Spray paint is used in every part of the world, from rust prevention to making graffiti. Spray paint has made painting effortless and time-saving, providing beautiful art. However, there are different types of paint, and each paint takes a different time to dry. Moreover, the drying process for spray painting involves four steps: touch dry, thorough dry, hard dry, and surface dry. In contrast, the dryness of paint is also influenced by various factors, with one of the prominent conditions being atmospheric conditions, as humidity plays a significant role in drying the paint.
Additionally, spray paint fails to sustain its thickness when it is exposed to the atmosphere, and the drying process commences immediately. On the other hand, the material of the object has the potential to determine the dryness; wood takes about 30 minutes, while the quickest drying time is on smooth surfaces. As a result, it is dependent on their soaking potential.
Types of Paints
There are different ranges of paints, and each paint is suited to certain conditions. Furthermore, conditions such as the surface on which the paint is applied and atmospheric conditions influence the rate of dryness of the paint. The following list of paints will provide a brief overview of their dryness:
Oil Paint
Oil paint takes the longest to dry, as it takes about 8 hours.
After 8 hours, it is only ready to touch; it takes a day, which is 24 hours, to dry entirely.
Enamel Paint
Enamel paint dries significantly faster as compared to oil paint.
It takes approximately 30 minutes to dry, which allows one to touch it, although eight hours are required to dry completely.
Acrylic Paint
Acrylic is one of the quickest paints to dry, taking over 10 to 30 minutes to dry to the touch. Besides, 8 hours are needed to dry fully.
Latex Paint
Latex paint takes about 5 minutes to dry and dries completely in an hour.
Lacquer Spray Paint
Lacquer paint takes about 20–30 minutes to dry because of its quickness to dry; it is considered one of the fastest paints to dry.
Besides, lacquer paint is used to paint pieces of furniture.
Polyurethane Paint
Polyurethane takes about 2 hours to be ready to touch, and when it comes to drying completely to apply one more layer, it takes about 3 days, making it one of the slowest. Nevertheless, the paint is used for furniture, trim, and cabinets.
Epoxy Paint
To touch the paint takes about four hours. Similar to oil paint, epoxy takes about four hours to dry entirely.
On the other hand, epoxy paint is suitable for electric appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers.
What Factors Influence Spray Paint Dry Time?
The drying duration of paints is affected by innumerable factors. It is advisable to go through the guidelines before buying one for your project. Some projects are short-term, and some might be long-term; there is a piece of brief information about each condition that influences the paint's dry time below.
Atmospheric Conditions
Ambient temperature plays an integral role in drying the paint. The paint dries more quickly than expected with the high humidity of the surroundings. On the other hand, the range of humidity should be about 50%. If the humidity level hits 70%, the paint takes time to dry. However, there is a solution for each problem. With the help of a dehumidifier, the moisture in the air can be brought down considerably.
Conversely, cold weather takes too much time to dry the paint. In addition, when walls are cold, they consume plenty of paint to dry. Hence, a day with the perfect range of humidity is required to dry the paint, keeping in mind your project.
Surface Friction
Any material surface that has porous features such as bumps and indentations, although this helps the surface to sustain grip. After the paint is exposed to air, it loses its ability to maintain its viscosity; the drying process begins right away. However, the process has been significantly slowed and consumes a lot of time. Moreover, the rough surface has the trait of fluctuations in the paint, which leads to variations in the elevation of surfaces such as walls while the drying process is underway and prevents it from being uniform. Additionally, with a smoother surface, the paint dries at the same pace regardless of size because of the flush surface. Hence, the smoother the surface, the lesser time it takes to dry the paint.
On the contrary, a rough surface has the drawback of taking a long time to dry the paint. Nonetheless, applying sand to a rough surface will help boost surface friction. Thus, the time will be shorter than anticipated to dry the paint on the surface.
Stages of the Drying Process of Spray Painting
The spray paint bottle will provide instructions about the duration of dryness; most often, the first dry time is about 15 minutes.
The process of spray painting has four stages, and they are:
Surface Dry: Surface dryness gives the impression that the paint is dry, even though the first layer of paint is dry and the layer beneath it is still wet.
Touch Dry: When one touches the surface for the first time, they feel it is dry. If extra pressure is applied, one's finger will break into the layer and experience the wet paint underneath the dry layer. Besides, the ambient conditions play an essential role in touch dryness by providing a sign that the paint is drying rapidly.
Hard Dry: The paint should have dried thoroughly; if you touch or press hard, it may smear due to environmental conditions.
Thorough Dry: At this stage, the surface and all the layers underneath will be dried, and one can touch them without any smudges. As they are dried completely, they will not be impacted by changes in temperature.
Time Required for Paint to Dry on Various Surfaces
Many carpenters or other artisans avoid being aware that different surfaces have different time durations for drying. There's concise information on spray paint drying time on each surface below; let's have a look:
The Period of Dryness on Metal
Metal possesses different qualities, making it a time-consuming and challenging task. Moreover, metal is a good conductor of both heat and cold. Metals require a lengthy period for spray paint to dry while the metal is hot because metal efficiently holds heat and heat dissipation takes time.
Cold metal can hold paint significantly better than hot metal. However, if the temperature is below the freezing point, the paint freezes, which leads to cracks when one tries to apply it on the metal. The main reason for the cracks in the spray paint is because the metal has the quality of retaining energy better. Moreover, under perfect conditions, the spray paint takes about two to three hours, which makes it ready to touch. more or less than double the aforementioned drying time, allowing the surface to accept one more layer of paint.
Time Required for the Wood to Dry After Spray Painting
Whether it's furniture or sports goodies, wood is arguably the most painted object. Spray paint takes considerably longer to dry inside wood fibers, and on the surface, in case the wood has been treated but has not been fully kiln-dried. Moreover, wood has a lot of pores, so it requires a lot of paint coating as it absorbs.
When applying oil paint to wood, it takes plenty of time to dry as the paint is thick compared to other paints. However, oil paint can produce a durable finish, unlike thinner paints such as latex paint, a thinner paint that has the potential to dry faster but fails to offer a durable finish. Unfortunately, oil paint takes a longer amount of time to dry than thinner paint.
What is the Duration for the Paint to Dry on Plastic?
Plastic is mainly used in making toys and helmets, with the vivid colors of paint making them more pleasing. With very little surface friction, the drying duration of plastic is increased even if one applies aerosol paint or primer to the plastic.
However, plastic has a lovely sheen once it is dried. It requires around 30 minutes to be ready to touch.
What is the Duration for the Paint to Dry on the Glass?
Glass has very distinct features, as it is very smooth and impermeable, which makes it difficult to hold the paint.
Besides, the paint takes a lot of time to dry on the surface of the glass. On the contrary, it is advisable to clean the glass before applying paint to it.
Final Words
To conclude, spray painting is fun, but the prolonged dryness irks one. The dryness of spray painting is impacted by various atmospheric factors, different types of paints, and the surface on which paint is applied. Therefore, one needs to be cautious before choosing the paint for their project as some dry quicker, and some take longer to dry. Also, it is necessary to keep in mind all the ambient conditions and surfaces of the object.
