World number one in table plate since 1842, the Paris house of Christofle must guarantee impeccable cleanliness for all the covers, plates, chandeliers and other silver objects that leave its factory. In fact, today, as in the past, these are destined for the greatest tables: Emperors, Princes or Maharajahs, the Orient Express, the Trans-Siberian, transatlantic liners or palaces. For solvent free ecologically irreproachable cleaning, Christofle has chosen to use detergent solutions from NGL Cleaning Technology SA, as explained by Jean Mouton, laboratory manager with Christofle (extract. For the full interview, read Eurotec’s next issue (369)). {{}}
What is the importance of cleaning in the manufacturing process at Christofle? Impeccable cleaning is essential at several manufacturing stages. After the polishing phase, and before moving to silver deposition, there must be no polishing paste residue on the surface of the pieces. Our requirements are very high, because if this degreasing is not perfect, there is a risk that the silver plating will not hold. Then, at the end of the process, all the parts, whether silver-plated, in solid silver or steel are cleaned again to leave in an irreproachable condition but also to obtain the final polished brightness after drying.
What processes do you use to achieve the required degree of degreasing? The processes have change over time. For a long time, we used solvents like trichloroethylene. But now, after several conclusive tests, we have chosen to go over entirely to NGL Cleaning Technology detergent solutions. Twenty-five years ago we introduced a first detergent degreasing bath before the solvent, to obtain better elimination of polishing pastes. Convinced by these results, four years ago we opted for detergent baths in the final cleaning phase for our pieces. Today, when the question of replacing our inter-operational trichloroethylene installations arises, we have once again, after evaluation of the different options, chosen to use NGL Cleaning Technology baths. So, we can entirely eliminate solvents from our manufacturing process.
What has your experience of detergent cleaning solutions been? We have not had any problem in the four years since the installation of our final cleaning machine, neither with NGL Cleaning Technology nor with the installation supplier. This is a very good experience that has convinced us to take the same step in changing our trichloroethylene cleaning machine.
NGL Cleaning Technology SA 7, Ch. de la Vuarpillière CH-1260 NYON (Switzerland) Tel. +41 22 365 46 66 Fax +41 22 361 81 03 [email protected] www.ngl-cleaning-technology.com
