Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Flexible chrome finish

I would like to chrome shoes. Is there a way to put a metallic chrome finish on leather, vinyl or fabric so that it will remain flexible?

Tanner Jones
- Logan, UT, USA
2002

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Sorry, not even a chance in my estimation, Tanner. Chrome is a brittle metal.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2002

Hi, I think it is possible! In the latest Star Wars movie the lightsabers are made from a flexible rubber which is chrome plated! On one of the documentaries about the making of the movie they show a chrome plated lightsaber being bent in half, and the chrome flexes! I need to find out who does this as well!

Paul Harrison
- Herts, UK
2005

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Just because something is shiny doesn't mean it's chrome plated, Paul, and I'm very confident that those light sabers aren't chrome plated. Reflective mylar balloons have been available very inexpensively for decades; they are vacuum metallized and extremely flexible. Shiny paints have gotten much better in just the last few years; some people call them "chrome look" because they are highly reflective, and they may be what you are looking for.

From your point of view I'm probably being pedantic because you just want something that is shiny like chrome, and I'm insisting on a distinction between chrome plating and what you want. But it could be important to other readers who need real chrome plating that I continue to insist that chrome isn't flexible -- so thanks for your patience :-)

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005