Advice for any interior designer

ADLER continues to grow, both within the Benelux and worldwide. The Austrian-based company develops and produces a high-quality and complete range of paints, lacquers and wood preservatives. The family business places great importance on environmentally friendly water-based paints.

"We have been working on water-based products for decades and see that they are becoming increasingly important," says Director of ADLER Benelux Leon Cremers. More than two-thirds of all ADLER products are water-based. Many of them possess a high proportion of natural and renewable raw materials. "We are constantly working on the development of new products and have 110 people working in the Research & Development department alone."

A result of these efforts is reflected in the green range, which includes only sustainable coatings suitable for applications throughout the home. Ecological wood oil for eco-friendly wood protection, durable window and furniture lacquers, water-based varnishes and eco-friendly wall paints. One such product is furniture varnish Bluefin Terra-Diamond. The product is based on a vegan formula and consists of more than 85% of natural and renewable raw materials. Says Cremers, "In addition, this is a very good lacquer with a natural look: you can hardly see that anything has been applied to the wood. Bluefin Terra-Diamond offers excellent surface protection and is easy to apply."

ADLER's specialty is not limited to the development of new products. The company is also very happy to think along with interior designers. "With this customer group, the focus is on furniture lacquer and color lacquer. We like to share the knowledge about our products and give advice. Customers regularly ask us whether it is wise to switch to water-based products."

In any case, this choice need not depend on the product range, says Cremers. "We have something for every user, both for small processors who spray by hand and large ones who work with a sprayer."

Each product type has its own advantages and disadvantages. "People sometimes think that waterborne products dry less quickly, but with the right conditions the drying time can actually be very well influenced, so the drying time of waterborne products can be even shorter than that of solvent-based products. So processing depends on the conditions, but you can influence them, possibly with air dryers. Certainly in the industry they don't want anything else anymore."

Water roughens oak, so more sanding is sometimes required when using water-based products. "At the same time, products with solvents yellow faster. With water-based lacquer, you can stain naturally without having to stain."

In short: whether the customer chooses water-based products depends on the situation and his or her wishes. In any case, those in doubt have come to the right place at ADLER. "We think along and give advice, for example about drying or the pretreatment of wood. Because we are a forerunner in the field of water-based products, we can share decades of knowledge with interior builders."

To serve the Netherlands even better, ADLER Benelux continues to expand with new specialists. "Marco Kerssens is our new technical advisor/account manager in the Netherlands and will be deployed very widely throughout the country due to his extensive experience," said Cremers.