S&W ProClassic? Wich one?

[Rich Engelhardt]

I need some S&W trim paint in a specific S&W color.

It's for a bannister that gets a lot of wear.
The whole rest of the house is done w/that specific color and I need to stick with it.
I've never used the ProClassic before, but, since it's mentioned here quite often, I'm going to give it a try.

S&W has two different ones listed that are both Acrylic.
They list:
- Acrylic Latex
- Acrylic Alkyd

Which of the two is it that is the better?
My gut feeling is that it's the Acrylic Alkyd.

[Jim Becker]

The one labeled "Acrylic Latex" is the one I'd use. It's 100% acrylic and a pleasure to use. Do note that it's not "latex" and I don't understand why they labeled it as such, outside of perhaps trying to convey that it's a water borne product. The "Acrylic Alkyd" is an oil-based paint. Nice, but harder cleanup. Do note that unless something has changed, you cannot get the product in a darker tint. If that is you need, the Benjamin Moore equivalent product can be had in dark tints.

[Matt Meiser]

I used the water based one on a bookshelf for my mom in a fairly dark color. Kind of a blue-grey. Its really nice to work with and the books she's loaded on there didn't stick at all like they would have with latex.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Both the Acrylic Latex and the Acrylic Alkyd are waterbased products. This is why I'm confused.

[Matt Meiser]

Hmm...they might have made some changes since I used it then. I remember it being "100% acrylic" but unfortunately I don't have the can here. I'm thinking the Alkyd version is the newer one. The latex version talks about the lack of brush marks and non-stick features that I remember.

[Jim Becker]

Both the Acrylic Latex and the Acrylic Alkyd are waterbased products. This is why I'm confused.
Strange. I wonder if they did away with the oil based product and brought out an emulsified alkyd as a new water borne. I don't buy this stuff very often...only use it for trim in the house.
------
Matt, if I recall, when you read the fine print on the container, it says "100% acrylic", despite the bigger print on the label having that "Latex" word featured.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Strange. I wonder if they did away with the oil based product and brought out an emulsified alkyd as a new water borne
VOC regulations would be my hunch.
W/the exception of Rustoleum, there's no more oil based available in my area.

[John TenEyck]

The one labeled "Acrylic Latex" is the one I'd use. It's 100% acrylic and a pleasure to use. Do note that it's not "latex" and I don't understand why they labeled it as such, outside of perhaps trying to convey that it's a water borne product. The "Acrylic Alkyd" is an oil-based paint. Nice, but harder cleanup. Do note that unless something has changed, you cannot get the product in a darker tint. If that is you need, the Benjamin Moore equivalent product can be had in dark tints.

But it is latex. Waterborne = latex = waterborne, etc. If you look up the definition of latex, you will find that it is nothing more than an emulsion polymer. If you on SW's website in their definition of terms you will find much the same thing, such as under waterborne emulsion varnish, IIRC. Both latex wall paint and WB acrylic paint are emulsion polymers; therefore, they are latex paints. The difference between the two is that most latex wall paints use ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) as the polymer while WB acrlyic paints use, well, acrylic polymers. Both these families can be formulated with a wide variety of properties, from very hard to very soft. Further, wall paint is almost always formulated to be highly thixotropic (shear thinning) to resist runs and spatters, while WB acrylics often are much thinner (SW ProClassic, however, is very thick) depending upon the target application. The poor results many people experience when using latex wall paint for furniture applications, like poor scuff resistance and the tendency for objects left sitting on it to stick (block, as in form a block) is because the EVA polymer(s) used for wall paint are relatively soft, but perfectly acceptable their target application. Conversely, the acylic polymer(s) chosen for WB trim paint are relatively hard, making it a much better choice for furniture applications. But at the end of the day, while their properties are very different, they are both still latex paints.

John

John