Alkyd paints

Alkyd

— paint and varnish materials based on alkyd resins. Theoretically, such resins can be part of regular paints (see "Type"), which is why the term "alkyd paint" is sometimes used. However, such paints are made based on linseed oil, and it is more correct to classify them as oil-based. Most alkyd compositions are enamels (or "2 in 1" primers, see "Type" for both).

The alkyd base allows for high resistance of the coating to atmospheric influences, sunlight, temperature fluctuations (within quite wide limits), as well as various chemicals, including detergents. Thanks to this, such compositions are widely used for both interior and exterior work, and they are considered very high-quality and versatile. However, the actual properties strongly depend on the specific brand of enamel.

It should be noted that there are two main types of alkyd bases — pentaphthalic and glyptal. The first type is quite popular and well-known, which is why it is sometimes singled out into a separate group; see the relevant section for more details. As for glyptal compositions, they do not harden as quickly under cold drying conditions, but they dry much faster overall — in some "fast" enamels on this basis, the drying time can be only 6 hours.

It is also worth mentioning that for all types of alkyd enamels, the term "oil-phthalic" may also be used. This is done purely for marketing reasons; essentially, these are just two names for one type of binding base. See the relevant section for more details.