Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Quality Tools and Materials equates professional finishes!


Successful Painting Projects begin with Quality tools and materials!
Don’t purchase cheap paint!:

Remember: You get what you pay for. This adage applies to everything including paint. Select high quality paint with more resin, premium pigments, and LESS water. Don’t cheap out on paint otherwise, you will find yourself replicating the same paint job within a year. The inexpensive paints do not contain enough resins or bonding agents to enable a long lasting finish. Another interesting fact, when trying to color match with inexpensive paints, the color will dry darker than that of higher quality paints. Why? The chemical compounds have more space inbetween each other, there are less bonding agents, and the pigment is not sufficiently ground as finely as in higher quality paints.

Better quality coatings will give more square footage per gallon due to the “clear” vehicle added to the higher end paint. Higher quality paints bond better to the substrates being painted, are easier to clean, and will last much longer than inexpensive paints.

What type of rollers and brushes do I need?
When determining which roller cover (nap) to purchase, you must understand the walls’ texture. Most naps are made from natural or synthetic fibers. Naps are available in various lengths and thickness; so use the one recommended for the surface you’re painting. The longer the nap, the more paint it will hold. Use the following as a general guideline.
• 1/4-inch nap for smooth or fine surfaces, such as new walls, ceilings, and wood
• 3/8-inch nap for smooth to light-textured walls
• 1/2-inch nap for most walls and medium rough surfaces, such as textured plaster, and concrete
• 3/4-inch nap for rough surfaces, such as textured walls and ceilings, heavily textured plaster, and concrete
• 3/8- or 1/2-inch nap is a good general-purpose roller cover.
In general, for those of you with little painting experience utilize a 9” roller frame and a 9” nap in the size specific to your walls being painted. To eliminate mess, I suggest you pour your gallons of paint into a 5 gallon bucket and use a grid attached to the bucket rather than using a tray.

For selecting brushes, it is important that you understand the distinctions between the various materials used to create the brush. The material generally comes in two forms: natural bristle and synthetic filament.
Usually you use a synthetic brush for latex paints and a natural bristle brush for oil (alkyd). You may use a synthetic brush for oil if you want, but you should not use a natural bristle brush with latex. Natural bristles, when used in water can damage and swell the bristles.
Synthetic brushes usually polyester, nylon, or a blend of both. The good quality brushes will retain the right balance of stiffness and flexibility.
Natural bristles tend to be made from hog or ox bristle.
Brush Selections:
Inexpensive paint brushes will shed bristles into your freshly painted surface, they will NOT hold a significant amount of paint, and do not have the firmness/softness balance to execute a professional finish. Below are the two top paint brush manufacturers, I suggest you make your selections from either of these companies.
Purdy Brushes
Purdy produces only the highest quality paint brushes and have been the choice of professionals for over 75 years. Each Purdy brush is an individually built instrument designed, formulated, and handcrafted for maximum painting performance. Their attention to detail in the manufacturing processes makes Purdy brushes the industry standard among paint tool manufacturers.

Wooster Brushes
The Wooster Brush Company is known as one of the most innovative manufacturers of paint equipment. During 155+ years in business, Wooster has established many milestones in the industry:
• Invention of popular paintbrush styles such as the angle sash and the Shasta
• Development of the "Foss-set" process to cement bristle into paintbrushes
• First to use nylon filaments to create brushes that performed in latex paints
• Creation of the Exploded-Tip® process to make soft flags on filament ends
• First to introduce synthetic fabrics for roller covers, now an industry standard

When deciding of what size for what project, follow these simple rules:
1—2 Inch is a good choice for small surfaces such as touch-up, trim, moldings and window sashes.
2—3 Inch work great for general cutting in of walls as well as exterior trim.
4—6 Inch brushes are for large areas such as back brushing behind an airless sprayer or applying stain to a deck floor.

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