Paint Formulation ~ Archie Paint

Proper paint formulations depend upon raw materials selection and accurate calculation of the amounts of its constituents. Generally, paint is a blend, in which pigments and fillers are suspended in a liquid. The paint formulations are related to their applications. Generally paints are used to hide the original surface, providing a certain color, resisting the weathering conditions, washability, gloss, and protecting surface from corrosion.

The selection of pigments, fillers, and carrying liquids is necessary for a proper paint. In general, pigments should be opaque to ensure good covering power, and chemically inert to secure stability, and non toxicity. To predict some properties of paints such as ease of painting, gloss, washability for a certain formulation, the pigment volume concentration (PVC) in paint is used as indicator.

Pigment volume concentration (PVC) =	Volume of pigment in paint
	(Volume of pigment in paint + volume of Non volatile vehicle constituents in paint)

Indicator values for pigment volume concentration in paints, is shown below.
Pigments Volume Concentration (PVC)

Paints Type	Indicator Values
Matt paints	50-75%
Semigloss paints	35-45%
Gloss paints	25-35%
Exterior household paints	27-36%
Metal primers	25-40%
Wood primers	35-40%