Controlling & preventing corrosion with inhibitors…

Hello everyone. Why abandon a formula if it causes package corrosion? I suspect most wouldn’t because corrosive formulas sometimes have the most desirable performance among those evaluated for a particular product type. Indeed, most will typically try to find a corrosion inhibitor before giving up on a corrosive formula. In my 50 years of working […]

The limitations of coatings for corrosion prevention

Hello, everyone. It’s commonly believed that coatings and laminate films are barriers between a spray package metal or metal foil and a formula. It’s also commonly believed that a barrier is needed to prevent metal corrosion. However, these beliefs are not always true! Why don’t coatings always prevent corrosion of the coating and the substrate […]

Testing can accurately predict actual corrosion…

Hello, everyone. The Corrosion Corner column turns 22 years old this month. Thank you all for your support and interest over the years. Can spray package corrosion tests accurately predict actual spray package corrosion? The short answer is Yes. However, using inappropriate protocols produces inaccurate corrosion data that often leads to wrong conclusions about long-term […]

Top 12 spray package corrosion questions

Hello, everyone. Spray packages include traditional aluminum and steel aerosol containers, bag-on-valve spray packages, aerosol containers with internal bags and multiple-use spray packages. All of these packaging types are susceptible to corrosion and are very expensive! The cost of spray package corrosion includes the unbudgeted use of resources to: 1. Investigate package failures 2. Find […]

Corrosion Control & Prevention Programs

Hello, everyone. Spray packages allow consumers to easily dispense a controlled amount of product to a specific area. Corrosion is an issue for all types of spray packaging and packaging materials. However, corrosion can be controlled and/or prevented with a comprehensive corrosion prevention and control program. Let’s start with a brief overview of why spray […]

Guidelines for packaging engineers & formulators

Hello, everyone. I’d like to share my current perspective on corrosion guidelines for both those who formulate new and derivative spray products and those who specify and qualify packaging for spray products. The various guidelines can be placed into one of the five following categories: 1. Formula chemistry 2. Corrosion inhibitors (a subset of formula […]

Corrosion by Formula & Package Factors: Part 2

Happy New Year, everyone. In the December 2021 issue of SPRAY, I discussed the most common formula factors that affect spray package corrosion. In this issue, we’ll complete the discussion with the most common package factors that affect spray package corrosion: 1. Type of package (e.g., aerosol containers and bag-on-valve) 2. Type of internal package […]

Corrosion by Formula & Package Factors: Part 1

Package corrosion is a complex interaction between a large number of formula and package factors. It has been my experience that there are at least 16 known corrosion-contributing and/or corrosion-causing factors for spray packaging. These factors can be grouped into formula and package subcategories as follows: 1. Formula factors Ingredients • Propellant type • Fragrances […]

Why not worst-case corrosion tests?

Hello, everyone. Supply shortages, changing market demographics and faster-to-market pressures tend to make formula chemical compositions change and evolve over time. These pressures often make worst-case corrosion tests seem attractive for new products and derivative products (line extensions) in particular. The reasoning for worst-case corrosion testing is often that a product that passes a worst-case […]

Spray package material defects: Part 3

Hello, everyone. This month we continue a series that began in June concerning spray packaging material defects and their relationship with corrosion. Corrosion Corner in June and July covered defects in polymer and tinplate coatings, laminated film bags and the metals used for traditional aluminum and steel aerosol containers. Most of these material defects are […]