – The HistoryNeed help with a project? Contact us for more details.
