It’s always natural for a painter to seek ways to enhance their paint. Soy lecithin is an excellent addition to your paint. Lecithin benefits paint differently, but you still need to invest in quality lecithin to get the best results. Just like lecithin for confectionaries, lecithin for paint should be sourced from a reputable manufacturer.
Lecithin For Paint Explained
Lecithin is a fat product that is found in food products such as soy. Most food products produce lecithin to mix oil and water or act as an agent in making the products creamier. In addition, lecithin is broken down and converted to act as an emulsifier.
An emulsifier is a product that reduces the tension of water in oil droplets and allows the suspension of one liquid on another. This ability to suspend one liquid within another is crucial in many manufacturing processes, including the production of durable paints. In this process, lecithin is combined with pigments, binders, and other additives using a durable paint mixer to ensure everything is blended evenly. This thorough mixing can not only improve the paint’s texture and smoothness but also help it stick better to surfaces, making the paint stronger and longer-lasting.
Unfortunately, lecithin has its controversies that limit many people from engaging the product. The common one is that it is a health hazard; however, there is no evidence of such claims. On the contrary, the evidence that exists shows that lecithin is good for our health. But let’s focus on how lecithin benefits the paint industry.
7 Benefits of Lecithin
Lecithin has so many benefits that outdo the hearsay controversies. So let’s delve deeper to understand how beneficial lecithin is in making paint.
1. Aids in Emulsification
Lecithin is a unique product in which its properties give it a unique surface that can handle emulsification. A product that undergoes emulsion cannot mix, such as water and oil, and they tend to separate when together.
An emulsifying agent such as soy lecithin tends to disperse the immiscible product into another by mixing them. An emulsification agent comprises a hydrophobic portion that contains acid and a hydrophilic portion that can be either charged or uncharged.
The process occurs in two phases: the hydrophobic portion acts on the oil, and the hydrophilic acts on water, forming tiny droplets, thus forming a stabilized oil-water emulsion.
The emulsification process in paint ensures that the products are soluble in the product. As a result, the paint is uniform and refined, with no insoluble compounds. At the same time, the addition of other products improves the volume of the product and its shelf life.
Soy Lecithin in paint also ensures that air bubbles do not form when mixing the products. The basic concept of using an emulsifier is providing the result is consistent with its creamy nature.
Using lecithin can alter the mixing times by decreasing the time and improving the paint results when the ingredients are combined. During mixing the elements, whether water or oil, the manufacturer should incorporate lecithin in oil first.
2. It Is a Stabilizing agent.
After Soy Lecithin has emulsified the product and is blended, it then stabilizes the ingredients.
Stabilizing in paint involves increasing the viscosity and thickness of paint to ensure that the emulsified products are stable together and the air bubbles cannot escape.
At the same time, since these products are fatty acids and contain polysaccharides, the molecules can hold water in large quantities to prevent the growth of other components, thus stabilizing the product.
3. It Is an Antioxidant
An antioxidant is a product that protects a product against oxidation, thus preventing occurrences such as rusting. Lecithin in the paint can act as an antioxidant, but all these depend on the concentration of soy lecithin in the paint.
The higher the concentration, the better the product. Thus, in paint, it is long-lasting, and it is not easy to rust when applied to materials that rust easily.
4. Acts as a Wetting agent
Some surfaces can be rough during painting and require the paint to be wet enough to modify them. That’s where lecithin comes into action. With the agent present, it is easy to apply the coat.
Lecithin provides instant wetness to the liquid. It is used in paint to give it the ability to improve hydration and dissolution. Although it is a good wetting agent, it is not used in all products. It has different characteristics on individual products.
For instance, the lecithin must have a low HLB value in low-fat products to provide the required wetting state. The hydrophilic portion gives it the capability to dissolve easily with other products.
When including Soy Lecithin in paint, the size of the particles matter thus should always be considered. Smaller particles with a large surface area require more lecithin to work, while larger particles require less lecithin to dissolve into the aqueous system.
5. Acts as a Separation Agent
Lecithin in the paint can also be used as a separation agent. That is, it forms a barrier between the products to prevent them from adhesion forces. Like baked products, it ensures that they are easily manufactured without sticking to the machines or the mixing equipment.
When applying lecithin on the surface, it works better than when used directly in the chamber. When applying on the surface, the FCC should review compliance with the standards.
Depending on the type of lecithin used in the process, the chamber should heat to 120F to help dispersion when mixing and handling.
The use of the product helps to prevent adhesion forces in the paint manufacturing process, and at the same time, it promotes the separation from the surfaces that it comes in contact with.
Some of these surfaces include dip tanks, aerosol sprays, and air spray systems. These systems are made to spray paint to create a coat. Thus, the benefit of using Soy lecithin in paint is that it ensures that the product is completely separated from its surface.
6. Viscosity modification
For the paint to work smoothly, it needs to be dense enough. Thus, lecithin helps in controlling the viscosity in liquids and semi-liquids.
To reduce viscosity requires reducing surface tension in oils. Thus, it allows for the particles to coat. When the particles coat, they can flow better, thus improving its mixing process. The process makes it easy for paints to mix during production, creating a good product.
7. Improves Quality
Soy lecithin is a natural product extracted from plant products. Since this product is plant-based, this makes it safe for use in the environment. The safest product to use is one that is environmentally friendly.
Most companies that manufacture paint opt to use lecithin as an alternative because it is good for the environment and provides natural remedies. Thus, this has made companies look into using natural solutions as their source of ingredients.
At the same time, lecithin itself improves the quality of paint. Lecithin enhances paint quality by providing unique ingredients that ensure the paint mixes well, emulsifies, stabilizes, and suspends when required.
Soy lecithin in paint has provided many valuable benefits to both the environment and the paint itself. Using unique and quality soy lecithin in paint is very important.
Some industries rely on chemical solvents to extract lecithin from soy, but a reputable soy lecithin manufacturer is one that uses healthy processes without using chemicals. Also, they ensure that their products have consistency and increased shelf life. Therefore, it’s always best to find a good lecithin manufacturer to source your lecithin.
