Paint

Paint is the material that house painters and decorators apply to the desired surfaces for architectural, maintenance or aesthetic purposes. It is a liquid that, upon being applied to the surface, becomes solid. All paints have different components, and there are many different kinds of paints on the market for varying purposes, including exterior paints and interior paints.

What all paints have in common is the paint binder, also known as the vehicle, which is the liquid through which the paint is “carried” unto the surface. The vehicle can either evaporate in a process known as drying, or polymerize by “curing.” Paints differ as to whether they can be dried but not cured, do both, or be cured without drying.

Paint pigment is another component of paints that is used to provide the color, as well as other characteristics to the paint, such as increasing its volume, supporting its structure, or protecting it from radiation that would be detrimental to it. Highly toxic lead was widely used as a paint pigment in commercial house painting, until the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission banned its use in house painting in the U.S., in 1978.

Many paints also have extra additives in them, which add further qualities to the paint, making it more resistant, or suitable for different applications.
For more information about paints, and recommendations from the professional painting business sources, check out the “Links and Info” tab above!