Paints and Pigments

Paints have been manufactured since prehistoric times, but until recently they were highly expensive and thus were mainly used for artwork. It is only since the nineteenth century that houses have commonly been painted. Today paints are used for colouring and protecting many surfaces, including houses, cars, road markings and underground storage vessels. Each of these different applications requires a different sort of paint, and it is these differences in composition that are the focus of this article. Paint is essentially composed of a binder, pigment and solvent.