Owatrol

Poignard

Poignard

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Someone has recommended Owatrol paint additive to me. If the following advert is to be believed it's the dog's goolies.

"Owatrol Oil 500ml - The Painter's Best Friend
Used by professional painters and decorators for decades, Owatrol Oil eliminates numerous painting related problems and headaches.

› It's worth it's weight in gold to anybody who has to maintain his or her own home or property.
› As an Additive in any oil based paint, varnish etc, it..
› Minimises or eliminates brush marks.
› Makes paint flow on beautifully without tiring pull or drag.
› Will not dull or harm the gloss finish like white spirits.
› Increases hiding power especially on low hide colours like reds, yellows etc.
› Increases actual paint coverage by up to 25% or more which enables it pay for itself completely.
› Makes paint stick tightly & eliminates peeling, on window sills, wall cappings, facia boards, soffits, exterior woodwork etc.
› Adds to paint quality for longer lasting finish.
› Keeps 'wet edge' open longer for special effects etc.
› Makes paint much easier to apply in either cold or hot weather.
›
Product Code 732GB
£10.99 "

Anyone here used it? If it's so good at improving paint why don't paint makers automatically add it to their paints during manufacture?
 
It is the DB's. Used it every year for the last four. It did everything you have listed. One tine last for a long time - you don't need to add much. I thing you can also use it as an anti-corrosive. It initially takes a little nerve to add it to white paint as its brown but that don't matter as you stir it in. Oh and by the way, the remains of tins I have added it to do not skin off from one year to the next! Even with only a little in the tin.

Frankly I do not know why everybody isn't using it - but then not that many people paint boats anymore.
 
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Anyone here used it? If it's so good at improving paint why don't paint makers automatically add it to their paints during manufacture?
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Very good question. Probably price.

I used to work in a boatyard and professional decorators used to come and buy it.

I wonder if it is mainly linseed oil.

Does it say what's in it on the tin ?
 
It does but the tin's in the workshop and its hissing down and blowing a gale and the cat will get out. I could read it in the morning. I don't think ameteur painters believe it. I used it in desperation to get a good finish on a well known marine paint manufacturers new enamel formula after having had an awful time and am now hooked on it.
 
Have used it for close to 30 years, off and on, and still keep a tin handy. It does what it says on the tin.
I've also used it to clean and refresh painted surfaces with just a wipe-over, a ten to twenty minute wait depending on temperature, then hand-buffing with the same cloth. I could bring up a painted hull, as if re-painted, on a couple of hours.
 
I had a big problem painting the topsides using the roll n' tip method... as I was singlehanded the brush was dragging the paint into peaks as it went off on a warm day. A drop of Owatrol maintained the wet edge and gave a smooth brushless finish.
I also use it as a rust preventer and on brass to prevent tarnishing.
 
I've been using it for close to 18 years now, in itself and in various forms (Deks Olje etc. ) . The rust prevention aspect makes it widely popular in France and Holland, especially in traditional boat maintenance, and even in car restoration applications.
 
Yep, brilliant stuff, would not be without it. Just one strange characteristic, if you dab a bit of extra varnish or paint on to fill a crevice in the surface, it will pull itself back out as you watch!

Philip
 
Fabulous stuff use it all the time in my varnish, DON´T add it to two pack polyurethane. Been using it for many years.
 
I didn't know it is related to Deks Olje. What is the common ingredient?

Reason for asking is that I have some surplus Deks Olje [#1 and #2] and I'm wondering if I could use that instead of Owatrol.
 
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Can it be added to one can polyurethane paint?


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I've used it successfully with one-can PU varnish. Would never use it with any two-pack paint of whatever description.

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I didn't know it is related to Deks Olje. What is the common ingredient?


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The magic ingredient (Oregano? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) is not listed anywhere AFAIK. I suspect it is Tung oil or something synthetically related . They sell also an industrial version over here mixed with an orange metal oxide pigment brew as an undercoat for rusty steel stuctures. Pure Owatrol is often used on the large rudders of traditional Dutch craft, as on its own, it's a flexible -if slow drying- varnish, which creeps underneath the cracks and fissures around the pintles, where it inhibits rust quite effectively.
While Owatrol is thin, Deks Olje is much thinner, and it is difficult to build up a layer, which Owatrol does. Rust-stopping properties are much more limited. But it still works as a paint thinner!
They also have an even more diluted version, "Polytrol". It fills the pores of old gelcoat, but I wouldn't recommend it, since it lasts only a few months, and if you apply too much, it turns yellow in sunshine. But it works well on rubber window frames and such.
 
I once varnished my boat immediately before a weather change. The damp air turned the varnish into white moon craters. Owatrol stops this happening. Any slight bloom formed soon disappears.

Philip
 
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