2.Paint – a story as old as timeFrom ancient, natural beautyto a modern, plastic plagueThere is evidence of humansdecorating their living spaceswith ‘paint’ as far back as thepalaeolithic period. Early paintswould be made with ash, chalkand coloured earths simplybound with water, primitive sizes(rendered down animal remains)or plant seed oils.Though rudimentary, paintmaking had been born and eventoday’s paints still involve thesame basic mixture of colourant,binder and solvent. Makingpaint from natural materialsremained a similar process foraround 30,000 years, thoughwe discovered more and moreuseable ingredients and becamemore innovative in their use.Pigments were increasinglyderived from mineral as well asearth sources and techniqueswere developed to process themfor use. Linseed oil became themainstay for binding paint aswe learnt how to ‘improve’ itwith heat and using turpentineas a solvent. Artists and housepainters used the same paintsand varnishes for centuries andthe survival of their work provesthe durability of many of thesetraditional finishes.In the nineteenth centurychemists made discoveries thatallowed paint making to developas a modern industrial process.With the discovery of the useableproperties of coal tar and latercrude oil, came the first ‘readymix’ paint, made in Ohio in 1866by Sherwin Williams, today theworld’s largest paint maker.The processing of crude oil tomake refined spirits to driveinternal combustion engines ledto the formation of the petrochemical industry. This allowedthe development of ‘plastics’ asthey became known; mouldablematerials (polymers) that couldbe used in varying forms. In 1934chemists at the German companyBASF developed acrylic resinsthat could be used in paint.This allowed the manufactureof early ‘dispersion’ paints, theforerunners of our modernhousehold emulsions.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk9
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