Factors Affecting Dirt Pickup in Latex Coatings

By Alan Smith, Oliver Wagner

Latex coatings are based on thermoplastic polymer. Their tendency to pick up dirt is greatly influenced by the glass transition temperature of the polymer.

However, glass transition temperature is not the only polymer property influencing dirt pickup; hydrophobic modification has been found to be particularly beneficial in textured coatings while monomer selection and crosslinking chemistries have beneficial effects on paints and elastomeric coatings.

Good correlation has been found between water sensitivity and water vapor permeability of polymer compositions, and the dirt pickup observed in coatings formulated with them.