In terms of surface cleaning prior to any kind of adhesive bonding, Pratley highlights that surface preparation is critical to achieve a high bond strength and optimise the durability, reliability, and lifespan of any bonded joint or repair. “Some surfaces only need to be dusted, while other oily or dirty substrates may require more elaborate surface preparation prior to adhesive bonding,” notes Mark Bell, National Sales and Marketing Manager for Adhesives.

Pratley Safety Cleaner is a versatile product with numerous applications in the DIY and industrial sectors. It is commonly used in the DIY market as a surface cleaner prior to adhesive bonding. Its versatility also makes it ideal as an electrical switch and component cleaner as well as a thread degreaser in workshops prior to using thread-locking adhesives.

“A clean, dry surface is necessary for effective adhesive bonding. If a dirty surface is bonded, the adhesive ends up adhering to the contaminants instead of the intended substrate, thus reducing bond strength. Most adhesives cannot penetrate surface contaminants and thus provide an optimum bond on an unclean or oily surface,” cautions Bell.

Pratley Safety Cleaner is a specially formulated aerosol cleaner that has the major advantage of leaving no oily residue behind. Other benefits are that it is safe and non-flammable. The product is simply sprayed directly onto the surface to be cleaned and then wiped off with a lint free cloth.

Being multipurpose and easy to use, Pratley Safety Cleaner is ideal for DIY home or workshop use, the electrical market, and engineering and industrial workshops. The product is available to the wholesale market in 12 x 200 g spray tins, whereafter it is dispensed in single tins for retail end-use.

“As a Pratley branded product, not only does it offer exceptional reliability, in accordance with our policy statement, our product performance must exceed all others on the global market,” highlights Bell. Commenting further on adhesive surface preparation, Bell stresses the importance of ‘roughening’ surfaces prior to any type of adhesive bonding.

“As a rule of thumb, and where possible, prior to cleaning you should also look at roughening the surface or bond joint using sandpaper prior to any type of adhesive bonding. This not only increases the surface area in contact with the adhesive, but it also allows for additional mechanical interlocking between the adhesive and the substrate,” concludes Bell.

In addition to adhesive bonding preparation, Pratley Safety Cleaner is also ideal for the cleaning of:

· Switches

· Relay contacts

· Commutators

· Condensers

· Rheostat wipers

· Precision mechanical parts

· And many more.