I had a massive tub of brilliant white emulsion part used and I gave it to the bloke helping with painting and he said no, don't want to use that, it isn't vinyl emulsion, it's contract emulsion. He said look at the label and indeed it didn't say vinyl, just emulsion I said what sort of emulsion is it then? he said contract, not vinyl and we got no further with that conversation.
So what is non vinyl contract emulsion, and more to the point what is it good for and why is it no good?
TW
It might be what I used on a recently plastered wall. The plasterer said that the wall should be left for 6 months but, if it had to be done soon it should have a few days and then use a non-vinyl paint as lets the moisture through. As an aside, madam wanted the ceiling done in textured paint to cover the Artex to some extent. Got it at B&Q, mile to carry it back. Well, 10 li would be enough weight but this stuff wasn't textured, it had limestone chippings in. Weighed about 12+ kg and the handle was just plain wire. I'd nothing to use for padding so it was swap hands and stop for a rest about every 100 yards. In use it didn't drip - it dropped. Odd stones falling off and pinging on the floor. Needed 2 coats as wall.
Contract paint is for (generally) new plaster and is used pretty much as an undercoat . It is not durable and can't be washed down like vinyl matts can. Some do leave it as a finish coat though as it goes on very evenly on large surfaces . Quite often it is used in factorys, industrial sites etc where cheapness rules over longevity (it's going to get repainted in a couple of years anyway when the re-branding happens).
Is it *really* a specific type of paint? I always thought the (fairly recent) proliferation of 'Trade' and 'Contract' versions of paints and similar were simply trying to sell the idea that they were what the professionals use.
I guess the point was, it had no description, so it could be anything. Most good paint should tell you about its base. I know if you mix different brands you can get some odd results like flaking or even a subtle change of hue in certain light conditions. Of course I don't care these days, but I can imagine he did not want any disputes later on. Brian
I've noticed differences with some solvent based paints when cleaning brushes in white spirit.
With some paints the solids will drop out of the white spirit to the bottom of the container within a week leaving a nearly clear white spirit that can be decanted off for re-use.
With some other paints the solids/pigment stays in solution for months with very little dropping to the bottom of the container. Even after 2 or 3 months the the cleaning liquid (white spirit) is extremely cloudy. It's still OK for the initial wash of the brush but a second clean with less contaminated white spirit is required.
Recently I've had two cans of Leyland solvent based paint (identical cans/description/type) where the paint from one can has touch dried in around 4 hours whilst the paint from the other remained tacky to the touch for 12 hours. Both were gloss applied to a an appropriate Leyland undercoat that had been applied many days before.
- sounds like just what i need for my damp stone shed walls. TW
I'm confused because I thought there was 'emulsion' - paint that would wipe off if you wet it - and 'vinyl', that wouldn't. You did the rooms in emulsion and the bathroom in vinyl. Now all the emulsion seems to be vinyl, and there's things like Dulux Diamond...
In general terms I understood:
'Trade' means they put some pigment in it rather than retail paint which is homeopathically weak and needs 17 coats to get any coverage (labour is free for DIYers, obviously)
'Contract' means it's cheap and nasty because the customer didn't specify anything better.
Theo
Designed, as someone said, to go on newly plastered walls, and to go on quickly. When I worked for Crown, nearly 20 years ago now, we sold loads of it to contractors - get it? They had their own version, called Covermatt. Might have been available in only white and magnolia. Can't remember now. In retail the vinyl gives it some body and allows it to be wiped down.
This was crown. it's great, it covers bare plaster in two coats. TW
Just as an extra point 'Contract' emulsion has more solids that retail emulsion, gets better coverage in less coats. McPherson & Johnson are examples of good contract emulsions.
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