Paint & Varnish

Paint is the general term for a family of products used to protect and add color to an object or surface by covering it with a pigmented coating. As a verb, painting is the application of paint. One who paints is called a painter. more...

Paint is very common and is applied to almost every kind of object. It is a method of producing art, an industrial coating, a driving aid (lane markings), a preservative (to prevent corrosion or water damage), and has myriad other uses.

With art, it has also been used for centuries in the creation of great works, such as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Components

There are generally three components to a paint: binder, diluent and additives. However, only the binder is absolutely required. The binder is the part which eventually solidifies to form the dried paint film. The diluent serves to adjust the viscosity of the paint. It is volatile and does not become part of the paint film. Anything else is an additive.

Typical binders include synthetic or natural resins such as acrylics, polyurethanes, polyesters, melamines, oils, or latex.

Typical diluents include organic solvents such as alcohols, ketones, esters, glycol ethers, and the like. Water is a common diluent. Sometimes volatile low-molecular weight synthetic resins also serve as diluents.

Typical additives include pigments, dyes, catalysts, thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, texturizers, adhesion promoters, flatteners (de-glossing agents), and the like.

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