If you’re a fan of our products, you probably have a basic idea of how they’re made: through a process known as metallized vacuum vaporisation. But what does that actually involve? Let’s take a closer look. 

1. Our papers owe their bright shiny looks and functional properties to metallization, a process that involves coating paper with a microscopically thin layer of aluminium. The aluminium, which is more than 99,9% pure, is supplied in the form of a wire.
2. We first precoat rolls of plain paper in order to give them a smooth surface and prime them for metallization. Once the rolls are precoated, we load each one into a metallizer - or giant vacuum chamber. 
3. Several wires of aluminium are placed in order to cover the full width (around 90 inches) of the precoated roll. Below each wire is a ceramic “boat”, or evaporator, which is electrically heated similarly to an old-school light bulb filament.
4. The vacuum chamber is then sealed tight. Air and other vapours pumped out, bringing the internal pressure down to more than 1000 times lower than that of the atmosphere. 
5. Once the pressure is low enough, the paper is then fed through the machine, passing near white-hot evaporators which simultaneously melt and evaporate the aluminium wires. 
6. At the same time, the paper is kept cool with a chilled roller, which enables the invisible cloud of aluminium vapour to condense on its surface.

And there you have it! To find out more about our metallized papers and their properties, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team.