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Waxes and Fats.
The chief use of waxes in the painting trade is in the preparation of polishes, but they are also employed fairly extensively as matting agents in flat paints and varnishes and occasionally, by the decorator, as a megilp in graining work.The principal classes used are:
Beeswax.-Wax to the decorator almost always' implies beeswax which, dissolved in turpentine, is largely used for making polish.
It takes on a good lustre, is resistant to moisture, and emulsifies well.
Good-quality beeswax should not be too soft at ordinary temperatures and should be fairly tough and resistant to breaking.
If adulterated, it loses most of its valuable properties; this can generally be detected by undue softness and stickiness.
Camauba.- This is chiefly employed by manufacturers of polishes, in admixture with one or more other types of wax. Used alone, it is too brittle, and also too expensive, for most purposes.
Mixed with equal parts of beeswax, it gives an excellent polish, harder and more free from' cling" than beeswax alone. In conjunction with beeswax, it is also used in the making of flat or eggshell varnishes, though in recent years it has tended to be superseded by other forms of matting agents.
Paraffin Wax.-This is sold in two or three degrees of hardness, but is not so suitable for polishes as harder waxes, although, tinted a brown or orange, it is often supplied for this purpose.
Montan Wax.- This is an expensive wax which, though hard and tough, is not so brittle as carnauba.
It has remarkable polishing properties but, owing to its price, is generally sold in admixture with beeswax or ceresine.
Ceresine.-A modified paraffin wax, prepared by treating the latter with vitriol, which gives a somewhat harder product.
It is the basis of a number of low-priced polishes.
Tallow.- Though not a wax, this may conveniently be included here.
It is obtained from animal fat and is yellowish in colour and fairly soft. It is often used in the preparation of limewash to act as a binder and impart moisture-resisting properties.
Stearin.-This is also derived from animal fat, being the pure, crystalline acid obtained by purifying tallow.
It is whiter, harder, and almost free from smell, and will combine with hot solutions of caustic or caustic lime in the presence of water.
Like tallow, it is often employed in making up limewash.