The Laclede blade., 1906-06-09
BUYING PAINT.

time. There Ii no dust flying. no in
sects are In the air at that time read.
to commit suicide by suffocation il
the coat OF fresh paint. The atmos
pheric conditions are also favorabl,
at that season for proper drying ant
increased life Of the paint.
1t should be a habit with ever,
property owner every spring to lool
over his buildings, etc., and see 4
they need ,repainting; not merely tc
see IL 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-
bic and expense.
Paint let's 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 it's beautifying effect, that
we apply paint to wood or iron is be-
cause we want to keep water and
air away from them. Live paint,
that is paint in which the linseed oil
is still oily, does this very effectual-
ly; but dead paint, that is paint in
which the oil is no longer oily, is no
more impervious to air and water
than a single thickness of cheese
cloth would be. If then we apply a
fresh coat or 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
lead the fresh coat will pull the
whole coating off.
In the days when repainting meant
general turning of things upside
1own, a two-weeks' "cluttering up"
of the place with kegs, cans and
pals, lot of inflammable and i'll.
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
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
han 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
;olors 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 |
han one should be an oil chemist |
when buying kerosene, or depart
nent store buyer when selecting
shirts, or soap chemist when buy
ing soap. All that is necessary to |
insure fair show is some knowI- |
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
Iinseed oil paint for the price of lin
seed oil alone. 1t can be taken for
granted when anyone offers to sell
lollar bills at discount, he is bait
ng hook for suckers" So it can
De taken for granted when anyone
whether mail order house, paint
or dealer-offers paint
90 cheap, he is bidding for the trade
II suckers" no matter what his
promises.
But paints sold in responsible
stores under the brands of reputable
are all good products,
liffering from one another in the less
important matter of the solid pig
nents contained, but practically alike
a having their liquid portions COM
osed essentially Of pure linseed oil.
he competition of the better class
f paints has driven inferior goods
Practically out of the market, and
10 manufacturer of standing now
'uts out a poor paint, under his own
ame at least.
AS to guarantees on paint, they
an be taken for what they are worth.
my reputable manufacturer will
1ake good any defect actually trace.
bic to the paint itself and not to inn
roper use or treatment sof it. The