Car paint

Car appearance greatly depends on quality of its paint-and-lacquer coating. Moreover, car paint creates the protective layer which prevents the body from corrosion and other aggressive external impact, thus extending its lifetime.

Types of car paint

Manufacturers produce several types of products for car painting. The most popular paints:

• Cellulose (nitrocellulose paints). They dry fast and are characterized by low plastic properties, that is why are used, as a rule, for minor defects elimination. After drying they need additional polishing.
• Glyptal. They create durable coating with glossy finish, do not need polishing after drying. It is enough to apply just one layer of the product for high quality painting. Complete drying-out takes 15 - 30 days.
• Acrylic. They won popularity due to homogeneous structure, fast drying, shining and high resistance to mechanical damages. It is recommended to apply several layers of such product.
• Powder. They are dry paints, small particles of which are magnetized with the help of special equipment, and then are applied onto the body by spraying method. Then the coating undergoes high temperatures exposure. As a result, extra-strong and durable coating is achieved.
• Water-based. It is a novelty on the auto-chemical market; they differ by environmental friendliness and great adhesion, can be applied even onto the old paint. But these products dry for a long time and their applying requires use of expensive equipment.

Paints differ from one another not only by composition but also by level of hardness, elasticity and density. These parameters are interconnected and have a direct impact on coating quality. Thus, at high hardness and density the material is more resistant to mechanical damages but apt to cracking. The more the composition hardness is, the less its elasticity is. Optimal hardness value is 50–60%.

Composition

Most of car paints include the following components:

• Bonding agent. It is a base which depends on the type of used paints. For example, for acrylic - acryl, for glyptal - synthetic resins. Quality of coating, elasticity and adhesion properties depend on the bonding agent type.
• Colourants. They are coloured particles, which give the product one or another tint. They define, first of all, colour and transparency of paint.
• Solvent. It is used to get homogeneous liquid consistency of colouring composition; it is evaporated at drying. It can be, for example, acetone or butyl acetate.
• Additives. They include, first of all, plasticizers which increase coating elasticity, and hardening agents which serve for strengthening paint layer. Thickening agents are added to products to avoid stains on the painted surface, and antioxidants - to avoid material premature aging. Moreover, the mixture can include dispersant agents, which prevent formation of blobs, fire retardants which provide fire-resistance of the coating, and others. Some additives are added into paint just before using, for example, drying agents, matting components.

Tips on car paint use

It is recommended to perform car painting in specialized paint rooms and services. To get good result you need special skills and expensive equipment. If you are going to paint only separate car elements, for example, the fender or the door, you need to select the paint identical to the that applied to other body parts. A service station specialist can do it with the help of the computer program and perform several test material applying procedures. If you want to paint the whole body, then specialists will choose optimal painting method. Two-phase painting got widespread use; it presupposes applying of basic enamel and lacquer coat.

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