Specialty Chemical Suppliers: Tips for Choosing the Right Supplier

If you do a Google search using the term “specialty chemical suppliers”, you are likely to find hundreds of options for acquiring the chemicals you need. How do you separate specialty chemical suppliers that would meet your needs from ones that would not?

In this entry, we help answer this question by presenting four tips for choosing the right specialty chemical supplier: define your area of need, consider custom solutions, consider solvent profiles, and investigate the business history of any supplier you consider doing business with.

Define Your Area of Need
Before you choose a supplier, it is important to know your area of need. For example, do you need a solvent for degreasing operations, cleaning electrical parts, or simply cleaning up non-toxic spills in areas where customers or workers congregate. Defining your area of need will help you choose a specialty chemical supplier that specializes in providing the type of solution you need, and help to prevent you from ordering the wrong type of specialty cleaning solvent.

Consider Custom Solutions
You may not need a custom solvent right now, but it is a good idea to work with a supplier that creates custom chemicals, in case you need a custom solution in the future. When the end user has a novel application that requires custom chemicals, it should not settle for the next best solution to one that is custom made. Instead, it should have a solvent created that suits the application. Ecolink can create custom chemicals that are formulated for your solvent needs.

Consider Solvent Profiles
At a time when the green movement is in full swing, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proactively phasing out hazardous chemicals in commercial and industrial environments, it only makes sense to buy specialty chemicals from a supplier whose products have an eco friendly formulation. Otherwise, you could end up having to phase out your solvent on relatively short notice — a situation that can significantly hinder solvent-based cleaning tasks.

Investigate Business History
Last but certainly not least, you should investigate the business history of specialty chemical suppliers from which you are considering buying chemicals. In addition to speaking with several of a supplier’s custom references, it helps to check the company’s record at the Better Business Bureau (BBB). If a company has unresolved customer complaints on its record, consider that the next unresolved complaint could be your own, and choose a different chemical supplier.

Contact Ecolink Today
At Ecolink, we know that you have many options when it comes to choosing specialty chemical suppliers. That is why we formulate our products to provide the greatest competitive advantage. In addition to having better safety profiles than many specialty chemicals, our specialty chemicals are designed to offer efficacy that is equal or greater than the effectiveness of the conventional specialty chemicals that your company or organization may be using currently.

For assistance choosing the right solvent solutions for your needs, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website. We look forward to assisting you!

Custom Chemicals: Signs That Your Company Needs a Custom Cleaning Solution

For companies that strive to improve the bottom line, almost nothing is as financially worrisome as needing a unique solution that just can’t seem to be found. This situation commonly happens to companies that use a large amount of a cleaning solvent that they need to replace. However, in the absence of a suitable replacement, these companies often keep using the original solution, hoping that the passage of time will eventually result in the creation of the product they need.

Realizing the Need
Most companies replace cleaning solvents out of need and not want. However, before a proper replacement can be found, companies must realize the need for the replacement. Does your company need a new cleaning solvent? If it experiences the signs below, the answer is probably yes. If you can’t find a proper replacement for the solution you use, the experienced team of solvent specialists at Ecolink can create a product that has the custom chemicals you need.

Health Problems in Workers
Studies on the health effects of workplace environments have shown that workers who are exposed to toxic chemical agents and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can experience temporary and permanent health problems, including simple ailments such as chronic coughing and serious maladies such as nerve damage. Ultimately, unhealthy workers can decrease productivity, and increase operating costs due to workers comp and disability settlements.

Upcoming EPA Regulations
For years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been on the warpath when it comes to banning and regulating the use of hazardous chemicals in commercial and industrial environments. As one might expect, these moves by the EPA can put companies in a difficult position when they necessitate the replacement of a trusted chemical solution. If necessary, we can create a product with custom chemicals that does the job and is compliant with the EPA.

Exorbitant Disposal Expense
If your company’s chemical waste disposal expense is consuming too much of its operating budget, the easiest solution would be to decrease chemical waste, not look for a more affordable waste disposal company. In some cases, creating custom cleaning solutions that contain custom chemicals — ones that don’t need to be trapped in the waste disposal system — is a highly effective way to mitigate waste disposal expense and add money to the bottom line.

