Why not? There is no reason why you cannot get a good finish by using a small scale electroplating kit that you can manufacture using household items, a bit of know-how and some top quality products! Some products are however restricted to professional users only -Please check before you buy.

Depending upon what finish you are looking for, the most obvious item you’ll need is a plating solution. This can be done by either making a solution yourself or by purchasing a pre-blended solution.

Whichever finish you require, preparation is something that cannot be ignored or taken lightly. A poorly prepared item will result in poor finish or even no finish at all! You will need to ensure that the component you wish to finish is free from any pre-existing coatings, grease, oils and rusts. A good cleaner is not expensive but will make such a difference to your finished part. Even in industrial plating, often poor results can be attributed to poor cleaning and preparation, see cleaning and pickling page for more details.

Once you have the chemical materials you will need to think about equipment. You will need a separate container for each process and an effective method of swilling the work thoroughly between processes. For Nickel plating especially, you will need a method of heating the solution (cleaners will work better when warm as well). Probably as important as the electroplating solution, is the electrical supply! You need a method to supply electricity to the solution. This will involve an actual power supply and associated cables from both negative and positive contacts.

When using tank plating methods, which give by far the best results, the home plating kit will also need anodes - a base metal deposit, which is connected to the positive terminal of the power source. It is important to remember that connecting wires at the anode should not be immersed into solutions as this will result in copper contamination of your solution.

Industrial cleaners and janitorial cleaners are VERY different! An industrial cleaner for electroplating is specifically formulated to remove the soils that we find on machined,  metal parts. They are created to work fast and effectively and also be free-rinsing so that the chances of cross-process contamination are minimised. It is not recommended that you use anything other than a formulated industrial cleaner for process preparation.

Yes! Both common types of home plating, Zinc and Nickel, can be used in conjunction with brightening systems -In fact it is most definitely recommended for zinc process. A brightening system will not only give a brightener result, it will give a more even finish and a much more professional result. You will find appropriate brightener systems available here at youplate.co.uk but should you need any guidance, do not hesitate to get in touch using the contact form.

 Zinc plating solutions do not need to be heated in general, not when using our zinc brightening system anyway! You will need to protect from freezing however - room temperature is sufficient.

Nickel plating solutions do need to be heated, depending upon which brightening system you employ, usually between 50 and 70°C - typically 60°C.

In most cases -yes. By using the correct product and process, rusts can be removed prior to electroplating. By using a de-rusting product, in tandem with a powerful cleaning product, the metal surface will be de-rusted and ready to go!

Yes. You will need to protect you new zinc plate by passivating the surface. This process is simply an immersion treatment which is used to protect the zinc deposit and can also be used to add colour to the surface, such as yellow. You can even use a passivate sealant which will protect your work even further, massively increasing the protection to you electroplated work.

More often than not, the answer is yes. How easy or practical this is for a home plater really depends upon what coating you are trying to remove. The best thing to do is get in touch and we can advice on each job individually.

In a word -NO. Sadly zinc / nickel alloy plating is NOT achievable in a home plating kit. The zinc / nickel alloy is a functional coating which produces excellent corrosion protection but is VERY difficult to attain, even at industrial levels. The alloy is a semi-dull finish, certainly NOT bright, and has to be controlled by careful temperature and additive management. An effective alloy set-up will have many additives, most of which are reasonably expensive and will require regular maintenance and most importantly, analysis. Whilst we would like to offer this process for purchase to home users, due to the processes and controls required, feel it would be wrong to offer something that, when used incorrectly, would offer poor results and in most cases no usable alloy plated in the first place!

We do offer shipping discount. Sadly, our website cannot calculate discounts which may be available on multiple order purchases, however if we can offer a discount by sending your order in the same pack or by a different courier, we will and pass these savings to you by way of refund at the time of shipping. If you would like to know what the cost is and would prefer an itemised invoice prior to order, we can email a invoice / payment request which will include any available discount. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch via the contact us page

We are a UK based supplier and can only provide online purchasing to UK mainland addresses. However, we can often supply to European and non UK mainland address upon request. If you would like to know more please email us at hello@youplate.co.uk and let us know what you want, the quantity you are looking for and importantly, where you would like items shipping to.

Each enquiry is quoted individually with cost price shipping rates if we are able to send to the address supplied. If you make a purchase and we are not able to deliver to the address supplied, your payment will be refunded but unfortunately will be subject to a “sellers fee reclaim charge”. PayPal, our payment partner no longer refunds their seller fees on cancelled or refunded payments. Therefore, items purchased in error will be refunded, less any charges incurred at the original time of transaction. If in ANY doubt -DO NOT COMPLETE PURCHASE! Example -Transaction costs; £42.99 / Shipping Costs; £12.50 / Total invoice value; £55.49. Sellers PayPal fee -£2.19. Therefore refund amount is £55.49 less £2.19 = Total refund £53.30