What is shagreen: how to avoid a defect or achieve an effect

Painting surfaces is a rather complex and thorough process. Dust and uneven distribution of the coloring composition can create unevenness and roughness, which significantly worsen the overall appearance. You have to remove uneven layers from already painted walls or car bodies, unless, of course, such a texture is envisaged by the designer.

This type of texture, whether accidentally or intentionally obtained, is called shagreen. Let's figure out what shagreen is and how to avoid it or, conversely, get it.

How to recognize shagreen

When painted, shagreen creates irregularities and roughness of various sizes, from several centimeters to hundredths of a millimeter. It is especially noticeable on metal surfaces, for example, on the body of a car.

To have an idea of what shagreen is called when painting and what it looks like, you can look at the peel of an orange - this is approximately what a surface damaged by shagreen looks like. It is difficult to remove a defect; sometimes the surface has to be cleaned and repainted.

What is “shagreen” and what are the reasons for its appearance?

“Shagreen” or “orange peel” is also called “car cellulite” by car enthusiasts. This is a visually noticeable unevenness in the paintwork of a car that occurs after improper painting. Experts assure that the vast majority of beginners who do not yet have the proper skills in preparing paint and applying it to the car body encounter this effect. Those who are more experienced also experience punctures in this regard.

To tell the truth, “shagreen” is present on the paintwork in any case - it’s just that after high-quality painting it is not visually noticeable.

So, let's look at the main reasons why “shagreen” may appear when painting a car. Experts identify the following factors:

incorrect ratio of components when preparing paint. The result is a composition whose viscosity is insufficient to obtain a uniform paint coating on the car;
incorrect paint preparation technology, ignoring the manufacturer’s recommendations, using the wrong thinner;
improper adjustment of the spray gun - increased or decreased air pressure significantly affects the uniformity of paint application;

Reasons for the appearance of shagreen

Incorrect nozzle size. If it is too large, the paint will splatter rather than spray. After drying, this coating becomes lumpy and uneven;
The temperature in the box during painting and drying of the paint coating also affects the quality of the layer. Too high or low, it does not contribute to high-quality and uniform painting of the car;
failure to comply with the manufacturer's requirements for paint storage. It could simply lose its properties, change viscosity, or simply deteriorate. This affects how the paint spreads over the car body;
incorrect distance from the air gun to the surface to be painted. This is a very important indicator that affects the quality of painting;
The painting technology was not followed. There may be various reasons for this: the intervals between coats are not long enough, the paint is not allowed to dry properly after application, etc.

“Shagreen” can appear not only after painting the car with your own hands. This defect can also be the result of painting in a professional car service. This suggests that the specialists did not adhere to all the requirements of the dyeing process.

"Shagreen" when painting a car

How does shagreen appear?

A shagreen surface can result for many reasons. The most common of them:

Poor quality paint, varnish or primer.
Improper use of painting equipment.
Poorly prepared base for painting.
Use for layer-by-layer painting of materials of different brands or different batches that are incompatible with each other.

As a result of such reasons, microscopic particles of paint compositions do not merge with each other, and the surface is not smooth enough.

How to paint without shagreen

If for walls a small shagreen mark is an acceptable phenomenon, especially since it is now fashionable to paint walls and ceilings with paint that creates a shagreen effect, then for a car such a defect is completely undesirable. It is better for everyone who undertakes such work to know how to paint a car without shagreen, but in general it is ideal to entrust it to craftsmen with professional equipment.

To prevent a defect, the following conditions must be met:

It is better to entrust the dyeing process to a specialist with professional boxing. The air temperature in the box should be between 18–24˚C, otherwise problems with the consistency of the paint may arise, which will require a lot of labor.
The spray gun compressor must be set correctly so that the pressure in the system is constant and there are no accidental air releases.
The technician will correctly select the distance from the spray gun nozzle to the surface of the body so that some paint particles do not dry out in the air.
It is necessary that the temperature of the metal corresponds to the external temperature, otherwise paint applied to the cold metal of the body will lie unevenly.
Uniform, unhurried drying of the body is of great importance. You cannot dry the metal with air from a spray gun, this will certainly lead to the formation of shagreen.

It is very important to paint with a quality tool, with a perfectly adjusted nozzle for applying the paint composition to a specific car.

How to avoid shagreen when painting a car

To obtain a high-quality, durable car coating and avoid the appearance of orange peel after painting, the following components are required:

quality materials;
good equipment and tools;
suitable premises;
knowledge and adherence to dyeing technology.

Quality materials needed to avoid orange peel

Preparing for work

Before starting work you must:

Carefully prepare the surface to be treated.
Select paint materials and other components:

primer;
paint;
varnish;
solvent.

It is desirable that all components be from the same manufacturer and be part of the same series. Incompatibility of even one layer with others will lead not only to shagreen, but also to the fragility of the coating. The correct choice of paints deserves attention; modern technology using powder paints has proven itself to be especially effective.

Find quality equipment and tools:

spray gun with good and uniform spraying, thoroughly washed (adjust each time before painting);
compressor with a uniform air supply, without foreign inclusions (dust, lubricants, condensate);
sandpaper, polishing machine.

Before starting work, you need to choose the right paints

Create suitable conditions:

ensure the room temperature is about 20-22 degrees (temperature conditions affect the consistency of the paint);
exclude dust;
humidify the air.

Coating technology

In most cases, shagreen is formed during the process of applying materials to the surface. If a defect appears even on one of the layers, the aesthetics of the entire area will suffer. To obtain a high-quality coating, it is necessary that even the soil “lay down” well.

Main stages of work:

Determine the initial hardening time of the paint (information should be indicated on the packaging). Modern materials are often produced with a hardener. If the hardening process begins already in the spray gun, the paint will not be liquid enough on the surface, leading to the appearance of shagreen.
Mix the components, choosing the correct consistency of paint in relation to the solvent (individual selection is recommended, based on the ratio indicated on the package).
Apply the resulting composition to the surface (it is advisable for beginners to practice on other objects). When working, it is necessary to take into account the paint supply speed of the spray gun and the distance to the surface of the body. At a long distance, the likelihood of getting shagreen increases, and at a short distance – smudges. It is necessary to find a compromise solution by doing a test staining.

Important! Mix the composition and apply it to the surface in a time approximately equal to half the hardening time.

How to remove shagreen after painting

If, despite all the measures taken, small unevenness still appears, you can try to remove the shagreen by polishing. Manual polishing involves the use of sandpaper of different grain sizes and special polishing pastes.

Polishing is done by pressing the sandpaper with equal force so that there are no scratches or streaks. The surface of the body is constantly watered with clean water, preferably distilled.

If polishing by hand is difficult, it is better to use a grinding machine or a special polishing wheel. The work will go faster, and the quality of polishing will not suffer.

After matting, the surface of the body is polished. Several types of polishing paste with different abrasive characteristics are used. Each time the paste is changed to a less abrasive surface, the surface is washed with clean water.

If after all these steps the shagreen remains, then the only way out is to remove the paintwork and repaint it.

Shagreen surface effect

The “shagreen” texture is a modern trend in the design of apartments and houses, loved by designers. A very convenient type of painting that hides minor surface defects well and does not require preliminary puttying or plastering - unless, of course, there are potholes and cracks deeper than 2 mm on the walls.

A large selection of colors and shades makes this textured paint very popular. In addition, it is applied to the surface only once, which greatly facilitates and simplifies painting work.

Textured compositions are produced based on water-based paints. They are prepared in a special paddle mixer, loading it with synthetic-based water-based paint and fillers - potassium glass and marshallite. The prepared composition is kept for about half an hour, after which it becomes completely homogeneous.

The surface is first thoroughly cleaned and primed with a synthetic paint composition. After the primer has dried, paint is applied in one or two layers 1-2 mm thick. You can use a spray gun or, for small areas, a paint roller.

There is no need to try to cover large surface imperfections with just textured paint. If there are large depressions and irregularities on the base, they will still have to be repaired first. Now they produce textured plasters that can be used for this purpose. After drying, the plaster is coated with acrylic paint, and the shagreen effect is preserved.

Powder formulations

Powder compositions are used to paint metal surfaces. They also give a good shagreen effect, masking scratches and unevenness. Here you need to focus on the object that needs to be decorated.

Polyester paint shagreen is more suitable for products intended for outdoor use. Such compositions withstand the vagaries of the weather well and protect the object from the negative effects of atmospheric phenomena.

If the product or structure is exposed to chemicals, then it is better to use epoxy-based paint. Mixed epoxy-polyester paints are used for indoor structures.

Based on textured compositions, you can achieve a very interesting “Antique” effect. The fact is that the protrusions on the painted surface are slightly different from the color of the base. The result is original shades, given the variety of colors of powder paints.

Paints with a shagreen effect are wear-resistant, abrasion-resistant, do not fade, significantly save money on repairs and have a unique, original appearance. The use of such compositions in the design of premises, metal products and structures gives them strength, resistance to the external environment and a special charm.

Powder paint shagreen - a type of epoxy-polyester paint

Powder paint shagreen , however, like all other polymer paints, is widely used for painting products made of various materials, and the surface is not only very attractive, but also has some protective properties, protecting the product itself from minor mechanical damage and aggressive environmental influences. Shagreen is just one type of many powder paint textures. It received this name due to its relief structure, which is a bit like the peel of an orange. Surfaces painted with shagreen look very attractive and are also very pleasant to the touch.

Due to the fact that polyester shagreen powder paint has excellent decorative properties, it is very often used when it is necessary to hide any defects in the product, irregularities, roughness, welds or the effects of grinding. After applying shagreen powder paint, the surface of the product looks as if it was specially conceived by the designers. Typically, shagreen paint is used for powder coating of metal surfaces - safes, doors, commercial equipment, industrial and electrical equipment.

Powder paint shagreen can vary in its composition - it can be polyester, epoxy, and epoxy-polyester. The color palette is very wide; you can paint it with varying degrees of matte and gloss. In addition, the structure of shagreen itself differs - it can be small and large. But any painted surface has excellent mechanical properties - the powder is strong and durable, withstands fairly high temperatures, and is not afraid of some types of chemical solvents.

It should be remembered that the quality of the surface directly depends on the powder itself, so you need to choose it correctly. The process itself consists of several stages. First of all, you should decide where the painted product will be located - outdoors or indoors. In the first case, it will be exposed to precipitation and sunlight, so it is advisable to use polyester paint for these purposes. If it is assumed that the product painted with shagreen paint will be in conditions where it will be exposed to chemical solutions of acids, alkalis and others, then in this case epoxy paints are the best choice. Well, then, when the product is constantly in the room, you can paint it with epoxy-polyester. Nowadays, polyester powder paint, which is easy to buy, is very common; it is especially well suited for painting elements that will be used indoors.

Also, when choosing powder paints, the surface of the object being painted is of great importance. If the item is made of metal and has welds or marks from a grinding machine, then you need to use powder paints like shagreen, since it can be used to hide minor defects. Of course, it won’t be possible to hide something serious, but shagreen paint can easily cope with minor imperfections, thereby reducing the cost of high-quality surface preparation.

There are small and large shagreen. With the help of a large one, you can hide more significant imperfections, but with powder painting, greater consumption of powder material may be required. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the larger the layer of shagreen powder paint, the less its plastic qualities will be, and also some physical and mechanical qualities will decrease.

The most famous and widespread epoxy polyester powder paint, shagreen , is an “antique” type paint. The attractiveness of the finished coating is that the result is shagreen, and at the very top of this paint there is a pigment, the shade of which is slightly different from the main color. Typically, the name of antique paints refers to the color of the base and pigment - for example, “silver on white” or “copper on black.”

Thus, polymer powders of the “shagreen” type make it possible to obtain a very high-quality and durable coating. In addition, their use is very profitable in economic terms, since the loss of powder during the coloring process is no more than two percent.