How to achieve a matted paint surface?

Pumice flour has been used in the past to brush the dry paint film surface in one direction. The small scratches attained during this process created the fine, noble looking matted surface. Nowadays there is a wide range of objects produced with matted surfaces. Although some are complicated in construction, they are quickly manufactured. Additives based on silicas, waxes, organic materials and even fillers are added to the paint, to form a micro-rough surface after the drying process.

Figure 1 : Matted Coating Formation

After applying a solvent-based paint the solvent immediately starts to evaporate, the viscosity increases, and the print hardens up until the final dry, hard and elastic paint film. The evaporation of solvents causes the matting additives to be distributed throughout the whole film, making the paint film thinner. This shrinkage is the main reason for creating a micro rough surface, or, in other words, a matted paint film.

The pictures explain why paints with high VOC content are easier to matt as systems with high solid contents. We can state: the higher the resin solid content of paints, the more difficult it is to produce matted surfaces. UV or EBN systems show nearly no shrinkage, this is the reason why such systems are so difficult to matt.

Figure 2 : Microtom cut of a paint film with matting agent