Search our quarter-million Q&As

Home of the finishing HOTLINE since 1989

-----

Where to buy Chrome Plating Solution

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO FIND A SUPPLIER FOR CHROME PLATING SOLUTION. I NEED SOME INFO ON WHO I CAN BUY SOLUTION FROM OVER THE COUNTER SO I CAN DO SOME HOBBY PROJECTS THAT MAY LEAD INTO A BUSINESS.

JAMES POPEJOY
- LOS ANGELES, California
2003

---

James,

There is a valid reason for that. It is called EPA's cradle to the grave rule. If company X sells you chrome, you have a spill or a dump in the yard, the neighbor turns you in, the clean up will be in the thousands of dollars and much higher if the lawyers get involved. All this for say a pound of chromic acid. Now if you can not come up with the money, the lawyers do get involved and it will now cost company x in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for the same pound. No company in their right mind will sell to a hobby chrome plater. Disposal costs for the first 55 gal drum of waste when you shut down will run around $1,000. Southern CA is the last place in the world that I would start a chrome business.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2003

---

Hi, James. You might want to alternately consider another route to brightness. Aluminum can be polished and buffed, or you can apply "chrome-look paint" which looks a lot like chrome plating, or a little bit safer than chrome plating would be electroplating with a proprietary chromium substitute. You may find our "Introduction to Chrome Plating" helpful. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
March , 2010

Sorry! Finishing.com is temporarily Read-Only.
Ted Mooney is retiring but I have several offers to take it over.
We're working hard to make sure we find it the best new home.