With the help of varnishes, you can create a reliable protection for wooden coatings, and they also give the products an attractive and very colorful look. They contain many different substances that protect the surface from the negative effects of acids and alkalis. They also prevent mold and fungi from developing on wooden surfaces.
Varnishes are widely used for various surfaces, but most often they cover wooden surfaces.
Today, one of the most popular and affordable mixtures is alkyd varnish. The product is high performance and great for wood.
What is this?
Alkyd-based varnishes are solutions of various synthetic alkyd resins in solvents of organic origin. Features include excellent adhesion and high water resistance.
After drying, these products provide a durable, transparent and incredibly hard coating. It is believed that alkyd varnish dries for a long time. However, modern products, which usespecial additives, the complete drying time has been significantly reduced.
Features
After the final curing, alkyd mixtures turn into a glossy finish.
The material, which is covered with a layer of such varnish, will be reliably protected from absolutely any irritants. The operation of alkyd mixtures is very simple - alkyd-based varnish is quite thick, spreads well over the surface and creates a dense film. The film can be matte or glossy.
Often, these compositions are most often used for finishing wood products. It can be pine, spruce, oak. Also often these compounds cover the floors. Most of those who buy them use them on wood floors or parquet.
Composition
The product must contain alkyd resin as a base. It is extracted most often from natural materials - flax oil or wood. The second most important component is organic solvents. You can also find various fatty acids in the composition.
When alkyd wood varnish is absorbed into the porous structure, these solvents increase the penetrating power. The product is absorbed deep enough and can successfully emphasize the beauty of wood.
Due to these features, alkyd compounds are widely used in interior and exterior decorating. Parquet varnishes allow you to change the appearance of floors almost beyond recognition. With the help of such mixtures, it is possible to obtain deeper colors of allshades, thus emphasizing the special parquet texture.
Characteristics of alkyd formulations
These compounds have no competitors in resistance to sudden temperature changes.
Also, such a tree is not affected by changes in humidity levels. The coating based on these varnishes is not afraid of various vibration loads.
The substance completely lacks the adhesive properties inherent in other paint and varnish products. After the mixture is applied, the product will begin to soak into the wood, and not into the cracks in the floor. This property allows you to forget about the squeaks of floorboards and various noises - water-soluble varnishes suffer from this.
Suitable surfaces
Any alkyd varnish is suitable for end parquet. You can also safely use such products for underfloor heating, floating floors, any wood products and floors. There is no better product for parquet, which is made from capricious rocks that instantly react to any change in climate.
Flaws
Speaking of the advantages, do not forget about the disadvantages that alkyd varnish has. Reviews of the minuses are mainly due to the long drying process. On average, it takes more than a day. That is why immediately after applying the layer you need to open the windows. Reviews say it will speed up the process considerably.
Another disadvantage is wrinkling if the master applied too thick a layer during the application.
Perfect coverage will be obtained if 1m2 no more than 120 g of product will be used.
As for wear resistance, it is not high for wooden coatings. In addition, the service life of the coating based on alkyd varnish is only 2-3 years. Therefore, most often it is used not for the floor, but for working on furniture or walls.
Latest production technology
Urethane-alkyd varnish has become very popular in the entire world market of paints and varnishes. This is a modified composition, which has a higher performance. The manufacturing technology is based on the synthesis of uralkyds. During the synthesis, the components are bound by special polyurethanes.
The effect of this modification is very high. Thanks to polyurethanes, the drying time has been significantly reduced.
Now it is 12 hours. The price of these products practically does not differ from the cost of the most common alkyd analogues.
Alkyd varnish matt
Such compositions are divided into matte and glossy, although the division is rather arbitrary. The matte mixture gives a non-shiny surface. It is less dirty, no dust is visible on it. The choice of a particular model is only a matter of taste. In terms of chemical composition and characteristics, this product is no different from gloss.
Popular brands
One of the very first alkyd-based compounds produced in Russia is PF-231 alkyd varnish. This product works great on all types of surfaces. The film of this tool has a fairly neat appearance. In thatthe main advantage of this brand. But this product also has disadvantages. This is not a hard enough coating, which simply physically cannot last more than 2-3 years on wooden floors. On any other surfaces, the shelf life of the coating is much longer.
МЧ-0163 is a two-component composition based on parquet varnish and a special acid hardener. If we compare this tool with PF-231, then there are much better characteristics. Among the features and benefits - higher resistance to moisture, resistance to abrasive effects. Among the disadvantages is weak exposure to direct sunlight, as a result of which the surface darkens. Also, the film does not have sufficient elasticity. The smell is very strong.
EP-2146 is a one-component alkyd varnish with higher characteristics than other brands. Epoxy resin acts as a modifying component here. This brand is distinguished by high characteristics of hardness, moisture resistance, resistance to abrasive action. Among the possible areas of application is parquet alkyd varnish. It can also be used to finish various wood materials.
Action of alkyd varnishes
In order to obtain the highest quality surface, it is necessary to apply the composition in several layers. More often - in 2-3. Moreover, each layer is laid only after the previous one has completely dried. Consumption in this case should be approximately 75 grams per 1 m2. The use of such coating products in a higher volume will not give surface quality.– reduced strength and hardening time.
White spirit is used as a solvent for these varnishes. After the composition is applied to the surface, the solvent will immediately begin to evaporate. When all white spirit has evaporated, polymerization processes are activated. This reaction occurs through the nature of chemical bonds in resin molecules.
At first, the consistency of the film will resemble something like glue.
Then, after 9-12 hours at room temperature and humidity, the surface will begin to harden. The thickness may decrease slightly during the curing process. It depends on how much of the solvent has evaporated. Each varnish may not contain the same amount of solvent. Products with a lower content of white spirit have low toxicity.
How to choose
It is important to clearly define how the room where the varnish will be applied will be used in the future.
Provided that the varnish is applied to the floor, it is important how many people will be constantly in the room. For heavy loads, it is better not to choose alkyd varnishes, but to purchase something water-based.
Alkyd compounds are best suited for those surfaces that will not be subjected to abrasive and mechanical stress. Then the surface can last much longer. These products are not suitable for floors in the kitchen and corridor.
