Effect paint

#The present invention relates to a method of painting a substrate, in particular a wall, with an emulsion paint having a special visual and/or tactile effect, such as a textile, velvety or soft-feel effect. The present invention also relates to a paint system to be used in such a method, and to substrates painted using said method.

#A textile or a soft-feel effect of a paint film is generally obtained by using polyurethane particles as a filler. U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,670 discloses a coating composition with spherical particles of polyurethane. British patent application GB-A 1 111 233 discloses a velvet-effect paint comprising spherical polyurethane particles. In EP-A 0 352 804 a textile effect is obtained by using a paint with vinyl chloride particles.

#Larger particles, e.g. of about 90 microns or larger, generally result in a cloudy effect, visually comparable to suede. However, the use of such particles results in a relatively rough feel. Smaller particles, on the other hand, give a soft feel but only a very limited visual textile or suede effect. Hence, a tactile effect requires a small particle size, while at the same time a visual effect is obtained only by using larger particles.

#A primer was used based on an aqueous emulsion of a styrene acrylate binder (Hydropliolite®, available from Eliokem) and comprising inorganic pigments, such as titanium dioxide, talc, calcium carbonate or mica pigments.

#Two layers of the primer were applied using a medium hair roller. The layers were dried for 12 hours and were completely hiding.

#Subsequently, a paint based on an aqueous emulsion of a styrene acrylate copolymer (11% solids) was applied as a semi-opaque layer. The paint comprised 18% by weight of spherical aliphatic polyurethane particles which were pre-pigmented with titanium dioxide (13.5% by weight based on the total weight of the polyurethane particles). These particles are available under the brand name Decol® 40.