 paint types and coating manufacture
Learning Objectives:
In this section, we’ll cover two distinct and different aspects of paint materials.
- We’ll describe the common types of paint found on the market, focusing most heavily on products for architectural applications.
- We’ll discuss how paint is actually made, including:
- a.How and why Painttypes are made in “batches,” what’s on batch cards, and the importance of batch numbers
b. The equipment used to mix and produce paint
c.The quality control tests and procedures used throughout the paint manufacturing process: why they’re necessary and how they’re done
Generally, field-applied paints are divided into two classes: Architectural/Trade Sales, paints, which are general-purpose consumer products available in most paint stores; and Industrial/Maintenance Painttypes, which are designed for more specific applications, and are sold through direct sales or industrial supply. These distinctions often can be based more on availability than chemical composition. A coating that is successful in an industrial application occasionally is made available as an architectural (also called “trade sales”) product for example, epoxies or polyurethanes may be used in architectural applications. Architectural Painttypes may be further divided into solvent-based or water-based Painttypes. Solvent-based architectural Painttypes are very often alkyd Painttypes while the water-based are, for the most part, latex products.
This section describes in general terms the properties of different types of Painttypes. There can be significant variations between different manufacturers’ products regarding quality, properties, or intended end uses – for example, one manufacturer’s‘interior latex’ may be designed for use in high traffic applications that require significant durability while another supplier’s ‘interior latex’ may be designed to provide low cost and cosmetic properties – however, both will be labeled ‘interior latex’.
It is noteworthy that the purpose of the MPI standards is to categorize these different types of materials by performance parameters. MPI has product standards for 165+ different types of paints and Painttypes, and to gain MPI approval, paints must pass a set of stringent performance requirements specific to each paint type in order to verify their quality.
Note: MPI Architectural Painting Specification Manual and Maintenance Repainting Manual include suggested paint systems and paint types for a wide variety of substrates, and our Approved Products List describes eaxh paint type and lists which products are currently approved by MPI's labs. OUr Approved Products List is published in booklet form twice a year, and may also be found at www.paintinfo.com, updated monthly to include newly approved products.
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