Painting Contractors Terminology

Accelerator : an added material to paint that is responsible for speeding the cure of coating

Acrylic: plastic like additive in paint that increases gloss and durability

Baking: applying heat to a finish in order to speed the dry time

Basecoat: highly pigmented color that requires a clear coating to enhance durability and gloss

Blending: merging one color into another, usually in a way that the differences cannot be distinguished

Brittle: paint coating without flexibility

Burn Through: polishing a color until the underlying coats are revealed

Cast: variation of colors, example, a blue shade red

Catalyst: acts as an accelerator in paint, speeding the cure of coating

Chalking: old paint film or paints that were exposed to significant wear-and tear have a white powdery appearance

Checking/Crowfoot: cracks in a paint film usually caused by excessive film build

Chipping: filming is removed due to a heavy impact

Color Retention/Color Fast: the ability of a color to maintain its quality and shade over a long period of time

Die-Back: the gradual loss of gloss after polishing

Durability: refers to a film's lasting and resistance to conditions

Fading: color or gloss gradually changing

Force Dry: drying process that involves the application of heat

Glaze: fine polishing material for a glossy effect

Peeling: loss of adhesion between one coat of paint to succeeding coats

Primary Color: red, yellow and blue – so called pure colors that cannot be formed by mixing other colors