Painting and decorating is a skill that takes practice to perfect, with the paint you choose an important part of achieving a high-quality finish. However, do you know what exactly goes into a high-quality emulsion? Here, Richard Palmer, Head of Trade from Valspar Trade, will explain how the perfect finish is achieved…
Whatever the job, painting and decorating will likely form a regular part of your week, helping you to deliver a top-quality finish, first time, every time. Complementing this will be the paint products you choose to use, with a high-quality emulsion key to providing your customer with the best results.
Ease of application is everything, with a paint that applies easily helping you to deliver a flawless finish. While ease of application can mean something different to everyone, some of the key characteristics include reduced spatter, easy clean-up and an extended wet edge time.
Each of these qualities is carefully considered by manufacturers when developing new paint formulations, with extensive research behind every tin. Technical teams will put each product and formulation through its paces, applying it on different substrates and with a range of applicators to gather as much data about its performance as possible. This information is then used to inform the careful combination of compounds that go into a formula.
Reducing spatter, reducing mess
Low spatter is one issue that many professionals will be aware of. Whilst dust sheets are commonplace during any job, there can occasionally be paint which makes its way through, or even lands on glasses when completing a ceiling job.
Using low spatter paint can make your job much easier (and cleaner), with such products being easy to pour and apply – regardless of the applicator you use. For manufacturers, this is achieved through the careful ratio of thickening agents, with viscosity crucial to less mess.
Wet edge time: ensuring a consistent finish
Another concern for many in the industry is ‘picture framing’, which can occur when cutting in or swapping tools (from a brush to a roller). With the previous paint film having dried enough to not properly blend with additional coats, this can create a jarring visual appearance.
With lap marks being particularly tricky and time-consuming to remedy, it is best to take action from the get-go by opting for a paint that is formulated with an extended wet edge time. This can provide you with a longer window of opportunity to finish an entire surface, repair any irregularities and avoid lap marks – all of which will help to deliver that perfect finish.
Achieving the best coverage
When purchasing paint, good coverage is invaluable, with more coats equalling more cost to you and your client. For this reason, finding a paint that goes a long way is important.
Extenders within the formula of a paint can help a product cover that extra square metre or two. It is these same extenders that improve opacity, ensuring that when painting over previously coated substrates you’re blocking out the older colours and tones.
At Valspar Trade, our focus is on making life easier for you, the applier. With a dedicated research and development team, we’re proud to offer an expertly formulated range of high-quality trade essentials. Each of our products have undergone rigorous ISO testing to ensure they stand up to the expectations of the trade, including reduced spatter, good coverage, scrubbability and extended open wet edge time, as well as being sprayable for additional ease.
For more information on Valspar Trade click here