What is "electroplating"?
You may remember science experiments from school where you copper-plated a nail by passing an electrical current through a copper sulphate solution. This is a very basic form of electroplating. Snap-Caps are electroplated using a similar (but much more complex) principle.
Electroplating of plastics is a very specialised industry and there are only a handful of companies around the world with the necessary expertise - so we send our caps off to one of these specialists to electroplate them for us.
Firstly, the caps are moulded in a special grade of ABS plastic, which is the only plastic that can accept the process. The caps are mounted on special racks, which allow electricity to be conducted through the caps, then passed through 20 or more baths where the metal is slowly built up over the plastic until the final high quality finish is attained. Between each phase of the process, caps are rinsed in clean water. Each cap is then washed and individually checked for quality.
It may surprise you to learn that these days, all car badges and many bathroom fittings are electroplated plastic, and are made using exactly the same process as on our caps. This assures a durable, hard-wearing and long-lasting finish suitable for both indoor and outdoor applications. While it is resistant to most household cleaners, you should not use scouring cleaners that may scratch the surface, or use on applications exposed to temperatures above 120°C.
Why are Electroplated Snap-Caps so pricey?
The electroplating process requires a number of metal compounds to be disolved in the carrier solution for the process to work. These metals are expensive. In fact, the Gold electroplating uses 18 and 24 carat gold!
All the baths used must be disposed of after the solution has been used up - an expensive cost, as is the treatment of rinse water before it can be released into the sewage system (and eventually the ocean).
There is also a high labour cost as caps must be attached to metal racks which transfer an electrical current through the caps. After the electroplating process is complete, all caps are removed from the racks and then individually checked for quality.
The net result is that electroplating (especially of plastics), is a fairly expensive process. Just as with a replacement badge for your car, or a new mixer-tap for your shower, there is a price for a quality metal finish, which is resistant to most household cleaning produts and which you fully expect will last for many years.
What about the cheaper "metallised" caps available elsewhere?
Although they may look similar to Electroplated Snap-Caps, the much cheaper "metallised" caps sold by other UK Suppliers, are essentially just a painted silver or gold coating.
"Metallised" caps can often be spotted by the exposed plastic (usually White or Brown) inside the cap. Genuine electroplated Snap-Caps can be differentiated from "metallised" caps as they have the plating finish on the inside of the cap as well as on the outside surface.
These inferior coatings can be removed by many 'everyday' household cleaning products, leaving more silver or gold on the cleaning cloth than on the cap! On other caps, temperature changes will cause the coating to separate from the plastic, resulting in the coating peeling or flaking off. Let's face it, if 'metallised' finishes were even a fraction as good as fully electroplated finishes, the process would be used by manufacturers of low-end vehicles and bathroom fittings.
Pro-Dec do not manufacture, sell or recommend the use of "Metallised" caps - Use only genuine Electroplated Snap-Caps.