Tips for tinting paints and varnishes

Tinting of paints is a modern technological process that allows you to get the desired shade from over 15,000 possible colors. In this article, we will consider in detail all aspects of tinting (coloring): from basic concepts to professional secrets, calculations and equipment selection. The material will be useful for both professional craftsmen and home users who seek to create the perfect color for their interior or facade.

What is paint tinting: Basic concepts and terminology
Paint tinting is the process of obtaining the desired shade by adding special pigment pastes to the base white or transparent paint. Unlike ready-made colored paints, the tinting system makes it possible to create almost any shade from a wide palette.
Key terms to know
A base is an uncolored or slightly colored paint that serves as the basis for tinting.
Bases are classified by purpose:
White base (Base A) - used to obtain light pastel shades. Has the highest coverage and requires a minimum amount of tint (up to 5% by volume).
Transparent base (Base TR) - a transparent or translucent base for bright, saturated and dark colors.
*Up to 15% pigment can be added.
Color (pigment paste) is a concentrated dye containing a high concentration of pigments and binders.
Colors are available in tubes or cans with a volume of 20 ml to 1 liter.
* Pigment pastes are finely dispersed particles that give the paint color and saturation. It is the pigment that determines the shade of the coating - warm or cold, bright or pastel.
To create accurate colors, colorants are used - special concentrates that are added to the paint.
The Eskaroshop catalog, in the "Colorants" section, presents a wide selection of such products.
Colorants from the Eskarocolor catalog make it possible to professionally tint paints without compromising their quality.

Types of tinting systems:
There are three methods of tinting paint and varnish materials (LPM):
1. Industrial tinting.
2. "Home" tinting.
3. Tinting system.
The Eskaro company offers all these methods of tinting its paint and varnish materials.
Industrial tinting
Paint and varnish materials are tinted directly at the factory and go on sale in ready-made color options. The disadvantage of industrial tinting is the limited number of colors, because paint and varnish materials are tinted only in the most popular colors (for example, Aura Luxpro Flex Paint).
"Home" tinting
The paint (white paint or base A) is tinted using universal tinting (pigment) pastes or dye-paints by the buyer (consumer).
The Eskaro company offers Aura dye-paints for this type of tinting. These dye-paints are intended only for tinting water-dispersion (WD) paint.
Aura colorants-paints are independent colored VD facade paints that have saturated colors. Their addition to interior VD paints is not limited, but they should be added to facade materials with caution, since an imbalance in the composition of the latter can lead to a decrease in their weather resistance.
It should also be remembered that for exterior work, Aura colorants-paints of some colors should be used only undiluted, due to insufficient light resistance of pigments. Since this product is a VD paint, its use (i.e. mixing) with organically soluble paint and varnish materials is unacceptable!
In addition, for "home" tinting, it is possible to use universal tinting (pigment) pastes, widely available on the market. The main advantage of universal tinting (pigment) pastes is the possibility of their use for tinting VD, oil and alkyd paints.
This is achieved due to the fact that the tinting paste contains only pigment, pigment dispersant and universal diluent - ethylene glycol, which provides a pasty consistency.
*However, it is worth remembering that any paint is a balanced product, and adding foreign components to its composition disrupts this balance and can lead to the loss of some properties. For alkyd materials, this is primarily manifested in a decrease in the degree of gloss, and for water-dispersion paints - in a deterioration in wear and water resistance.
Approximate norms for adding universal tinting pastes to Eskaro paint:

Продукт	Максимальний відсоток тонувальної пасти (за об’ємом)
Емалі та олійні фарби	10%
Інтер’єрні ВД фарби	10%
Фарби для інтер’єру, які миються	5%

 

The main disadvantage of "home" tinting using pigment pastes and dye-paints is the impossibility of accurate repeated "hitting the color".

Tinting system
1. The ability to obtain a wide range of colors.
2. Color reproducibility - ensuring the same shade of each tinted batch.
3. Compliance of the resulting paint color with the color given on the color selection tool (stand or fan).

The tinting system includes:
1. Tinting (pigment) pastes.
2. Base paints (bases).
3. Color recipes.
4. Tinting machine (doser and mixer/shaker).
5. Color selection tools (stand or fan).

The tinting machine consists of two parts - a dispenser (dispenser of pigment paste into the base paint) and a mixer/shaker (mixer for the resulting mixture).
 

The result of tinting depends on the exact dosage of pigment pastes in the base paint. Therefore, very precise adherence to the recipes of both components is required. Conventional paints are not suitable for this, so base paints are used in TC. The base paint is a paint with exceptional consistency of both quantitative and qualitative composition, as well as with exceptional packaging accuracy.
The Eskaro company produces two types of base paints: A and TR.
The tinting system of the Eskaro company is called ESKAROCOLOR. Today it allows to obtain about 18,500 colors and shades of paints based on A and TR bases, as well as more than 200 colors and shades based on EC base. At the moment, the ESKAROCOLOR TS offers tinting of almost all finishing paint products of the Eskaro company.
 

Conclusion
Paint tinting is a combination of technological sophistication, precision and creativity. By following the recommendations given, you will get a stable, durable and aesthetic result. For professional tinting, the right selection of recipes and materials, we recommend contacting trusted suppliers.
To buy Eskaro paints or order tinting from Eskaro, visit our Eskaro branded stores - choose your color and get professional tinting in just a few minutes. Order a consultation or delivery right now.