A gloss meter shines light at the surface and measures how much reflects back at the matching angle, reported in gloss units. At 60 degrees, flat finishes read in single digits, satins somewhere in the 20s to 50s and high gloss 85 and up; very glossy finishes are also read at 20 degrees. Gloss shifts with cure, film build, oven type and contamination, so it is checked against a standard on every lot.
Gloss is coming in at 72 and the spec is 85 plus, check if the oven's running hot.
Also heard as
- gloss level
- 60-degree gloss
Related terms
Overbake
Cure that went too hot or too long, causing yellowing, gloss loss and brittle film.
Orange peel
A dimpled surface texture like the skin of an orange, the most common appearance complaint on powder.
Delta E
A single number for how far a color is from its standard, read by a spectrophotometer.
Chalking
A powdery residue on a weathered finish where sunlight has broken down the resin at the surface.