Line Marking Paint

COLOURS

Black

Post Office Red

Bright Orange

JCB Yellow

White

*Colours in the chart are approximate and may vary.

PRODUCT NAME

Line Marking Paint

PRODUCT DATA SHEET

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SAFETY DATA SHEET

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Technical Overview

Standard Colours	Post Office Red, JCB Yellow, Bright Orange, Black, White. *Other RAL and British Standard colours can be made, dependent on the quantities required.
Dry Film Appearance	Semi-gloss
Spreading Rate	5-8m2 per litre, dependent on film thickness (10m2 @ 50mμ; 5m2 @ 100μ)
Touch Dry @20°C	3-4 hours
Recoating Time @20°C	Minimum 24 hours
Typical Wet-Film Thickness	85-135μm per coat
Typical Dry-Film Thickness	50-100μm per coat
Solids by Volume	58% (ASTM D2697) ±3%, dependent on colour
VOC Information	420g per litre (from formula to satisfy EU Solvent Emissions Directive)
Application Temperature	10-35°C
Application Method	Brush or roller
Substrates	Suitably cleaned and dry surfaces
Thinners	Thinning not recommended. For cleaning, use standard thinners.
Flash Point	>25°C
Pack Size	5 litre can; 20 litre can; 205 litre barrel
Shelf Life	12 months

Line Marking Paint, as the name suggests, is a specially formulated paint usually for marking out and demarcation lines on flooring although it can and sometimes is also reused for pipe marking and other forms of marking. The chief characteristics of line marking paint are high opacity and fast return to service. There are a huge range of types of line marking paint available, everything from water-based line marking used for sports fields and tracks to carparks (which are generally solvent based or hot applied) to aerosol line markings for marking out temporary marking on asphalt or similar to line up building or construction work. Surprisingly there are even “blackout” line marking paints formulated for no bleed through to cover up previous marked lines prior to remarking with new lines. These are particularly common at venues with changing use like sports grounds and halls and car parks. 

Line Marking Paint is a specifically formulated to achieve in a single pass a line of the specified colour and or texture in a single pass and return to service quickly. Historically Lien Marking Paint was hot applied and the white and yellow road marking paints are a common sight and often still applied using this old technology. However, modern Line Marking Paint is now often developed using what are known as thermoplastic acrylics or thermoplastic non-convertible coatings (for easier remarking) and the formulator has a wide range of technology to draw on depending on the end application and life expectancy. For solvent borne coatings as well as thermoplastic acrylics for more chemicals resistance or overcoatability hydrocarbon resins, chlorinated or acrylated rubbers can be used. Whilst for water based applications sometimes it is preferable to have a degradable coating (for example if marking out grass for a tennis court or football pitch) or  high wearing high MMA coating chosen for its relatively high glass transition temperature (Tg) to stop it wearing off too quickly and to enable nonslip properties to be incorporated. 

Good quality Line Marking Paint finish paints all have one thing in common, high opacity.  This essential feature is dependent to a large extent on the choice and quality of the pigmentation used and titanium dioxide is the pigment of choice for most wearing white lines whereas for degradable coatings for grass for example usually have a higher loading natural pigmentation usually in the form of a calcined clay or calcium carbonate “treated” to scatter more light and so to appear whiter. White is by far the most popular colour for line marking although a limited range of colours are often offered to enable other markings to be shown (red yellow are  popular although due to the EU regulation of hazardous chemicals known as REACH these can be prohibitively expensive now as the principal pigment used in the yellows has been withdrawn across most of Europe due to the lead and chromium requiring special testing of those workers producing the paint and the alternatives frequently are lower opacity so require higher pigment loading and hence much higher cost. Typically, a lead-free version of a yellow pigment can cost anything from 5 to10 times the price of the traditional yellow pigments used in the past for our “double yellow lines”. These lead chromate derivatives now generally replaced by these more expensive but safer bismuth vanadate. However, there is still a demand requirement for the older technology lead chromates despite pressure from the EU to remove them under what is known as a “sunset date” by which they have to be replaced.

The choice of resin system is much wider and depends to a large extent on the formulator and his experience with the specific end application. Good formulators generally know their systems well and Line Marking Paint failures are rare once applied in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and technical data sheet. 

In conclusion, be very clear on the end use of your Line Marking Paint when asking your supplier, the right Line Marking Paint for your specific job or jobs may require more than one Line Marking Paint to give you the effect you require and it is usually false economy to try and use the wrong type of Line Marking Paint a little like trying to join two pieces of wood with a screw and a hammer-yes you can do it but may not be happy with the result so always be clear on the objective to get the right product for the right job – for example a solvent based thermoplastic acrylic makes great durable white line marking paint…. But if it is for the grass on your tennis court it is the wrong product.