There is an important question that every homeowner has to ask when considering painting their home: does paint color have an effect on the paint quality, and if so, what is it?
Paint quality can naturally vary greatly depending on the chemicals used in the paint’s manufacturing process and the ratio between solid and liquid substances. Also, if you’re really interested in finding better quality paint, it’s a good idea to look for healthier paint with a lower VOC content and fewer filler ingredients.
But does paint color have an effect on the paint quality? The color, given by the paint’s pigment, can vary depending on how the manufacturer has mixed the pigments and how much the ratio of the pigment per binding substance might be. Let’s take a closer look at all these factors, and see what other variables might exist that would cause pigments to play a smaller or larger part in determining exterior paint quality.
How the Pigment Is Used
As you might already know, exterior paint is made up from a binder, a liquid solvent which tends to evaporate after the job is completed, and the pigments necessary for the paint to adopt a specific color.
Pigments are finely grounded materials that are mixed with binders. The chemical structure of the binders allow them to hold pigment particles together, and then bind them to the surface once the liquid solvent has evaporated and the paint has dried off. As you might imagine, therefore, the quality of the paint will depend not only on the quality of the binder, but also on the type of material used for the pigment.
Of course, in terms of durability it will matter less what type of pigment is being used, if the binder is more consistent and present in higher concentration. To give the example of latex, water-based paint, the paint products that are available at the lower end will typically have about 20% solid and 80% liquid content, which means the pigment will not easily take root once the paint dries. However, if you opt for better quality latex paint, that ratio can improve, with up to 35% for solid binders and pigments, and only 65% water.
The Pigment’s Very Real Effect on Quality
So how does the pigment quality affect the paint? Based on what we have mentioned so far, you can probably already guess.
The main issue will be one of durability. Lower quality pigment will tend to lose its color and fail to bind as well as a superior quality product. The paint will stain more easily, and it will be affected by UV rays and rainfall much more. The result will be that your home will need a new coat of paint much sooner than expected, which will translate into having to pay more money on paint overall.
You also might have to add additional coats of paint to get the desired color consistency, which means you have to spend a lot of money anyway. If you chose a slightly more expensive paint, you might even have to pay less, and you’ll get the quality you’re looking for.
When considering the question, “does paint color have an effect on the paint quality,” the points presented above are pointed out by house painters Highlands Ranch experts on a regular basis, and most of them will recommend that you just opt for a better quality pigment.