Every type of repair involves painting works. While the paint dries, it is not particularly pleasant, as it delivers a lot of inconveniences, including the unpleasant smell. And it can last many hours if the oil-based paint is selected. Though, there are several ways to make the paint dry faster. In order to shorten the drying period, use the hints from this article.
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Types of Paints
There are several types of modern paints and enamels that are appropriate for interior repair:
- Acrylic paints are made on the basis of acrylic resins. They are well smeared, have no unpleasant odor, are stable, have good covering properties. It takes 30 minutes for the fabric to dry, but it is better to give it a day.
- Vinyl paints are easy to use, give the surface a beautiful matte finish. Vinyl painted walls are prone to contamination but are easy to clean.
- Latex paints are very durable, resistant to sunlight (UV). They are more resistant to abrasion and flushing than acrylic emulsions and have excellent coating characteristics. They quickly dry, but have a specific odor; This paint dry time is 4-5 hours.
- Acrylic-latex paints. These paints are strong, elastic, but do not pass water vapor;
- Lime paints (based on slaked lime) are inexpensive paints, but today they are rarely used because it is difficult to keep surfaces painted (they are not washed away); Another minus about this paint that it a fast drying paint.
- Silicate paints. They provide a very stable and easy-to-wash coating and have a vapor permeability. These are quite expensive paint sand most often used for facade painting;
- Cement paints allow obtaining a stable coating as cement is a binder. Though, they are rarely used because of color instability;
- Oil paint provides durable and well-washable coatings. They can be matt, semi-matt and shiny. Oil paints are popular for premises of various purposes. Though, this paint takes considerable time to dry.
It is better to use emulsion (dispersion) paints for painting interior walls and ceilings. Besides, they are durable and not prone to abrasion. They are well applied to plaster, concrete, brick, plasterboard. They are not afraid of mold.
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How to Dry Paint Faster?
There are several hints for how to dry paint with improvised means:
- There is no water in the oil paint, so when it dries, it forms a film and becomes solid. The first thing to do is to ensure that enough fresh air is supplied in the room. If there is no sufficient supply of natural air, open the window and leave like this for a while. The ideal option would be to create a draught.
- The temperature acts as a catalyst for the oxidation process. If you put a heat source in the room, the paint dries faster. The industry uses a heat gun to dry paint. If you apply the dye in cold weather, it will start to thicken. So it will be difficult to apply it with a flat or thin layer. Therefore, warm the room before painting it.
- The drying time of the paints directly depends on the layer thickness. The smaller is the layer, the faster it dries. Opt for a spray gun rather than a brush or roller.
How long does it take for paint to dry?
If you apply a thin layer for outside painting, then the paint will harden in a few hours in warm weather.
And indoors, the thin paint layer will take about a day to dry out.
- You can also heat a thick layer using an infrared heater for this purpose. Infrared rays pass through the formed film and evenly warm the inner and upper layers.
- Humidity can accelerate or reduce the polymerization process.
Thus, low humidity speeds it up, so remove the sources that increase indoor humidity. If you need to dry small objects, you can place them closer to a heat source, such as near a battery or stove.
However, very high temperatures should be avoided. After being heavily heated, the paint cracks and all the work can be wasted.
Well, how long does it take for paint to dry? Paint takes to dry up to 4-24 hours at 60 °F. Oil-based paint dries up to 6–8 hours at 60 °F, and the next layer in 24 hours. Latex paint dries up to 1-hour at 60 °F at a room temperature and ready to recoat in 4 hours. See the instructions on the paint package for correct use.
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How to Make Acrylic Paint Dry Faster?
This paint belongs to the group of quick-drying paints. Usually, such paints dry within half an hour. However, complete drying occurs within one-day time. A typical question is when the second coat of paint can be applied. Experts recommend to re-paint the surface no earlier than 2 hours after the first coat is ready.
The drying duration is influenced by a variety of factors and not only on the thermal conditions but also on the ventilation of the painted room. It also depends on the density of the applied layer. If it is thin, the paint dries relatively quickly, but the thick layer will dry longer.
