The Paint and Primer Mythos

There are a lot of curious customers asking for the paint with the primer in it. The imagination of the big-box store mega-marketing machine is one of many subjects added to the vernacular of the consumers. The idea of a 1-bucket solution isn’t new, but the demand has never been higher.  Is it true that there is primer in the paint? What does that even mean? If we turn the premise on its head, would you choose to use the paint as a primer?

Let’s back up a bit and try to figure out what we’re talking about. What are primers? Why bother to use a primer at all? One would think that all you have to do is put on the finish coat. That isn’t the case. Primers are coatings that have special properties, many of which are optimized for a specific set of conditions. The keyword is “optimized”.

There are lots of different surfaces for which paints are applicable. Woods, metals, masonry, and others. Each primer has a different chemistry and reaction to the environment the primer is applied. For example, a coating comprised of finely ground minerals and binders applied at the thickness of a few sheets of paper is supposed to protect things made of these materials from water, sun, impacts and corrosion. It also has to look good doing it. To make sure the surface is protected and the paint can look as best as it can, primers are used as intermediaries between them.

Once the primer is applied to a surface, you should wait until the appropriate time to use a finish coat. We at O-Gee Paint provide custom-made cans with the right colors for the right people, Indoors or out. This is especially important, since aesthetics are everything in the painting world. So is planning and using specific colors for certain locations. You don’t want to ruin your motif, do you?

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