How to Buy Paint

Choosing the right paint can be difficult, especially if you aren't experienced in shopping for paint. The composition of paint-making materials and of ready-mixed paint is stated on the containers in all the states having laws requiring such a statement, as well as in many states where it is not required by law. Although misleading labels are not as common as they once were, they are still found and should be examined with utmost scrutiny.

Any label which fails to show the exact character of the material, and any fancy name or the word "compound" printed with the name of a good paint material should be regarded with suspicion. If the name and address of the manufacturer do not appear on the label, the material in question is probably an adulterated product of poor quality, with which the manufacturer does not care to have his name associated.

This type of paint would most likely look awful in the bathroom with your bathtub, even if it is an inconspicuous corner bathtub. A detailed statement of composition on the label of a ready-mixed paint is not proof that the paint will be satisfactory, even if the ingredients mentioned are commonly recognized as good paint materials.

Such a statement, however, shows whether or not the paint contains an excessively large quantity of cheap substitutes for materials, generally held to be good, and enables the purchaser to know whether or not a high price is being asked for a cheap product. Or if the price is low, the purchaser needs to decide whether he is willing to take a chance on quality. In the long run it pays to buy paint which is most likely to be serviceable, regardless of its price.

Even if you're painting something as small as the bathroom vanity, bathroom fixtures or the bathroom cabinets, durable paint with a long lifespan is worth it. Circular Number 347 of the Scientific Section of the National Paint, Varnish, and Lacquer Association, Washington, D. C, reports the results of an investigation in its research laboratory of four low grade paints. The contents of the cans, when they were opened, looked all right and stirred easily.

The appearance would easily deceive an inexperienced paint purchaser, but when the paints were applied to new wood the first three used were thick, drying to a very rough finish. Anyone who used it on their wooden porch furniture to accompany their swim spa with the fancy swim jets would have been severely disappointed.

All these low grade paints contain practically no lead, the pigment portion containing a large amount of inert pigments, and the liquid containing excessive amounts of volatile thinner, as well as from 16% to 35.9% water. From one third to one fourth of the liquids in these paints would evaporate after the paint was applied, leaving a very thin film on the wood.

To guide the reader who wishes to purchase ready-mixed house paint, the following facts and specifications regarding outside house paint should prove helpful. Most ready-mixed house paints, which are designed especially for use on wood, contain white lead and zinc oxide, sometimes in equal quantities, and again with only 10% to 40% of zinc. White lead and zinc oxide together should form 85% or more of the total pigment in white and light-colored paints. The pigment in such paints is usually 60% to 65% of the total weight.

The vehicle should be pure raw linseed oil, with just enough high grade Japan drier to dry the paint properly (5% to 10%). Since linseed oil costs more, pound for pound, than many pigments, some paints have more pigment and less linseed oil. So long as you don't have a steam room or a steam shower without a steam shower enclosure in the room you are painting, the coat should hold up fine.

The quantity of volatile thinner, such as turpentine or petroleum spirits, should not make up more than 10% of the vehicle. The addition of gloss oil, rosin oil, fish oil, and mineral oil makes inferior paints. The net weight per gallon (231 cu. in.) of ready-mixed white and tinted outside paints varies from about 15 lbs. to 22 lbs., being highest in all-lead paint. Dark ready-mixed paints weigh 9 lbs. to 14 lbs. per gallon.