Color mixing guide / For artists, painters, decorators, printing pressmen, show card writers, sign painters, color mixers. Gives color mixtures by parts

A house painted white not only looks cool, but is cool, as white reflects the sun’s rays. The effect at night is reversed.

The amount of trimming color necessary is usually about one-fifth of that required for the entire surface.

Do not paint damp or unseasoned, sappy or pitchy wood.

Do not paint or paper walls having a northern exposure with cold color such as blue, gray or white. Use warm tones like rose, tan, etc. And in like manner better results are obtained by using the cold shades or colors in rooms with a southern exposure.

COVERING CAPACITY OF VARNISH

One gallon of varnish will cover approximately 300 square feet, two coats when properly flowed on.

Varnish is transparent and therefore cannot hide any defects in a surface. If the surface is badly marred, use graining materials. Or cover up the old surface with a suitable paint or enamel.

NEW WOOD.—Before varnishing new open grained wood such as oak, ash and mahogany, it is necessary to fill the pores with a good filler. Some prefer it in paste form. This is not absolutely necessary for close-grained woods such as maple, pine and birch.

Paint for general purpose is composed of lead, zinc, linseed oil and turpentine dryer, which are the best known ingredients, excepting such colors that cannot be made from lead and zinc.

Lead, when used alone does not make as serviceable a paint as lead and zinc ground together in pure linseed oil and colors. Zinc is recognized as an indispensable ingredient in paint. Lead, while quite necessary, is likely to change when used alone, by that is meant, it discolors easily, and when exposed to the air chalks off and leaves the wood exposed.

Zinc, which is a more durable metal, retains its whiteness also gives to colors and permits incorporating the largest possible quantity of linseed oil, thus giving life and durability to the paint. A mixture of both lead and zinc, is, therefore, necessary to obtain best results to resist light, heat and cold.

NEW WORK

To secure best results, new work should have three coats, that is two besides the priming coat.

Do not prime or apply paint to a new building until plastering is thoroughly dried out.

ADULTERATING COLORS

Do not imagine that the durability of paint is increased by the use of whiting, clay, silica and other cheap materials. They only make bulk and trouble.

AGGREGATED FORM OF CHECKING

Avoid “alligatoring,” which is a form of checking and frequently caused by applying finished coats over priming or second coats before drying.

SEEDY, SPECKY, SANDY VARNISH

You may find varnish to be full of small grains. This may be due to chill in transit or in storage, or a decided difference in temperature between the varnish and the work. Allow the varnish to reach the temperature of the work before applying. The same appearance may be caused by what painters term a “lousy” brush. USE ONLY AN ABSOLUTELY CLEAN BRUSH.

For rough stipple, mix your paint from equal parts of white lead in oil, zinc white in oil and dry plaster of paris (the latter of the finest grade). Thin down with raw linseed oil and turpentine in equal parts, adding two teaspoonfuls of pale japan to each pint of liquid. Make the paint just stout enough to apply with a wall brush and put it on in that consistency. When the surface has been so coated, and before the paint begins to set, use a good size stippler, and see that you do the work uniformly and evenly. You can color the white to any desired tint with finely powdered dry color or you may use color ground in oil, but if much of the latter is required, use one-third raw oil and two-thirds turpentine for thinning. When solid color is desired for wall stippling, use colors ground in oil and the finest bolted whiting, dry to make stout paste. Mix in this paste with one part oil and three parts turpentine and add one part japan. When the paint is applied in stout consistency, it may be stippled or combed and very pretty effects are obtained. Before applying the stipple to unpainted walls, two coats of pure lead in oil should be given.

GOOD BRUSHES GET GOOD RESULTS

Keep brushes out of water. When paint and varnish brushes are not in use, they should be suspended in raw linseed oil away from the bottom of the container by at least two inches and at least an inch above the bottom ferrule or strap. Water is not a paint solvent. When brushes are suspended in linseed oil, the oil will dissolve the pigment which, being heavier, will sink to the bottom of the container, in this way cleaning the brush.

To ascertain the number of gallons of paint required for a building:—add the width of front and rear with the length of both sides, and multiply by the height. A gallon of paint, properly brushed out, will cover 350 square feet, two coats. Do not flow the paint on, but thoroughly brush it on.

