With this article we would like to inform you that in 2023 the
EN 13442 standard "Determination of resistance to chemical agents" has been revised.
The field of application of this standard is
"Wood and parquet flooring and wood panelling and cladding".
The purpose is to determine the
resistance of the product surface
to contact with staining agents during its life cycle in use.
Compared with the previous version of the standard (2013), a distinction has been added for the substances to be applied and their contact times into:
- Film-forming coatings: coatings that form a continuous, perceivable and measurable film ≥ 20 µm;
- Non-film-forming coatings: coatings that doesn't form a continuous film and/or are thick < 20 µm, such as oils and waxes.
For film-forming coatings, two procedures (A and B) have been included that report the same substances to be applied but differ in contact times.
Same
for non-film-forming coatings, but in this case there are three procedures (C, D and E). Compared to procedure C, procedures D and E always report different contact times between them, as for film-forming coatings, but fewer substances to be applied.
EN 13442 neither defines which procedure to choose nor sets minimum evaluation requirements to be achieved for each applied substance.
For this reason, at CATAS we have adopted the criterion of applying
the most restrictive procedure, moving to the next procedure if the initial results do not achieve a rating of 5 (no visible defects).
In conclusion, we point out the fact that, even in this updated version of the standard, no minimum requirements have been defined yet, nor even a classification. This could lead to a limiting use of this method, but in any case one will have
very useful informationabout the degree of resistance of the product in use.
For info:Debora Tiberio
+39 0432 747245
tiberio@catas.com
