Waterborne resins for synthetic leather — and footwear bonding on request.
Synthetic leather and footwear applications are resin-led: the polymer decides the hand feel, flexibility and water resistance of the finished material. chemlinkai supplies waterborne polyurethane series for surface and tie coats, and scopes footwear bonding systems from the same platform on request.
What we cover in this industry
The coating build defines the material: a surface coat carries the hand feel, gloss and wear behavior; a tie coat locks the surface film to the base. Both are polymer problems, which is why the resin family — not a finished ink or paint line — is the entry point here.
Every synthetic leather project is screened on the coating line that will run it: application viscosity, drying, and the four properties the finished material is sold on — hand feel, flexibility, water resistance and adhesion to the base fabric or nonwoven.
- Waterborne polyurethane surface coats with defined hand and gloss character
- Tie coats that anchor the surface film to the base substrate
- Footwear adhesive and bonding systems — assessed case by case on request
- Color and effect systems where the surface design requires them
Typical synthetic leather coating build
Schematic only. Layer count and order change with the product — footwear, upholstery and garment materials each have their own build.
Start from the coating build
Both routes lead back to the resin family that drives the material.
Synthetic leather & footwear questions
What makes a resin suitable for synthetic leather surface coats?
Four properties are screened on your line: hand feel, flexibility through the required fold and flex cycles, water resistance, and adhesion to the base or tie coat below. The polyurethane series is balanced against those four before a grade is proposed.
Do you supply footwear adhesives?
Footwear adhesive and bonding systems are scoped on request from the waterborne resin platform — they are not a published catalog range. Describe the upper and sole materials, the bond requirement and the process, and we will assess whether a water-based system fits.
Can your resins replace solvent-based polyurethane in existing lines?
Conversion depends on the coating line — drying capacity and application viscosity change when water replaces solvent. We review the line, run a proofing sample on your base, and report the property differences before recommending the switch.
How is hand feel controlled between batches?
Hand feel is set by the polymer and the surface coat formulation, then kept stable by batch control of the resin — viscosity, solids and hardness are checked against the batch TDS. Subjective hand evaluation is supported by objective flex and water-resistance tests at agreed intervals.
Which base materials do your tie coats work with?
Tie coat adhesion is validated per base — microfiber, woven, knitted or nonwoven substrates each have a different surface. We test on your actual base material rather than quoting a generic result.
Describe the material you coat and the hand you target.
Base substrate, coating line, layer build and the properties the finished material must hold. We map it to the resin series and the trial plan.