By dividing the total feet of surface by 350, you will obtain the number of gallons necessary to paint the house, two coats. The above estimate, owing to the fact that surfaces vary in their natures, is based on a surface of good condition to receive the paint.

EXAMPLE

TO REMOVE RUST STAINS FROM CONCRETE OR STUCCO

Rust stains can be removed from concrete or stucco work by scrubbing the spots with a solution of 1 part muriatic acid and 5 parts water. When using this, the hands should be well protected from the acid as it is very strong, and will cause severe burns. After scrubbing the concrete, the acid must be well rinsed off with clean water.

The aluminum or bronze paint generally applied to radiators greatly reduces their effectiveness and makes it necessary to have a larger surface for the same heating effect, according to experiments performed by Dr. W. W. Coblentz, of the Bureau of Standards. Dr. Coblentz finds that the heat radiated from an aluminum painted radiator surface is less than a third of that emitted by a radiator of the same size painted with a non-metallic paint, enameled, or simply allowed to rust.

On the other hand, he finds that aluminum paint is a very effective means of reducing the amount of heat transmitted through a thin material. Applied to the under side of a tent or awning, it reduces by three-fourths the amount of heat from the sun which gets through the cloth, while if used on the cover of an automobile or ice wagon it cuts in half the heat let through and makes the temperature inside the vehicle more nearly that found in natural shade, thereby making it much more comfortable.

PAINT AND VARNISH REMOVER

Benzol and denatured alcohol, equal parts applied to a painted or varnished surface, will eat through to the bare wood in less than ten minutes’ time.

HOW ENAMEL IS APPLIED TO METAL

The basis of all enamels is an easily fusible, colorless glass, to which the desired color and opacity are imparted by mixtures of metallic oxides. The mass, after being fused together and cooled, is reduced to a fine powder, washed and applied to the surfaces to be covered. The whole is then exposed in a furnace till the enamel is melted when it adheres firmly to the metal.

Plaster of Paris can be retarded by dissolving carpenter’s glue or common paste in the mixing water. To retard it so that it will not set within five hours will require about 2 per cent. of glue, the percentage being based on the weight of the plaster.

CEMENT PANEL PAINT FOR BLACKBOARDS

If you prefer to mix your own paint for cement panel blackboards, use drop black in turpentine, add an equal weight of finest powdered pumicestone mixed in turps and hard oak finish, and thin with enough varnish and turpentine to bind it hard.

PAINTING STUCCO

In painting stucco, the following instructions should be observed. After brushing thoroughly, prepare for the priming coat by mixing one part, by weight, of white lead, red lead, and boiled oil. White lead, stainers, driers, to the extent of one-fourteenth of the mixture, two parts boiled oil, and one part turpentine, form the basis for the second and third coatings. Additional coating should contain less turpentine in proportion to the oil.

A REMEDY FOR LOW CEILINGS

Rooms with low ceilings can be made to appear much higher by using a striped paper, preferably in a pale tint.

Common washing soda dissolved in water; let it soak a while—if put on thick, say thirty minutes—then wash off. If it does not completely remove, give it another application.

CLEANING PAINTED WALLS

Dissolve two ounces of borax in two quarts of water. Add one teaspoonful of ammonia, put half this mixture into a pail of water. Use no soap.

A GOOD WALLPAPER VARNISH

Dissolve equal parts of borax and shellac in ten times their weight of alcohol; strain. Give two coats. For a very light-colored paper use sandarac instead of shellac. Paper treated with this lacquer can be washed with water, and even with soap, if necessary.

LUMINOUS PAINT FORMULA

Linseed Oil cold compressed and thickened by heat 3 oz., barium sulphate 3 oz., prepared calcium carbonate 3 oz., white zinc sulphide 6 oz., luminous calcium sulphide 18 oz. Mix well and grind in a paint mill, very fine.

FIREPROOF PAINT

Incorporate powdered asbestos into paint to be used on sheds, garages, etc.

TO COLOR CONCRETE

Cinnabar is mixed with cement to produce a bright red concrete and carmine to produce a violet red.

