Paints are applied on the surfaces of timber, metals and plastered surfaces as a protective layer and at the same time to get pleasant appearance. Paints are applied in liquid form and after sometime the volatile constituent evaporates and hardened coating acts as a protective layer.

Constituents of Paint

The essential constituents of paints are:

1. Base

2. A vehicle       

3. A pigment

4. A drier

5. A thinner.

1. Bases: It is a principal constituent of paint. It also possesses the binding properties. It forms an opaque coating. Commonly used bases for paints are white lead, red lead, zinc oxide, iron oxide, titanium white, aluminium powder and lithophone. A lead paint is suitable for painting iron and steel works, as it sticks to them well. However it is affected by atmosphere action and hence should not be used as final coat. While zinc forms good base but is costly.

Lithophone, which is a mixture of zinc sulphate and barytes, is cheap. It gives good appearance but is affected by day light. Hence it is used for interior works only.

2. Vehicles: The vehicles are the liquid substances which hold the ingredients of a paint in liquid suspension and allow them to be applied on the surface to be painted. Linseed oil, Tung oil and Nut oil are used as vehicles in paints. Of the above four oils, linseed oil is very commonly used vehicles. Boiling makes the oil thicker and darker. Linseed oil reacts with oxygen and hardens by forming a thin film.

3. Pigment: Pigments give required colour for paints. They are fine particles and have a reinforcing effect on thin film of the paint. The common pigments for different colours are:

Black—Lamp black, suit and charcoal black.

Red—venedion red, red lead and Indian red.

Brown—burned timber, raw and burned sienna

Green—chrome green, copper sulphate.

Blue—prussian blue and ultra marine

Yellow—ochre and chrome yellow.

4. The Drier: These are the compounds of metal like lead, manganese, cobalt. The function of a drier is to absorb oxygen from the air and supply it to the vehicle for hardening. The drier should not be added until the paint is about to be used. The excess drier is harmful because it destroys elasticity and causes flaking.

5. The Thinner: It is known as solvent also. It makes paint thinner and hence increases the coverage. It helps in spreading paint uniformly over the surface Terpentine and neptha are commonly used thinners. After paint applied, thinner evaporates and paint dries.