Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1906-06-07
BUYING PAINT.

Springtime-after the weather has
become well settled-is painting
time. There is no dust flying, no in
sects are in the air at that time ready
to commit suicide by suffocation in
the coat of fresh paint. The atmos-
pheric conditions are also favorable
at that season for proper drying and
increased life of the paint.
I. should be a habit with every
property owner every spring to look
over his buildings, etc., and see if
they need repainting; not merely to
see if they will go another year."
but whether the time has not come
for putting in the proverbial stitch
In time" which shall eventually save
nine" For one coat of paint applied
just little before it is actually need
ed will often save most of the paint
on the building by preventing it from
letting go and causing endless trou-
BILE and expense.
Paint lets go because linseed oil,
which is the cement" that holds all
good paint together. gradually decays
or oxidiZes, just as iron exposed to
air and dampness will slowly decay
or oxidize. The water and oxygen in
the air are the cause of the trouble
in both cases, and the only reason,
outside of its beautifying effect, that
we apply paint to wood or ircn is be-
cause we want to keep water and
air away from them. Live paint,
that is paint in which the linseed oil
ic cfil Oi1xy OF
ly; but dead paint, that is paint in
which the oil is no longer oily, is no
more impervious to air and water
than single thickness of cheese
cloth would be. If then we apply a
fresh coat OF oily paint before the
old paint is dead, the oil from the
new coat will penetrate the old coat,
and the whole coating will once more
become alive; and this method of rem
ovation may go on Indefinitely.
This explains why it is better econ
omy to repaint a little before it be-
comes absolutely necessary than a
little after. When the paint is once
dead the fresh coat will pull the
whole coating off.
In the days when repainting meant
a general turning of things upside
down, two-weeks' "cluttering up"
of the place with kegs, cans and
pals, lot of inf1ammable and ILL
smelling materials standing around,
ETC., the dread of painting time was
natural. So was the dread of SOAP
making time, of shirt-making time, of
candle-moulding time and the like.
But we live in an age when soap
comes from the store better and
cheaper than we can make it, wnen
shirts are sold ready made for less
than we can buy the materials, when
we can burn coal oil or gas cheaper
than we can make tallow candles
and when all we have to do when we
want to repaint is to pick out our
colors from the card at the store and
pay the painter for putting on the
paint.
When it comes to picking out the
paint it is not necessary that one
should be a paint chemist, any more
than one should be an oil chemist
when buying kerosene, or a depart
ment store buyer when selecting
shirts, or a soap chemist when buy
ing soap. All that is necessary to
insure a fair show is some knowl-
edge of the character of our paint
dealer and the reputation and stand
ing of the maker of the paint offered
Nor must one expect to buy a pure
linseed oil paint for the price of lin
seed oil alone. 1t can be taken for
granted when anyone offers to sell
dollar bills at a discount, he is bait
ing hook for suckers So it can
be taken for granted when anyone
whether mail order house, paint
manufacturer or dealer-offers paint
too cheap, he is bidding for the trade
OF suckers" no matter what his
promises.
But paints sold in responsible
stores under the brands of reputable
manufacturers are all good products,
differing from one another in the less
important matter of the solid pig
ments contained, but practically alike
in having their liquid portions COM
posed essentially of pure linseed oil.
The competition of the better class
of paints has driven inferior goods
practically out of the market, and
no manufacturer of standing now
puts out a poor paint, under his own
name at least.
AS to guarantees on paint, they
can be taken for what they are worth.
Any reputable manufacturer will
make good any defect actually trace
able to the paint itself. and not to i'm
proper use or treatment of it. The
really important guarantee which the
paint buyer should exact from his
dealer is that the paint is made by
manufacturer that knows his bust
ness and that the paint itself has
record. If he secures this guarantee
he can afford to chance the rest of
1.-THE paint will undoubtedly give
good service if properly applied &C.
cording to directions.