When dried, the acrylic paint becomes a little darker than it was originally in liquid form. How to make acrylic paint dry faster? You need to create warm temperature in the premises and good ventilation.
Making Oil Paint Dry Faster
These paints are prepared from the oils of vegetable origin. They take up to 40 hours to dry. How to dry paint faster? It is recommended to buy a special catalyst. It is added to the paint and stirred. Thanks to it the time of complete drying of paint is considerably reduced. It is also advisable to pre-heat the room. When applying paint on a cold surface, it quickly folds, thickens, and it becomes very difficult to apply it evenly.
In order for the oil paint to dry faster, try to apply a very thin layer of the paint. If after drying the surface shines through, it is necessary to apply the second layer of paint, but not earlier than a day after the first layer.
When dealing with oil based paints, you need to take into consideration that oil based finishes dry a bit different in comparison to the water based ones. In fact, humidity does not affect how your oil based paint dries!
Oil dries much slower than water based finishes which you are surely aware of. Most oil based finishes can take 2 – 24 hours to dry while water based finishes typically take from 30 minutes to two hours depending on humidity levels.
The level of solvents vs solids in oil based paints directly affect dry times as well. Solvents (such as mineral spirits, for example) must evaporate, then the oil must oxidize with oxygen and harden. So the more solvents, the faster the dry time because there is less oil to oxidize.
So the only way for you as a painter to speed up the drying time on oil based finishes is to increase the heat in the room. Heat helps speed up the oxidation process which is what is actually happening when oil paints harden.
In addition, you can use a few methods that will work for both water based and oil based paints:
- Paint in thin layers. Several thin coats of paint will allow it to dry faster and will give the surface a better look than one thick coat.
- Paint one wall at a time. If you focus on painting one wall at a time, then you give the other walls time to dry. You might find that by the time you’ve painted the last wall the first is dry and ready for a second coat.
Like that, you will be able to speed up the drying time of your paint pretty much.
How to Make Puffy Paint Dry Fast?
This type of paint is very popular for kid’s rooms. It allows you to create three-dimensional decorations on the walls and canvases. There are small hints to speed up puffy paint dry time:
- Leave the painted objects in the direct sunlight or leave them near the open air;
- Use a hairdryer at a moderate temperature, but try not to keep it very close to the surface;
- Place a puffy painted object in a linen closet for a few hours.
The main task is to help moisture evaporate from puffy paint as quickly as it is possible.
And how to make puffy paint dry faster? TTaking away moisture will help puffy paint dry faster. Puffy paint dries up to 4-12 hours at 65 ° F. Use Puffy paint in a room with constant airflow. Puffy paint dries faster by the sun, use the sunny side of your work area or a hairdryer on the lowest setting
How to Make Water Based Paint Dry Faster
If you are working with water based paints, you can use one of the following methods for speeding up their drying time safely so that you don’t damage the freshly painted coat.
- Use your furnace/AC unit.
If you live in a warm but humid environment, then turning on your CA unit will actually help speed up the drying process quite significantly. Air conditioners actually suck heat and humidity from a room and replace it with cool dry air. Cold air may not seem like it would help dry paint, it is better to have a cool dry room than a humid warm room when trying to get paint to dry quickly.
- Turn the dehumidifier on.
To make water based paint dry faster, turning on a dehumidifier is one of the absolute best things you can do. Dehumidifiers pull moisture out of the air and to an extent, help circulate air in a room. This is easily one of the best things you can do to make latex paint dry faster.
- Turn on a fan.
Turning on a fan will help you to speed up the paint drying process, but not that much as you might hope. But if you are painting only one room, the humidity in it can be pretty high. By placing a fan in the doorway (pointing in either direction) you will suck in dryer air from other rooms and help to remove the moist air from the room you are painting. Fans also help by circulating dry and moist air within the same room.
Painting walls or other surfaces takes pretty much time not only because the work has to be done properly and carefully to make the painted surface look nice. The time that paint takes to dry also matters.
Check out the most frequent questions regarding the paint-drying issue if you want to spend less time on it.
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