It's a commonly used phrase to express just how boring something is. Surprisingly the drying of paint isn't boring at all, in fact it is a very complex procedure.

At a simple level, if the surface of the paint dried first, then the underneath could take weeks to dry, if at all. The solvent would not be able to get out through the surface film that had formed.
So what’s going on?

Solvent based paint formulations can contain primary driers, through driers and auxiliary driers, each with their own special job to do.
Zirconium is one of a small group of metals used to make through driers.

Through driers hold open the surface of the paint film allowing oxygen to penetrate in and solvent to escape out.

The best performing through drier was based on lead but an alternative had to be found because of its toxic nature. Zirconium was the first successful alternative and is now used in almost all countries.

Find out more about our reactive grade Zirconium Basic Carbonate (ZBC)  for use in paint driers.