GREASE SPOTS ON WALL PAPER

Grease spots can be removed from wall paper by rubbing with camphorated chalk.

Oil of cedarwood 3 ounces, turpentine 2 ounces, hydrochloric acid (commercial) 1¼ ounces, lubricating oil (light) 1½ ounces, gasoline 1½ pint. Mix the turpentine, lubricating oil, and gasoline thoroughly and add oil of cedarwood, mixing thoroughly. Now add the hydrochloric acid, stirring briskly. Allow to set for three days, stirring occasionally until hydrochloric acid is thoroughly mixed. INFLAMMABLE, KEEP FROM FIRE OR OPEN FLAME. Can be colored if desired (any color) by adding a small amount of soluble color.

FURNITURE AND AUTOMOBILE POLISH

To ⅔ of paraffin oil add two tablespoonfuls of turpentine oil, one tablespoon of ammonia, one tablespoonful of alcohol. Add enough gasoline to make the quart. Keep away from open flame.

WHITE SPOTS ON A SHELLAC SURFACE

Restore the color of a shellac surface which has become white in spots by holding a hot iron over the spot.

DUSTLESS CONCRETE FLOORS

Paint concrete floors several coats with a mixture of boiled linseed oil mixed with gasoline, half and half.

OLD WIDE SOFT FLOORING MADE TO APPEAR AS HARDWOOD

When the cracks have been filled and floor has been stained the desired color grain half of each board differently. Thus the wide boards appear narrow by graining every other half. It resembles two kinds of wood dovetailed together.

This produces a fine luster that does not collect dust or show rain streaks. Although not a cheap polish, it is less costly than some now on the market. It consists of ½ gal. turpentine, ½ pt. paraffin oil, 2 oz. oil of citronella, and 1 oz. cedar oil. These are thoroughly mixed, applied with a soft cloth, and rubbed lightly and briskly until dry.

LIME WHEN NOT IN USE IN WHITEWASH

Lime will lose its value as a whitewash after long exposure to the air, but is ideal when used as fertilizer.

TO FROST A PANE OF GLASS

After the glass has been painted white, and still is wet, gently tap it all over with a soft cloth which has been wadded into a ball or puff.

YELLOW PIANO KEYS

To clean, a paste made from whiting and a solution of potash is laid on, and allowed to remain for twenty-four hours. The ivories will be restored very nearly, if not quite, to their original color without removing them from the keys.

PAINTING ON GLASS

Paints will adhere to glass better if colors are ground in oil. Thin with pale japan and turpentine.

REMOVE INK STAINS FROM WOOD

Prepare a mixture of 8 ounces of concentrated sulphuric acid and 1¾ pints of water. Scour the stain thoroughly with water and sand and then pour some of the mixture upon it and rub until the stain disappears.

Wash with a cloth wrung out of a strong solution of baking soda and water or use vinegar and water. If the stain is not all removed, dissolve gum shellac in alcohol to the consistency of milk or cream, and with it cover the sooty parts. Paint or whitewash over the shellac. The black will not show through.

COMMON WHITEWASH

Ordinary whitewash is made by slaking 10 lbs. of quicklime in 2 gals. of water. The lime is placed in a pail, the water added, and the bucket covered with a piece of old carpet, or an old bag, and allowed to stand for about an hour; the whitewash is then ready for application.

WEATHERPROOF WHITEWASH

For exterior use, a weatherproof limewash is made by slaking 1 bu. (62 lbs.) of quicklime in 15 gal. of water. A solution consisting of 2 lbs. of ordinary salt and 1 lb. of zinc sulphate, dissolved in 2 gals. of boiling water, is prepared, and 2 gals. of skim milk is provided. The salt and zinc-sulphate solution is added to the lime and water, the skim milk being put in last.

LINOLEUM CEMENT

A mixture of glue, isinglass and dextrin, which dissolved in water and heated, is given an admixture of turpentine. The strips pasted down must be weighted with boards and brick on top until the adhesive agent has hardened.

WEIGHT OF PAINT

Good paint weighs 18 pounds and upwards to the gallon. Ordinary paint weighs 15–16 pounds.