Sharp County record., 1906-10-12
A DANGEROUS PRACTICE.
Burning of Paint Makes Insurance
Void.

It seems that considerable danger to
property exists in the practice of
burning off old paint before re-paint-
ing The question has long been
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
fiery blast from their lamps against
our houses, and have looked sadly at
the size of our painting bill because
of the time wasted on this prelimin-
ary work, are interested in the in
vestigation by the Greenfield (Mass.)
Gazette and Courier, which gives con-
siderable space to the reasons for the
practice, questions it's necessity and
suggests ways to prevent the risk of
burning down ones h)use in order to
get the old paint off. It says:
There is good deal of discussion
among householders as to the desir
ability, in painting houses, of burning
off 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 manner. Several
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 ac-
emulation of paint in punches. If
new paint is put on top of these ac-
cumulations it is almost sure to bills.
ter. To burn it off is the quickest
and cheapest and perhaps the surest
method of getting rid of this old
paint"
The Gazette and Courier quotes GER
tain old patrons to the effect that ac-
cumulations of paint are unnecessary
These 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 tine for drying between
coats, and partly to the use Of adulter-
ated paints instead of old-fashioned
linseed oil and pure white lead. The
paper says:
MANY of the old householders say
that if care is taken at all these points
it is absolutely unnecessary to have
paint burned Off They advise that
people who have houses painted should
buy their own materials, and to have
them put on by the day, SO as to be
sure to get good lead and oil. OF
course the burning off of paint greatly
increases the cost of the job"
The trouble householders everywhere
have with paint is pretty we'll summed
up by our contemporary, and the
causes are about the same everywhere.
By far the most frequent cause of the
necessity for the dangerous practice
of burning old paint is the use of poor
material. The oil should be pure lin
seed and the white lead should be real
white lead. The latter is more often
tampered with than the oil. Earthly
substances, and pulverized rock and
quartz, are frequently used as cheap
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 low price and the painter
has to economize somewhere. The
suggestion is therefore a good one
that the property owner investigate
the subject a little, find out the name
of some reliable brand of white lead
and see that the keg is marked with
that brand
The linseed oil is more difficult to
be sure of, as it is usually sold in
bulk when the quantity is small; but
reliable makers of linseed oil can be
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
well repays the house owner in dollars
and cents saved.
II.;sno EIantion Cru