Road marking paints

The industry that does road marking and similar is undergoing rapid and deep changes as of late. The road marking paints community has to make serious decisions about its future direction.

Whatever road marking paints are used for, for example, roadway surfaces, car parks and railway station floors, they have to be able to withstand, among other things:

1. Great pressure from road vehicles, and other pressures
2. Water and be waterproof to withstand rains and floods
3. Spills of different kinds of chemicals from passing traffic and other causes

Professionals in the road transportation business who buy and use road marking paints using services have to consider how cost effective each of the choices is.

Owing to the necessity of withstanding many periods of rainfall in outdoor conditions the question of how to choose what manner of material to have for road marking paints is important. In this matter there is a resemblance to swimming pool line marking and surface covering, e.g. whether to use paint or tiles for a swimming pool.

We submit that the major options include:

1. Thermoplastic
2. Epoxy
3. Acrylic
4. Rubber based (usually chlorinated rubber)

At this time thermoplastic is the industry favourite. It provides a cost effective communicating service on account of its being long-lasting and not terribly expensive.

The epoxy paint option is a strong challenger and is said to be resistant to ultra-violet rays from, usually, the sun. It resists chemical attack in most cases. Word has it that a usage life of seven to ten years can be expected with ordinary stress. Epoxy consists of a resin and a hardener. Points against include that over time epoxy does become chalky. A point in favour is that it is cheaper than chlorinated rubber and has to be sanded before recoating. Other points against include that it yellows over age because of exposure to the UV rays of the sun. Epoxy is cheaper to maintain year-on-year that chlorinated rubber. Epoxy is sometimes called marine paint.

Chlorinated Rubber as a foundation is less expensive and less hard wearing than epoxy. It can be expected to last about four years with ordinary usage. It whitens over time and because of UV exposure to the sun and is relatively soft and dissolves easily. Therefore, there are strong points against chlorinated rubber.

Acrylic can be applied to a wide range of surfaces and can be washed. Unfortunately, it has to be repainted every two to three years Acrylic is a polymer resin and lasts about 30 months. It keeps stains. It is fairly straightforward to apply on the roadway. It can be used on many types of surface and water cleans it. Acrylics can be satin or matt. Acrylic is not long lasting. At the time of application acrylic does not make much in the way of fumes when applied.

The road marking paints using industry is therefore not in a straitjacket and has several good options to choose from.