thesodafizz
Posts: 158
Joined: 1/13/2008
Status: offline
|
Perfect timing.....
Last night, I put on my specks and Googled myself silly. What I finally found after hours of wasted clicking was this:
Info came from the American Chemical Society's webpage about problems with paint during the war. To paraphrase it seemed to go like this -
It was as I suspected, a shortage in something used to make paint (just like a shortage of the stuff to make glass clear in WWI). The article explains that many things were "invented" to get around things they couldn't get during the war. (Some of the ones I found in this, and other articles, surprised me, but to get on to the point...) Such as, synthetic rubber was invented because rubber was needed for the military, etc. Sugar was needed because it was used to make something else (what, I don't remember now, gunpowder or something weird like that - yeah, I thought too - sugar to make gunpowder?) ... And it seems they couldn't get flax seed - something used to make linseed oil - a "binder" in paint.
To quote a part of it:
Shortages affected every corner of life during the war, from women who gave up stockings because silk was unavailable [used for parachutes], to paint manufacturers who were required to ration linseed oil, a common paint binder. These constraints led acceleration in research into new coating concepts. Their chemists took casein, a milk protein used by the ancient Egyptians for making paint, and emulsified (or suspended) varnish in it. They then added a number of other ingredients, with water as the largest component, to create a water-based paint.
This technology led to the development of improved waterborne paints by replacing naturally occurring binders with synthetic ones.
It seems, from the article - which mentioned several major paint company's efforts - that they tried several combinations of things, trying to create a water-based paint (to replace the oil-based) that would hold up. I would assume, from what it said, there were many trials and errors. Paint that didn't hold up made it into the market until it was improved. According to the arrticle, this all went on for some time until the bugs were finally worked out.
Another quote:
Chemists experimented with old, almost forgotten oils and resins and treated them with modern processing equipment. Purchasing agents combed the country for raw materials so that (paint) shortages would not halt production.
To quote: another section of the article
The introduction of Kem-Tone© paint in 1941 was the milestone that showed the viability of durable, washable water-based paint and led the way for future improvements. For example, after World War II, the Dow Chemical Company searched for ways to use its styrene-butadiene polymer (40 parts styrene, 60 parts butadiene), which it had developed for tires during the war. The search led Dow to develop styrene-butadiene latex (60 parts styrene, 40 parts butadiene) as a binder in water-borne paints.
Dow's binder helped to create a new Sherwin-Williams product: latex paint. In the late 1940s, the company introduced Super Kem-Tone© paint, which used styrene-butadiene latex as the principal, but not sole, binder. This significantly improved the adhesion and durability of waterborne paints.
Since the 1940s, paints emulsified in water have passed through several additional phases. Styrene-butadiene latex paints yielded to new improvements, such as vinyl acrylic and acrylic latex binders for water-based paints.
This would explain why bottles after the war still have paint that comes off. According to this - it was the late-40s before they felt they had gotten it worked out (also from the article, partly because linseed oil was available again and was modified be used with the new paint formula into what we now know as latex enamel.
The article is quite detailed and someone that deals with paint might understand it better because it gives the technical side of things, but it gives enough info to at least give an idea what went on - the mad scramble to make paint without linseed oil as a binder to meet demands for it.
Also, red may have been a hard color to work out. Probably the subject of my next Google attempt.
I hope this helps clear things up a bit to the mystery of fading and peeling paint.
Comment are very welcome!
K
|
War in Iraq: WMD or This [the real reason] - 
I am at peace with my self,and getting along grand with everyone lol It was a Matt thing, not a (Rick) and Matt thing,who's still here? don't bring my name in to your battles.
YEAH BOIE!
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread