DISTEMPER.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19462, 8 November 1928, Page 4

DISTEMPER.

A large amount of ready made distemper usually in a state to stand, further thinning down is now sold. The 'main advantages are that the material can be brought into immediate use without the delay involved in mixing and' waiting, for the stuff to set; also that manufacturers usually take steps to prevent the distemper from readily putrefying by adding' preservatives. Furthermore, as the distemper is made in large quantities by the manufacturer, it is much more likely to be main* tamed to a standard (properly gauged) formula, ' At the same time the proportions of the ingredients are: hot so very critical for distemper. In fact, the character of plastered ceilings varies so much that it is.sometimes necessary to make adjustments in the' quantities of the different ingredients. So far as the result is concerned there is Very little, if anything, to choose between distemper made at the shop and the purchased variety. Some of the material on the market has one disadvantage, that it is difficult to remove when subsequently washing off. Some manufacturers add small quantities of linseed oil. Although this tends to make for cool working, it certainly adds to the difficulty of subsequent removal. Distemper will keep in good condition for a considerable time if it is made with boiling water, and, of course, sweet feize. Now -as to the question of adding blue, this is put in with the object of creating J.the impression of a purer white. Whiting is somewhat yellowish in hue, and the blue neutralises the ?'ellow cast, and really produces a very ight grey. The eye detects differences of hue much more readily than it detects difference of tone. For this reason a veryjight grey is immediately associated with white and therefore looks white, whereas o hue, however light, is associated with its hue rather than with white. This association in the I mind is so marked that a blued distemper looks whiter than the same material without blue, although the latter is obviously the lighter or the two in tone. I have rather laboured this fact because it is important to understand it in connexion with tinting distempers gen- j erally. It must be remembered that when a cream distemper is required, the addition of blue militates against a clean tint as in overcoming the blue the tone is reduced. It is curious that blued distemper is so widely favoured for ceilings. In a great many cases the result j of this, preference is that the ceiling has nothing in sympathy with the general scheme of decoration. Decorators do not appear to give sufficient thought to this matter. A warm scheme with yellow or orange predominating and headed with a blued white ceiling always strikes .one as a scheme cut in two. A cream ceiling in a case like this would bring the whole scheme into harmony. Of course., there are cases j where a deep-toned cream is required, and where the addition of blue or blnek in addition to yellow ochre is advis-ble to soften the effect. .. Even then, it would be better to start from the white given by the whiting and-add the blue or black last.