Poor Gloss Retention

Deterioration of the paint film, resulting in excessive, or rapid loss of lustre of the top coat.

Possible Cause

• Use of an interior paint outdoors.
• Use of a lower quality paint.

Solution

Direct sunshine can degrade the binder and pigment of the paint, causing it to chalk and lose its gloss. While all types of paint will lose some degree of lustre over time, lower quality paints will generally lower lose gloss much earlier than better grades. The binder in top quality acrylic latex paint is especially resistant to UV radiation, while solvent-based binders actually absorb the radiation, causing the binders to break down. Surface preparation for coating showing poor loss retention should be similar to that used in chalking surfaces (see Chalking).

Images courtesy of the Paint Quality Institute from Dow Coating Materials