Document ZnnvoDeQVRxb1N4b5k9oYNw60

A NATIONAL HISTORIC CHEMICAL LANDMARK WALL FINISH THE SHERWIN-WILLIAMS COMPANY CLEVELAND, OHIO N40025 AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Division of the History of Chemistry and w m-W f' & ftltrf 1&R. 1Sj^ S&f* 'Umd ll.: ... . H .W;- wm of Kem-Tone Wall Finish, a product of The Sherwin-Williams Company, Cleveland, Ohio, as a National Historic Chemical Landmark. The designation was conferred by the American Chemical Society (ACS), a non-profit scientific and educational organization of 150,000 chemists and chemical engineers. On April 23,1996, aplaque marking the ' ACS designation was presented to The SherwinWilliams Company. The inscription reads: "In 1941, The Sherwin-Williams Company intro duced Kem-Tone Wall Finish, the first com mercially successful, multi-million-gallon. s K- The Sherwin-Williams "Cover the Earth" trademark was introduce| in* 1905 and, with'slight alterati^ still used by thejcompany tljgttK The version abqye was useaatme .time of Kem-Tone's introduction. jSSgS Jt 5*-5 . \ l . ' 'I <' m it mm .. could withstand rubbing or washing. The product was based on the chemical innovation of emulsifying casein, linseed oil and, later, tall oil as hinders. This technology led to the development of improved waterborne paints by replacing naturally occurring binders with synthetic ones. The new product, along with the SherwinWilliams Roller-Koater" applicator, spurred the World War II development and expansion of `do-it-yourself painting. The innovative technology that made Kem-Tone paint a success habits and products of the United States." i #: Acknowledgments: The Sherwin-Williams Company gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the scientists andhistorians who helpedprepare this booklet, including: Charles K. Beck, Alan J. Roeke, and John C. Weaver of the Archives Committee, ClevelandSection, ACS; Mary V. Zeller, Public Outreach Committee, Cleveland Section, ACS, and Mark C. Cesa, Chairman, Cleveland Section, ACS; Victor M. Willis, Federation ofSocieties /or Coatings Technology; Jeffrey L. Sturchio ofMerck S' Co. Inc., Past Chairman ofthe ACS Advisory Committee on National Historic Chemical Landmarks; and Lydia Bazarko and Kathleen CamaU of The Sherwin-Williams Company. This booklet was compiled by The ACS Office ofPublic Outreach and The Sherwin-Williams Company. ProductionSupervisor: Lydia Bazarkn. Cover Illustrations: Inventors (from left to right) James V. Hunn, Nathan H. Vim Stone and DonaldA. Kohr, Jr. Copyright 1996 by The American Chemical Society. fi >1 THE )uring World War II,- the paint industry geared up for defense production. Thousands of military amounts of traditional binders, which were in short supply because of the war. Technologically, the items required paints, including camouflage paint for chemists at Sherwin-Williams showed that it was tanks; aircraft, ship, and truck finishes; and coatings chemically and commercially possible for a paint for guns and bombs. Every soldier was equipped with emulsified in water to produce a durable coating. many painted items, some of which had their own Kem-Tone was registered as a trademark on special finish. In addition, construction equipment, Sept. 23,1941. In the next three years, more than water supplies, and electrical lighting systems neces 10 million gallons would be sold. sary to a military campaign also required paint. The widespread acceptance of Kem-Tone paint Sherwin-Williams, a leading paint manufac was accelerated by the simultaneous introduction of turer based in Cleveland, Ohio, worked to accom the hand-roller (called Roller-KoaterTM), which made modate this defense conversion. Plant engineers application by do-it-yourselfers very easy. Here, too, converted old equipment to new manufacturing uses. Chemists experimented with old, almost forgotten oils and resins and treated them with modem process ing equipment. Purchasing agents combed the country for raw materials so that shortages would not halt production. Shortages affected every comer of life during the war, from women who gave up stockings because silk was unavailable, to paint manufacturers who were required to ration lin seed oil, a common paint binder. These constraints led Sherwin-Williams to accelerate their research into new coatings concepts. Their chemists took casein, a milk protein used by the During World War II women took over many of the nation's manufacturing jobs, replacing men who went to war. Sherwin-Williams factories were no exception, as these women running the Kem-Tone assembly line illustrate. ancient Egyptians for mak ing paint, and emulsified (or suspended) varnish in it. wartime shortages played a significant role. Richard They then added a number of other ingredients, with water as the largest component, to create a Adams, an engineer for Sherwin-Williams, invented and patented the roller as an alternative to brushes, water-based paint. The result was Kem-Tone paint, a fast-drying which were in short supply because the war between China and Japan restricted the availability of hog emulsion that met with instant public acceptance and would ultimately become one of the best-selling paints in the United States. Kem-Tone paint became the first widely accepted waterborne interior wall paint with sufficient binding power to allow washability. Developed by a team of Sherwin-Williams bristles. Kem-Tone paint and the Roller-Koater" applicator ushered in a new era in the do-it-yourself paint market, which comprises about 50 percent of the architectural coatings (paints applied to residences) sold today. The innovative chemistry of Kem-Tone paint also opened the door to continued chemists, Kem-Tone paint did not depend on organic solvents (based on carbon, such as pet roleum derivatives), and it reduced the required developments in waterborne paints, which account for approximately 80 percent of all the architectural coatings sold today. WHAT IS WALL PAINT? The Kem-Toneformula set a new industry standard. he abundance and widespread use ofpaint in our Tdaily lives makes it easy to take paintfor granted. A look at the chemistry ofpaint leads to a better appreciation of its complexities. Paint is a liquid composition that dries to an opaque film. It is composed offour basic types of ingredients: pigments, which are powders that give opacity and colon binders, which act like glue to hold the pigments together and cause the film, to adhere to the surface being painted; liquids, which make the paint thin enough to spread on a surface, and additives, which perform special functions such as thickening, reducing mildew, and more. Paints are generally classified as either solventborne or waterborne. Solvent-borne wall paints, such as oil paints, ase a petroleum derivative (for example, mineral spirits) as the solvent. Waterborne paints use water. Waterborne wall coatings prevailed from prehistoric cave paintings up to medieval wall paintings. Natural proteins were used as binders for the pigments. Tempera used egg whites as a binder; distemper, a similar waterborne paint, used animal glues fromhides and hoofs. Whitewash used milk casein to bind lime (calcium hydroxide) onto Tom Sawyer's fictional fence. But all these exhibited poor washability and durability. Linseedoil-bound pigments -used by the ancient Egyptians; early Romans and renaissance artists such as daVinci and Michelangelo - were more durable, but were scarce until the linen industry expanded to provide ample flax seed, Chemist Donald A. Kohr, Jr., tests the consistency of the paint. fromwhich linseed oil was pressed. Hardening ofthe soft linseed oil films by rosin and adding volatile turpentine from the naval stores industry enhanced varnishes for Stradivarius violins, fine furniture and wooden floors. Turpentine was the only historic volatile organic solvent to control paint viscosities until the coke and petroleum industries distilled various naphthas. These separate crafts came together only in the 1930s, when brilliant exteriorwaterborne paints enhanced and survived the 1933 Century ofProgress Exposition in Chicago and the 1939-40 World's Fair in NewYorkCity. How Was Kem'Tone Paint Different? Sherwin-Williams chemists used sctence to combine two chemical opposites-oil and water. Thetr chemical innovation was to emulsify, in an aqueous system, traditional solvent-borne binders with casein and other traditional paint ingredients. The binders were casein, linseed oil and, later, tall oil (obtained from wood pulp). This technique set a new standard for the improvement ofwater-based paints. Eventually, as the product evolved, newly developed synthetic binders replaced the ones used in the original Kem-Tone paint. Solvent-borne paints generally contain mineral spirits to thin the paint and make it "brushable." In contrast, Kem-Tonepaint could be diluted with water. The Kem-Tone paintformulation consisted ofmany different ingredients. A Kem-Tone demonstration at Gimbel Brothers department store, New York City, in 1942. No Muss, No Fuss, No Bother Kem-Tone paint, which augmented SherwinWilliams' family of "Kem" (standing for chemically evolved material) products, was the first multi-milliongallon, commercially accepted interior wall paint emulsified in water. The flat, interior finish covered with only a single coat, dried in one hour, had greatly reduced paint odor, and could be washed without removing the color. After painting, cleanup was easily accomplished with soap and water. These benefits were summarized in the advertising slogan, "No Muss, No Fuss, No Bother." Kem-Tone paint's ease ofapplication was enhanced by the introduction ofdie Roller-Koater'',paint roller. Inexperienced painters found that the applicator was faster to use than brushes and provided more even coverage. This made it easier for homeowners to become do-it-yourself painters--an attractive alternative during the labor shortages of World War II. Kem-Tone paint had another great advantage. It completely covered wallpaper, plaster, and painted walk, without requiring messy primers, sealers or thinners. Soon Kem-Tone and other waterborne paints supplanted wallpaper as the decorative wall finish of choice in the United States. Future Inventions The introduction of Kem-Tone paint in 1941 was the milestone that showed the viability ofdurable, washable water-based paint and led the way for future improvements. Forexample, afterWorld War II, the Dow Chemical Company searched for ways to use its styrene-butadiene polymer (40 parts styrene, 60 parts butadiene), which it bad developed for tires during the war. The search led Dow to develop styrene-butadiene latex (60 parts styrene, 40 parts butadiene) as a binder in waterborne paints. Dow's binder helped to create a new SherwinWilliams product: latex paint In the late 1940s, tire company introduced Super Kem-Tone paint, which used styrene-butadiene latex as the principal, but not sole, binder. This significantly improved the adhesion and durability ofwaterborne paints, Since the 1940s, paints emulsified in water have passed through several additional phases. Styrenebutadiene latex paints yielded to new improvements, such as vinyl acrylic and acrylic latex binders for waterbased paints, THE KEM-TONE* TEAM he key players in the development and introduction TofKem-Tonepaintwere Nathan E. Van Stone, James V. Hunn, and Donald A. Kohr, Jr., a team of Sherwin-Williams chemists who shared a commitment to finding a new type ofpaint. Under the leadership of Van Stone, each member of the team successfully built upon each other's individual research in resins and emulsification. Tire research into new coating concepts that led to Kem-Tone paint began as early as 1930, when Sherwin-Williams established a central research laboratory in Chicago known as Allied Research. In 1933, it established an additional research department called Resin Research. It was there that James Hunn began to investigate innovative binders for paints such as new alkyds (synthetic polymers formed from complex alcohols and acids) and phenolics (synthetic polymers made from aromatic organic compounds containing OH groups). Hunn's chemical innovations included a development of the linseed oil-limed rosin varnish that was eventually used in Kem-Tone paint. This represented an important transition from simple waterborne protein paints, to oil-in-water modified protein paints. In 1938, Van Stone was promoted from Sherwin-Williams' operations in Chicago to VicePresident and DirectorofPaint Manufacturing in Cleveland. This move was the beginning of the specific research and development that led to Kem-Tone paint, for Van Stone had the foresight to realize that Hunn's resin research and further emulsification research could lead to significant breakthroughs in water-based coatings. Van Stone brought with him 20 years of experience in the Dry Color and Chemical Products Departments, where pigments prepared in a water system were "flushed" (mixed with emulsifiers and oil-type binders), creating nonwater, liquid, color concentrates. These were formulated into both solvent-borne coatings and into the textile industry's waterborne printing colors used for patterns on cotton fabric. This technology extended logically into both Kem-Tone paint and the camouflage paints that were used in large volume in the latter years of World War II. It was this vision and understanding of chemical research that led Van Stone to appoint Donald Kohr as section supervisor of emulsion and waterborne paint research for the company. Van Stone served as the crucial link between Hunn's resin and polymer research and Kohr's application of this research to produce emulsion paints. While directing waterborne paint research, Kohr employed Hunn's formulations of linseed oil/rosin var nish. Kohr also applied Hunn's work with refined poly merized tall oil to reinforce casein and com protein as binders-The result was the introduction ofKem-Tone paint and eventually the evolution of more durable waterborne paints. Mr. Kohr (above, right) on the production line. Dr. Van Stone (below, far right) accepts the two millionth can of Kem-Tone on Oct. 1,1942. SU<GG1STED READING William von Fischer, Editor. Paint and Varnish Technology. Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1948. Wayne R. Fuller. Understanding Paint. American Paint Journal Company, 1965. George B. Heckel. The Paint Industry, Reminiscences and Comments. American Paint Journal Company, 1931. Charles R. Martens. Water-Borne Coatings, Emulsions and Water-Soluble Paints. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1981. Joseph J. Mattiello. Protective and Decorative Coating. John Wiley & Sons, 1941. Kathleen McDermott & Davis Dyer. America's Paint Company -A History ofSherwin-Williams. The Sherwin-Williams Company, 1991. Republic Steel Company. Republic Reports. The Republic Steel Magazine, Feb. 1966. Sherwin-Williams Company. 1942 Annual Report. The Sherwin-Williams Company, 1943. Sherwin-Williams Company. Sherwin-Williams World, No. 2, Vol. 1 .The Sherwin-Williams Company Employees, Aug. 1942. Sherwin-Williams Company. The Story ofSherwinWilliams. The Sherwin-Williams Company, 1955. StanleyJ. Thompson. The S/B Latex Story: Recollections of "Can Do" at Dow. Pendell Publishing Co., 1980. THE NATIONAL HISTORIC CHEMICAL LANDMARKS The ACS National Historic Chemical Landmarks Program recognizes our scientific and technical heritage and encourages the preservation ofhistorically important achievements and artifacts in chemistry, chemical engineering, and the chemical process industries. It provides an annotated roster to remind chemists, chemical engineers, students, educators, historians, and travelers ofan inspiring heritage that illuminates both where we have been and where we might go when travelling the diverse paths to discovery. An ACS Historic Chemical Milestone designation marks a landmark step in the evolution ofthe chemical sciences and technologies. A Site designation marks the location ofair artifact, event, or other development ofclear historical importance to chemists and chemical engineers. An Historic Collection to This program began in 1992, when the Division ofthe History ofChemistry of the ACS formed an international Advisory Committee. The Committee, composed ofchemists, chemical engineers, and historians ofscience and technology, works with the ACS Office ofPublic Outreach and is assisted by the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Together, these organizations provide a public service by examining, noting, recording, and acknowledging particularly significant achievements in chemistry and chemical engineering. For further information, please contact the ACS Public Outreach Office, 1155 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036; 1-800-ACS-5558, press 954. 5 The American Chemical Society Ronald Rreslow, President Paul S. Anderson, President-Elect JoanE. Shields, Board Chairman John K Crum, Executive Director A nn B Messmore, Director, Pubhc Outreach ACS Division of the History of Chemistry Joseph B Lambert, Chairman Harold Goldwhite, Chairman-Elect VeraV. Mainz, Secretary-Treasurer Cleveland Section, American Chemical Sooetv James Murtagh, Chairman James D. Burrington, Chairman-Elect Irene C. Heller, Secretary David W. Ball, Treasurer Charles K. Beck, Chairman, Archives Committee The Sherwin-Williams Company John G. Breen, Chairman and ChiefExecutive c Thomas A. Commes, President and ChiefOperating Officer FrankE. Butler, President and General Manager, Coatings Division Conway G. Ivy, Vice President-Corporate Planning and Development JohnC Macatee,President, Pamt Stores Group The Sherwin-Williams Company/ Cleveland Section ACS NHCLP Committee Charles K. Beck Lydia Bazarko R. Lane Blackburn Kathleen Camall MarkC. Cesa Conway G. Ivy Herb Pawlitsch Andrea Sanders, Chairman JohnC Weaver Mary V. Zeller ACS Advisory Committee on National Historic Chemical Landmarks Chairman- Ned D. Heindel, Lehigh University James J Bohmng, American Chemical Society Jon B. Eklund, National Museum of American History Yasu Furukawa, Tokyo DenkiUniversity Leon Gortler, Brooklyn College PaulR Jones, University ofNew Hampshire JamesW. Long, University of Oregon Peter J.T. Moms, National Museum ofScience and Industry, London MaryJo Nye, Oregon State University Stanley 1 Proctor, Jr., Proctor Consulting Service David J Rhees, BakkenLibrary and Museum Jeffrey L Sturchio, Merck & Co, Inc. Ann C Higgins, ACS StaffLiaison American Chemical Society 1155 Sixteenth Street, N W. 'X ishmjon Hk 20i.it>