Flow and leveling agents are used to eliminate coating surface defects caused by airborne contaminants or poor surface pretreatment. Polymeric flow and leveling additives function by reducing the surface tension to eliminate defects such as fisheyes, craters, pinholing, ghosting/telegraphing, orange peel or overspray.

Lubrizol acrylic surface modifiers act as flow additives and leveling agents for use in solvent-based or solvent-free coatings. Our Lanco™ Flow acrylic technologies eliminate surface defects like craters, pinholes and orange peel. They facilitate the coating process by improving substrate wetting and flow and leveling of the coating, as well as enhancing degassing, leading to a uniform smooth surface with high gloss.

A range of acrylic copolymers with carefully controlled molecular weight distribution are prepared and supplied in a wide range of solvents to enable easy handling and compatibility in coatings. We also work directly with customers to enhance our chemistries as needed to meet their unique challenges.

Typical Applications

Due to their compatibility with a wide range of resins and solvents, Lubrizol flow and leveling additives can be applied in various applications, such as general industrial coatings, wood finishes, can and coil coatings, and automotive OEM and VR coatings based on polyester, epoxy, polyurethane, nitrocellulose, alkyd or acrylic resins.

Flow & Leveling Agents