Pearl Clear Coat Trials

[GbrNole]

i know that the folkart pearlizing medium is more of a suspension liquid that contains the pearl flakes whereas the folkart metallic white pearl truly is an off white paint (gold/red cast to it) that has pearl flakes.

tiddler mentioned another pearlizing medium, liquitex it think it was? not sure, but i also did note that when he used decoart pearlizing medium that it added a red cast to the image.

if i did something with pearl it would be strictly experimental anyway because there really should be no need for it with a gray lighter than N8.

[Tiddler]

GbrNole wrote:

i know that the folkart pearlizing medium is more of a suspension liquid that contains the pearl flakes whereas the folkart metallic white pearl truly is an off white paint (gold/red cast to it) that has pearl flakes.

tiddler mentioned another pearlizing medium, liquitex it think it was? not sure, but i also did note that when he used decoart pearlizing medium that it added a red cast to the image.

if i did something with pearl it would be strictly experimental anyway because there really should be no need for it with a gray lighter than N8.

I did play with the Liquitex and it looked a lot like the Folkart Pearlizing Medium. I just did not see the point in spending the extra money for it. There are also many sources of pearl powders that can be added to a clear matte top coat.

Behr matte poly #780 is not the only option either. Lowes has American Traditions Clear Acrylic protector in a matte finish and Pratt & Lambert has a dull finish clear polyurethane also.

There are folks over at LumenLab that have benefited greatly by applying a Folkart Pearlizing Clear Coat Over an untinted UPW base. Here are some comments from one of them:

cool 1 wrote:

IT"S AWESOME!!!! The picture has brightened up alot the colors have have become more vibrant the image is also alot sharper (crisp) this is what all diy builders in my current setup need!

Of course we have more than 200 lumens to work with using commercial projectors.

[GbrNole]

with the laura ashley winter wind color that i have up on the wall right now i absolutely don't need the pearl top coat and i'd venture to guess the same will be the result when i try the dunn edwards porpoise.

pearl was merely an option that i though might be able to be added directly to the paint and mixed thoroughly for the lower lumen crowd and tiddler's trials certainly have helped them immensely.

[Tiddler]

CAUTION! This topcoat is not recommended!

It has come to my attention that the polyurethane and pearl clear coats introduce less than acceptable color shifting. In addition the EasyFlex tints are not neutral.

Here is a spectral curve of a pearlizing medium topcoat applied over True Value Winter Mountain:



Here is the before topcoat curve:



Anyone who uses these solutions should only do so knowing that the tints and clear coats have not been properly tested and are expected to be outside acceptable tolerance of neutral.

The clear coats should not be used over any other bases since the color balance will be adversely effected.