The versatility of modern commercial house paints has ensured their use in a broad range of applications, including the protection and decoration of historic buildings, the coating of toys and furniture, and the creation of works of art. Historically, house paints were based on naturally occurring oils, gums, resins, and proteins, but in the early twentieth century, the introduction of synthetic resins revolutionized the industry. Good quality ready-mixed products became available and were used by artists worldwide.

While the ubiquity of commercial paints means that conservators are increasingly called upon to preserve them, such paints pose unique challenges including establishing exactly which materials are present.

This book traces the history of the household paint industry in the United States and United Kingdom over the first half of the twentieth century. It includes chapters on the artistic use of commercial paints and the development of ready-mixed paints and synthetic resins; oil paints, oleoresinous gloss and enamel paints, water paints, nitrocellulose lacquers, oil-modified alkyds, and emulsion paints; and the conservation implications of these materials. The book will be of interest to conservators and conservation scientists working on a broad range of painted surfaces, as well as curators, art historians, and historians of architectural paint.

• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Artistic Use of Commercial Paints
• The Role of Analysis
• Chapter 1: History of the Paint Industry
  • Ready-Mixed Oil Paints
  • Development of Synthetic Resins
  • Key Developments in Pigmentation
• Chapter 2: Traditional Oil-Based Paints
  • Drying Oils
  • Semidrying Oils
  • Styrenated Oils
  • Mixtures of Oils
  • Varnishes
  • Natural Resins
  • Rosin and Rosin Derivatives
  • Exterior Paints Based on Traditional Materials
  • Three-Coat and Two-Coat Painting Systems
  • Trim Paints
  • Enamels
  • Ready-Mixed Glossy Paints for Interior and Exterior Use
  • Interior Flat Oil-Based Wall Paints
  • Natural Rubber in Household Paints
• Chapter 3: Traditional Water Paints
  • Limewashes
  • Distemper
  • Casein Paints
  • Oil Emulsion Paints
• Chapter 4: Nitrocellulose Lacquers
  • Manufacture of Nitrocellulose
  • History of Nitrocellulose Coatings
  • Properties of Nitrocellulose Brushing Lacquers
  • Properties of Nitrocellulose Spraying Lacquers
  • Availability and Use of Decorative Nitrocellulose Lacquers
• Chapter 5: Oleoresinous Paints Based on Synthetic Resins
  • Phenol-formaldehyde
  • Alkyd Resins
• Chapter 6: Emulsion Paints Based on Synthetic Resins
  • Synthetic Resin Emulsions
  • Styrene-Butadiene Paints
  • Polystyrene Emulsions
  • Polyvinyl Acetate
  • Acrylic Paints
  • Comparison of the Properties of PVAc, Styrene-Butadiene, and Acrylic Paints
  • Availability and Use of Synthetic Polymer Emulsions
  • Acceptance and Use of Synthetic Resins
• Chapter 7: The Conservation Implications of the Presence of Household Paints
  • Oleoresinous Paints Based on Natural, Phenolic, and Alkyd Resins
  • Nitrocellulose Lacquers
  • Traditional Water Paints: Limewash, Whitewash, Distemper, Oil Emulsions
  • Synthetic Polymer Emulsions
  • Summary
• Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author

Harriet A. L. Standeven is a freelance paintings conservator who specializes in the care of modern and contemporary art. She obtained an MA in painting conservation in 2000 from the University of Northumbria and completed her PhD at the Royal College of Art in 2004. Her research focused on the use of gloss house paints by twentieth-century artists. From 2004 to 2009 she worked as a tutor on the RCA/V&A Conservation Programme. She also conducts research into artists’ use of commerical materials.

“The conservation of household paint is an under-researched area. This book provides a discussion of the chemical composition of these ubiquitous materials, their characteristics, and weakness and will be of great assistance to all conservators as an important reference book.” —ICON News

“It is a brave person who attempt to tackle the subject of twentieth-century household paints and Harriet Standeven has done a magnificent job. . . . I am not aware of any other work that covers the same ground.” ―Journal of Architectural Conservation