Paint is the product created to provide a protective coating to the surfaces of our built environment; your home, business etc. Different types of paint provide a strengthening and decorative value, lengthening the life of a material, and improving the look and feel of a place. Predominantly manufactured in the form of a liquid that dries to a hardened surface, paints come in a huge range of differing chemical makeup based on whether they are acrylic or alkyd based. They comprise mainly of binders, pigments, additives and solvents.
Binders hold all the elements together and dry, they bond the paint to the surface. The pigment is the ingredient that determines the colour of the paint. The various additives may support the endurance of the paint and can include hardeners, mould resistance, UV screens. They may also make the product simpler to apply, and resist splashing helping to make painting cleaner and more efficient.
The solvents in house paints are used to dissolve the different compounds in the formulation such as pigment and binders to ensure it is the appropriate consistency for applying. Acrylic, vinyl and latex paints are made with water as their main ingredient hence known as acrylic or water based paints. Alkyd paints have mineral turpentine and mineral thinners as their main component and are known as enamel, oil based or solvent based paints.