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Tinting Information

Tinting Information

Please note that WE DO NOT TINT Liquid Ceramic prior to shipping.

We suggest utilizing a local professional paint store for your color selections and tinting, as opposed to one of the “big box” stores. Sometimes there may be a tinting charge, but other times, customers have found that if you buy your other painting items there (primers, brushes, rollers, sanders, caulk, drop cloths, etc.) that they won’t mind doing it.

Tinting is as much of an art as it is a science, that’s why you want to use a professional paint store. There’s some probability the store has not heard of our product, however, rest assured our product tints very similar to the brands they carry. The recommendation from many paint stores that have already tinted our product across the country is that 1) our product is to be tinted at half the level they would normally tint their brand at and 2) make the adjustments as necessary at that level before bringing it to full strength. Make sure the paint store does a “draw-down,” i.e. putting a few drops onto a white cardboard stock and drying it. Take this card stock out into the sunlight and compare it to the sample you have from your home or to the sample from a fan deck or color card. If it’s right on, have them tint your other pails to that same exact formula. NOTE: We do not take back mis-tinted or unused pails of product. Tinting is your responsibility. In a worst case scenario, use the mis-tinted product as your first coat and make sure the final coat is to the color you’ll enjoy for the next 20+ years!

If you have not ordered yet but you have selected a color, inquire what base they utilize for it. It should fall into line with one of our four bases, and you can go ahead and place your order. Of course some shades could utilize multiple bases due to the particular purity and tint that they are, and in those cases, you may contact us about it and we can assist you in clarifying the correct base to purchase.

Different colors require different bases. This is true with virtually all paint products, not only our top-of-the-line brand. As you go from a pastel base to a medium, to a deep then finally to your accent base, one ingredient is typically removed (or not added) from the formula: titanium dioxide (TiO2). TiO2 is an oxide that forms from titanium and is very white. It’s added in powder form in the manufacturing of paper, cloth, paints, etc., just about anything that needs to be whitened. So as colorants are added to darken the paint, less TiO2 is added to lighten the paint. Essentially, you don’t want the two of them working against each other.

If you are uncomfortable selecting a base, you can choose the ‘Best Match’ product and enter in the Paint manufacturer, swatch name, and swatch code and we can research that color to be sure to ship the correct base.

Finally, if you want to visit a very user friendly website to help you select colors and find colors that go with other colors, check out this Color Selection Tool – – once you have selected your color name(s), notify us and we’ll make sure you are shipped the correct base.

Thank you for your interest in Liquid Ceramic®!