Dow Performance Silicones has introduced Dow Corning 904H Coating Additive, a silicone additive for architectural facade coatings.

The additive is designed to help coatings reduce the ‘snail trail’ effect commonly seen when surfactants and other water-soluble ingredients in coatings formulations leach to the surface.

Dow Corning 904H Coating Additive can also improve water resistance, repellency and beading in coatings by increasing their surface hydrophobicity.

“Architects, building owners and other specifiers around the world now use a wider range of paint colours,” the company’s Damian Froklage said. “In more frequently used darker and brighter colours, typically the ‘snail trail’ effect is more visible when it occurs.

We recognised the need for a coating additive that could reduce surfactant leaching to resist this effect, especially for coatings applied in cold and humid weather conditions where snail trails are encountered more frequently.”