Rust-Oleum has had success with soy products in the past and, with support from the United Soybean Board and the soybean checkoff, is looking to expand their portfolio of soy-based products.
Rust-Oleum’s current product portfolio includes soy-oil, solvent-based urethanes for floor, interior and exterior use; soy stain and polyol, also solvent-based; and soy oil stains in solvent and water-based polyurethanes. The company also expects product line extensions for water-based urethanes, stains and polyols in 2009.
"Coatings are one of the target areas of the soybean checkoff for new uses development and polyurethanes are a big part of that,” says Karen Fear, USB director and a soybean farmer from Montpelier, Ind. “The soybean checkoff is proud to partner with companies like Rust-Oleum to incorporate soy into more products, as companies move away from using petro-chemical ingredients."
Due to great interest from its marketing group, Rust-Oleum is accelerating efforts to develop Varathane, a new water-based polyurethane stain with soy. The company hopes to launch the product in Canada as early as July 2008.
The company says that key attributes for success of the product include wood warmth, chemical resistance, compatibility with full-line stains, flow, level and feel of oil products, and competitive cost and pricing structure. The goal is to achieve faster cure than solvent-based finishes, giving the new soy products a performance-based benefit. There is still work to be done to give the new water-based stain the same warm color appearance, abrasion and scuff resistance as the oil-based stains.
The company continues to perform tests on more wood species to ensure compatibility and also perform more rigorous tests on flooring. Rust-Oleum will continue to check compatibility with a full line of stains, conduct contractor evaluations and confirm results with outside laboratories.
"Rust-Oleum’s new products will be an exciting addition to a growing list of soy-based coating products,” says Fear. “With more regulations and concerns over volatile organic compounds (VOCs) soy continues to be an environmentally friendly option for many industries."
Soybean-oil-based polymers help contribute to the coatings industry’s major environmental challenge of reducing VOCs and lowering raw material costs. Improving overall performance with soy is also prompting manufacturers to replace petrochemicals with renewable products.
To learn more about Rust-Oleum visit its Web site at http://www.rustoleum.com/. To learn more about new uses for soy, visit www.soynewuses.org.
USB is made up of 68 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.