The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-09-28
A DANGEROUS PRACTICE,
Burning of Paint Makes Insurance
Void.

1t seems that considerable danger To
property exists in the practice of
burning on old paint before re-paint.
ing. The question has long been a
subject of debate in the technical
journals, and now householders and
the newspapers have begun to discuss
it. Those of us who, with trembling
have watched the painters blow a
merry blast from their lamps against
our houses, and have looked sadly ar
the size of our painting bill becanse
OF the time wasted on this prelimin.
airy work, are interested in the in.
~Vestigatlon by the Greenfield (MassO
Gazette and Courier, which gives con.
siderable space to the reasons for the
practice, questions its necessity and
suggests ways to prevent the risk of
burning down ones house in order to
get the old paint off. 1t SAYS:
Ihere Is a good deal of discussion
among h~ouseholders as to he desir.
ability, in painting houses, of burning
on the old paint, a practice that has
grown very common of late in Green.
field and elsewhere. Insurance men
are strongly opposed to this method
1t makes void insurance policies for
fires caused in this amer Severa,
houses in Greenfield have gotten afire
as the result of this method. and in
some places houses have burned as a
result.
1T is undoubtedly true that when
a house has been painted over and
over again there comes to be an Q
cumulation of paint in punches If
new paint is put on top of these sc.
foundations it is almost sure to His.
ter. To burn it off is the ouicke ct
and cheapest and perhaps the sure,st
method OF getting rid of this old
paint"
The Gazette and Courier quotes Ger.
tain Did patrons to the effect that ar.
cumulatlons of paint are unnecessary,
lhese old-timers lay the blame partly
on the painter who fails to brush his
paint in well, partly on the custom of
painting in damp weather or not allow.
ing sufficient time for driving het waen
coats, and partly to the use of adulter.
ated paints instead of old.fashioned
hnseed Oil and pure white lead. The
paper says:
Many of the old householders sav
that if care is taken at all these MONTE
1t is absolutely Unnecessary to have
paint burned off. They advise that
people who have houses painted should
Duy their own materials, and TO have
mem put on by the day, so as to he
sure to get good lead and oil. OF
course the burning off of paint greatly
increases the cost of the JOB"
h trouble householders everywhere
nave with paint is pretty well summed
up by our contemporary, and the
causes are about the same everywhere.
by far the most frequent u of the
necessity for the dangerous practice
OF burning old paint is the use of moor
material. The oil should be pure lin.
seed and the white lead should be real
white lead. The latter is more often
tempered with than the oil. Earthv
substances, and pulverized rock and
quartz, are frequently used as chean.
eners, to the great detriment of the
paint.
Painters rarely adulterate white
lead themselves and they very seldom
use ready prepared paints-the most
frequent causes of paint trouble, But
they do often buy adulterated white
lead because the property owner in.
sists on a low price and the painter
mas to economic somewhere. The
suggestion is therefore a good one
that the property owner investigate
the subject a little, find out the name
Oh some reliable brand of white lead.
and see that the keg is marked with
brand.
The linseed oil is more difficult to
De sure of, as it is usually sold in
bulk when the quantity is small: but
makers of linseed oil can he
learned on inquiry, and, if your dealer
IS reliable, you will get what you want,
Pure white lead and linseed oil are
so necessary to good paint that the
little trouble necessary to get them
we'll repays the house owner in dollars
and cents T"~~'