Alexandria, VA -- Before people sit down at a multiplex cinema or football stadium, they scan their seats for stray popcorn kernels, spilled soda, and gum. Unless they've had a bad experience with a splinter, they don't usually take much notice of the seat's quality or finish.

It would have been difficult, however, for visitors to SkyDome, Denver's Coors Field, or DC's Jack Kent Cooke Stadium to overlook the brilliant colors of their seats. Seats in these famous stadiums were coated with powder coating instead of liquid paint, and the resulting finishes have withstood the tests of time and inclement weather.

Hussey Seating Company, which manufactured the chairs in these stadiums, is one of the nation's leading makers of spectator seating. Powder coating has played an important role in the company's recent success, which includes annual growth rates of 10-15% in the last five years. The company began using powder coating in the late 1980s, when it was faced with the challenge of providing seating at the University of Alabama's new Crimson Tide Stadium. Bad weather might get to students, but its effects are even more harmful to stadium seats. Liquid paint finishes simply wouldn't last under the onslaughts of Alabama's weather. As Hussey Process Engineer Dave Lockman explains, "It was an outdoor job where we had to have an excellent finish that would ensure the cast iron frames could withstand the weather: lots of rain, sun, and high humidity."

Hussey chose to have the seats powder coated, and has used powder coating on every outdoor facility it has worked on since. Because seats in large outdoor stadiums are on display so often to fans and television audiences, Hussey pays special attention to how well the gloss and color of the coatings it uses stand up to the elements.

In tests measuring gloss and color retention, powder coating outperformed liquid paint alternatives, retaining 80% of its initial gloss and color after 300 hours of exposure to humidity.

During the powder coating process, powder particles are electrically charged, sprayed onto metal, and heated, allowing the powder to melt, flow and adhere to the surface of the paint. The result is a weather-resistant, consistent, and durable finish.

Lockman notes that "Powder coating definitely gives more bang for the buck. It's provided our products better durability and weatherability, and it's very environmentally friendly". Unlike liquid paint, powder coating does not require the use of hazardous solvents, and much of the overspray is recyclable.

Visitors to stadiums and multiplex cinemas with Hussey's seating can rest assured that the brilliant finishes of their seats are the end result of an environmentally safe process. They should take care not to examine the finishes too carefully, however; they might miss a touchdown, a plot twist, or even worse, a wad of gum.

Consumers, moviegoers and sports fans can learn more about Powder Coating, and its many uses by visiting the PCI web site at: www.powdercoating.org.