To strain or not to strain. . .

[Anonymous]

In my experience painting interior and exteriors you Always strain your paint before use, old paint and new paint. My initial thought for road paint was not to strain because it only going on the road right so a perfect finish is not necessarily a must. so is it standard practice to strain new paint for striping or just when you get skin/flakes?

Thanks in advance!

[Girish C. Dubey, President STAR, INC.]

I guess maybe I’m spoiled.
I started with the Conventional. Its orifice is the size of a pencil lead.
Straining was never even thought of.
NEXT…this thing called the Airless comes out. I have (2).
AND…paint clogs are also invented. SO…I bought an In-Line filter.
Now…I don’t have any clogs.
NEXT…it seems…again, it seems like the paint nowadays has clumps in it. They look like skins…but they’re mushy.
( That’s the technical term. )
So…NOW…I almost always strain.
I don’t know that it was about the “finish”…unless you mean that there aren’t particles in the paint that actually just catch your eye. It’s more about keeping up the pace. I don’t want my Airless to spray sideways…but I also don’t want to be stopping every 20 feet to turn the tip…or clean the machine.
Bottom line…like most things in life…it isn’t right or wrong…it’s a matter of Good, Better, Best.
Yes…it is Best to strain your paint…especially nowadays.
Last…a note; sometimes you’ll still have clogs. Maybe from the dried paint on the inside of the (5) gallon bucket…or…slimy skins that just occur when spraying outdoors, in Summer…from a bucket that’s virtually open.
To me…just part of the job…all is well.
I hope that helps.
Dan

[Anonymous]

Great, I wont think twice about straining, why do just good when you can do better/best? and save headaches along the way! and it takes very little time to do so why not.

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