Resistance to solvents test

Chemicals on the road are commonplace.

From polish, to washer fluid, road tar and grit salt, all sorts of chemicals can end up in contact with a plate.

The resistance to solvents test checks how a plate responds to these chemicals.

How are plates tested?

The front of a plate is wiped with two different cotton cloths saturated with paraffin and white spirit-based solvents (both of which must conform with their own British Standards) and left for five minutes for the solvents to take effect. After 5 minutes, a plate can’t show any damage.

What makes a fail?

- Softening
- Dissolving
- Other ‘deleterious effects’.