Paint colour and life

[sighmoon]

Does paint colour make a difference to how often wood needs repainting? I've been advised that red is more likely to blister than grey, for example. If there's a difference, how significant is it?

 

[Tranona]

Depends on the paint formulation. Generally speaking dark colours fade more than light but should not affect film strength. Modern paints, both single and 2 pot have colour stabilizers so less likely to fade than older formulations. Very noticeable, for example when International brought out Toplac. I use dark blue 105 which used to fade after 2 years, but Toplac goes at least 5 years before starting to fade, or the film break down if properly applied in the first place.

 

[NormanS]

Dark colours absorb more heat in the sun, so if there is any dampness in the wood, they are more likely to cause blistering.
For some reason, red is notorious for fading. I used to have a red painted wooden boat.

 

[Tiller Girl]

Dark colours absorb more heat in the sun, so if there is any dampness in the wood, they are more likely to cause blistering.
For some reason, red is notorious for fading. I used to have a red painted wooden boat.

And dry the wood. Most black painted wooden hulls have cracked seams by the end of the season. I like colour but I much prefer a stablised moisture content in my planks as far as I can get it.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

As others have said, darker colours absorb more heat, and so heat related defects will be more of a problem.

Most pigments, especially Blue are notorious for fading in sunlight - have a look at an old inkjet print to see what I mean! But UV stable pigments are available. How stable they are is a good question - in the world of colour printing, something that lasted a year would be pretty good! This is just a guess, but I'd imagine that mineral pigments would be more stable than dye based ones. However, I am not a colour chemist - just a long time user of colour printing.

 

[SvenH]

Red, especially bright red, contains little pigment. UV can penetrate easily and speed up decay.
That is also why it generally needs more coats.

Never a red boat or car for me!

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Red, especially bright red, contains little pigment. UV can penetrate easily and speed up decay.
That is also why it generally needs more coats.

Never a red boat or car for me!

I don't know where you got that from but, when I worked in the paint industry, the formulations used to regularly pass over my desk and there was plenty of pigment in them. It is true that, as a generalistion red pigments had relatively poor opacity and also suffered from UV degradation (leading to fading) but even that is not the complete story. Better opacity and more UV stable red pigments are available but at a price. As always these things are a compromise but it is wrong to say that red paints have little pigment.

 

[Lakesailor]

In automotive paints red is more prone to fade and green the least. (That is fairly old info, but do pigments change?)

 

[Rigger Mortice]

That is fairly old info, but do pigments change?

Yes. Constantly.
Cost, performance, availability, H&S legislation and many other factors (as well as colour!) mean that the choice of pigments is being tweaked all the time. A can of Blue Uno which you buy this year is quite likely to contain different pigments from the can you bought last year.