It's been a while since I painted anything. I just opened a can of gloss white acrylic latex to use on door moldings and I see bluish swirls. Does anyone know if this is normal? I thought white was supposed to be white.
Blue is often added to white to make it appear whiter. It is probably OK. Try a small spot if you have doubts.
Thanks, I did a test spot and I'll wait to see how it dries. I was hoping it was some industry thing that I didn't know about.
blue makes white appear whiter, hmm
*note to self, go back to kindergarten and learn about colors again.
White is subjective. Look at a light bulb then look out the window at sun light. The sun light is whiter and the light bulb looks yellow. At night if you only have the light bulb to look at it will look white.
Even laundry detergent has "whiteners" in it. They emphasis the blue end of the spectrum to make it look whiter.
If you look at a rainbow or any spectrum you will never see white or black. White and black are really not colors.
If you compare your new paint to another can of paint that may be a warmer white they will not look the same and one will look whiter or bluer and the other will look warmer or yellowier.
Most white is made- tinted to grey tone for coverage. Few "white" go with beige, you need to pick a "off white" for beige tones but there are really a 100 shades of white paint. Most "white" go with blue -grey tones since grey is what they as tinted to.
What is pure white.
When it comes to "white" paint, there are hundreds of shades that vary from cream to bluish to greenish. If there is a tint, the can should be marked with the tint formula. Might also be separation of ingredients, although I have never seen a blue solvent separate. Mix it up and if the color looks good, use it.
a new IDEA here. Some white paints have a blue tint which disappears as the paint dries. I notion is that when re-painting a white ceiling with white paint it difficult to see where you have applied the new paint.
And oddly enough, in leatherworking you dye the leather blue before you dye it black if you want the deepest blackest black.
You add blue to make white whiter and black blacker....that confuses the shit out of me. ;)
R
Or a regular light bulb vs. a halogen.
Those "whiteners" are often bluing. Remember when blueing was added to laundry? Ever heard of "blue-hairs"? ;-)
True, but they may be pigments. White is the presence of all colors of light (additive), black is the presensce of all colors of pigments (subtractive).
I've also seen paints that have a blue cast until dry. The tint is used so it's easier to tell where you've already painted.
And where you still need to paint :-)
Color (or colour) perception isn't as simple as we may think it is.
This site's examples blew me away the first time I visited it:
Jeff
Yes normal , especially for anything labelled Bright or ultrawhite.
Make sure you mix it completely in the can. It should look white if completely mixed.
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