How candy chrome by Vibra Finish provides a colourful shine

Vibra Finish can work with candy-chrome finishing.

For decades, Vibra Finish has provided top finishing services with many methods. One popular material for the finishing process is chrome, appreciated for the shine it gives to automotive parts and household décor, plus its deep reflectivity and low maintenance. It is also corrosion-resistant and withstands harsh conditions. Although silver chrome is traditional, a colourful option called candy chrome has become popular.

Combining electroplating and colour spraying

Candy chrome refers to a finishing process that blends electroplating and colour spraying. Applicable to brass, steel, aluminum, copper, stainless steel substrates, and plastic, chrome is a bright metallic finish that offers specular reflection, showing faraway objects clearly and accurately. It also results in a bluish tinge that many prefer to the grey or yellowish tint that other finishing processes create.

Chrome application has two basic methods: chrome plating, a functional application, and decorative or nickel-chrome plating, which adds a strike layer of nickel underneath the chrome. The finish quality depends on the thickness of the nickel layer, which provides smoothness and corrosion resistance. Occasionally, a fully buffed copper layer under the nickel can improve the brightness even further.

Vibra Finish can work with candy chrome. Candy chrome is done by applying a clear coat to the chrome or nickel-plated surface, which is coloured with a dye. Some say that spraying the chosen colour over nickel works best; this is still referred to as candy chrome, although chrome is not used. High-quality chrome plating for car shows is often called “show chrome”.

Among the colours available in this process are blue, green, pink, black, and multiple colours. The finisher mixes the dye with the clear-coat and sprays it on the chrome or nickel finish. Since chrome has no colour of its own, it reflects the dyed clear-coat to impart a deep, rich colour.

Candy chrome is especially popular for car and motorcycle trim and wheels and for household items. It can be applied to non-metallic material like plastic or glass. Common uses for this method include accent pieces on motorbikes, entire automobile bodies, and decorative household pieces like doorknobs and vases.

For more information, contact Vibra Finish.

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