Polyurethane

Where Polyurethane belongs

Polyurethane is specified where appearance and durability have to hold together for years outdoors, and where the budget supports it. It gives the deepest gloss and the best flow of the four chemistries, carries the highest humidity resistance Oracle has measured, and is available in a low-cure formulation for heat-sensitive substrates and assemblies.

Specify Polyurethane for

• ✓Premium architectural and facade work where finish quality is visible and specified
• ✓Automotive and two-wheeler components, wheels and exposed trim
• ✓High-value outdoor equipment and signage with a long design life
• ✓Assemblies that cannot take a full 200 degree oven, using the low-cure formulation

Do not specify it for

• ✕Cost-driven indoor work, where epoxy polyester delivers the same visual result for less
• ✕Very high film builds, since polyurethane is formulated to run at 70 to 80 microns

What the test reports show

Oracle report OI/QC/PU/2026-0150 covers matt, satin and glossy polyurethane on mild steel: salt spray at or above 1200 hours to ASTM B117 and humidity at or above 1500 hours to ASTM D2247, the highest of the four chemistries on both counts. Standard cure is 180 to 200 degrees Celsius metal temperature for 10 to 15 minutes, with a low-cure option at 140 to 160 degrees.

Every figure above is taken from a test report Oracle Industries publishes in full. Download them from Technical Documents.

Read before you specify

• How to Select a Powder Coating: A Decision Guide, the four questions that settle the choice, in order.
• Epoxy Polyester vs Pure Polyester, the exposure question that decides most specifications.
• What Salt Spray Hours Actually Mean, how to read the corrosion figure above without over-reading it.
• Pre-Treatment Before Powder Coating, the stage that decides whether any of these figures survive in service.