New Application / New Solvent
Sometimes, a company implements a new application that requires a new solvent to produce expected results. Depending on the novelty of the application, it may be more sensible in terms of cost, time, and the efficacy of the solvent to develop a new solution that has custom chemicals instead of trying to find the best fit among existing solvents, none of which work perfectly. Ecolink will apply our expertise to help you decide whether this is a viable option.

Contact Us Today
In most cases, companies can find a replacement cleaning solution that has a better profile than the solution it replaces by simply shopping in Ecolink’s online store. However, there are also instances when the best option would be creating a solution whose custom chemicals are perfectly suited for the application. If you think that you may need a cleaning solvent with custom chemicals, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website.

Do Industrial Chemical Dealers Need to be EPA & OSHA Compliant?

Present day laws and regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) require industrial chemical dealers to be compliant. This was not always the case, but fortunately, with a exorbitant increase in health and safety organizations acting as watchdogs to make sure companies that use potential hazardous chemicals are being regulated, the EPA and OSHA have made it mandatory for industrial chemical dealers to become compliant with federal laws and regulations. Coupled with the fact that there have been severe accidents, ranging from drastic oil spills to chemical plant explosions that have killed people, animals, and have harmed the environment, regulatory committees have had to become stricter about compliancy.

For everyone involved, this should come as good news, except perhaps those businesses who continue to use unsavory practices for cost cutting moves (pertaining to cleaning agents, most eco friendly products are actually cheaper) or because they are afraid that a different product will not produce the same effect. It is good news because green alternatives are usually more cost effective and they are safer. Industrial chemical dealers should also take advantage of the arrival of several green alternatives, as it provides positive publicity. In an age where the media catches everything, and everyone is connected to information through the use of one device or another, companies are under a microscope. If something goes wrong and your company is going to be held responsible, and it places your business in a negative light, everyone will not about it almost immediately. The ramifications of such a terrible event will be irrevocable.

If your company has any questions about EPA or OSHA compliance, they should contact Ecolink. Ecolink is known for keeping informed with any and all updates and changes to compliancy regulations, and companies would do well engaging Ecolink to learn more about what chemical products are allowed or unlawful.

Do you have a technical question about a chemical or one of our products? Just Ask the Chemist!

 

 

Finding the Right Chemical Cleaner Dealer

Those who have been involved in the industrial cleaning solvent industry for a long time can tell you that finding the right chemical dealer is as important as finding the appropriate chemicals to use regarding the cleaning of metals and other materials. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation and negligence with some chemical dealers, because they do not keep their business up to date on the latest findings concerning chemical compounds in the makeup of cleaning solvents. The key is to find a reputable company that makes it a priority to know everything concerning industrial cleaning products and degreasers, and can provide detailed information on the products and solvents that are hazardous, as well as what green alternative options are available.

A chemical dealer, such as Ecolink, will be up to date on all the research and latest findings regarding which chemicals have been listed as dangerous or safe. The entity will also be more than happy to not only explain, in detail, what compounds are included in their chemical makeup, but will also provide explicit literature on all the products they offer. Most importantly, professional and reputable chemical dealers will discuss with you green alternatives and eco friendly options regarding your need for chemical solvents. The numerous benefits to eco friendly cleaning solutions far outweigh the desire for companies to stay loyal to degreasers and solvents that are harmful to the environment and to themselves.

Sound and ethical chemical dealers should be able and willing to explain the positives to switching to green alternatives. Because most eco friendly solutions are actually more efficient in cleaning metals and materials, as well as being less expensive in most cases, there really is no longer a reason why people and companies should be using older industrial cleaning products.

Contact Ecolink to learn more about the green alternatives mentioned above. Ecolink is an ethical and trusted company, ready and able to provide you with all the information you need to make the switch to eco friendly cleaning solutions today. Visit Ecolink’s clean ideas page to find out how to work cleaner, smarter & save money!