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The Secret of Du Pont Py-ra-lin Enamels
HAT does the word "enamel" mean to you--
Wthe white paint you see on doors and furniture, or the porcelain finish on your bath tub, or the
varnish, mirror-like enamel on your automobile? ,
Quite likely, it is associated in your mind with such types of finishes, but there is another kind of enamel which has much different qualities and pro duces a superior finish for the articles on which it is used.
This is the enamel made from cot ton--the nitrocellulose or pyroxylin type of enamel. There is a secret in the preparation of Du Pont Py-ra-lin Enamel which causes it to greatly excel other makes of enamels of a similar type, but before going further, it may be well to briefly expla.n [what these enamels are used for and how they f re lsed.
Ti c whit , egg-shell enamel finish on the towel racks, soap . .dies and similar articles in your bath room is probably Py-ra-lin Enamel. The green, brown, and mahogany enamel on your lighting fixtures; the rubber black finish on your pocket flash light; and the red, white and blue effect on your metal pencil all have their origin in the cotton fields of the South. -These finishes, which have attained their highest perfection
in Du Pont Py-ra-lin Enamels, are all products of the nitrated cotton industry.
A special apparatus is necessary for'the application of the pyroxylin type of enatpels add it is theredpre'itsfed only in factories which have such equipments An electric motor supplies the power whibh drives autair pump, or compressor, from which the air is forced into a tank similar to the hot water boiler in your kitchen.
A rubber hose then carries the air to a spraying machine,, which is really only a large atomizer with a short neck and a large jar holding the enamel. With the pressing of a trigger, the air sprays the enamel from the nozzle onto the work, and, with a little care and practice, articles of all shapes can be sprayed with a perfectly even coat of enamel.
Brushing does not give a satisfactory finish because the enamel "sets" and dries too quickly. It "sets" almost immediately and is dry enough to handle in twenty or thirty minutes. This feature makes it very valuable to manufacturers who have to turn out thousands of pieces each day.
The basic ingredients of all pyroxylin enamels are pyroxylin (nitrated cotton), pig ment colors and solvents. The secret. of Py-ra-lin Enamels is in the combination'of these materials, but before edfcibming them it is imperative
that these ingredients should be of the very highest quality. Selected cotton is nitrated and treated with the greatest
care, and long experience has produced an unusual grade of
nitro-cellulose for this purpose.
As to solvents, there are so many, with such different
characteristics, that it would seem be
wildering to try to decide which to use.
But for Py-ra-lin Enamels, enormous
laboratory facilities and years of ex
perimenting have produced a combina
tion of many types of solvents, which
gives all the qualities desirable in a
finished enamel at a most reasonable
cost. By manufacturing each of these
solvents in Du Pont plants, their
quality is maintained and assured.
Men who have spent their lives in the manufacture
and blending of colors have developed the pigment
combinations which are used in Py-ra-lin Enamels.
American products are used, the great bulk of the pig
ments coming from Du Pont factories.
The secret, as we said before,'is in the combining
of the raw materials. The simplest method would be
to dissolve the pyroxylin in the solvents and then mix
in the colors, and we believe this to be the system em
ployed by other manufacturers of enamels of a similar
nature.
We found, however, that this process did not pro
duce a very tough and durable enamel, and that the
pigment colors soon settled out of the solution. So we
use a process similar to the one used for incorporating
the colors into the well known Py-ra-lin toilet articles.
The dry pyroxylin is made plastic, like, stiff bread doiigh,
and the pigment colors are "built right into" the pyrox--
ylin itself. This process is expensive, because it takes
special machinery and hours of labor, but it gives:an :
individuality to Py-ra-lin Enamels, which is expressed'
in a smoother and much tougher and more .durable
film, similar in every respect to a sheet of celluloid n
the enamelled article.
' .
Complete solution in the solvents is then necessary,
and for this from twelve to eighteen hours is consumed
in mixing in even the most efficient machines. Tests
are then made by the manufacturing department,
color department, and laboratory to make sure that
the finished enamel meets every specification necessary
to maintain the Du Pont standard of uniformity and
quality.
The general public is not well acquainted
with Py-ra-lin Enamels because it does not
use them. But a superior article will make
its own way; and people, who are particular
about the finish on goods which they buy,
are, in an increasing number, becoming
familiar with Py-ra-lin Enamels and specifying this finish
whenever possible, confident that it will add beauty and
service to the finished article.
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DUP190000338
TVLa y , 1919
DU PONT MAGAZINE
[23
Good Homes and How to Paint Them
J. Coleman Bentley
OOD homes, beautiful
Ghomes, how shall we define them? One might
as well try to describe beauty in Nature in a single phrase, as to endeavor to arbitrarily define beauty in architecture. No single factor renders a building beautiful. Size and proportion, style and decora tion, setting and color ofpaint ing, all must be given careful consideration. Any of these factors can make or mar the beauty of the building.
The average home-builder seldom builds more than one home, and it makes little difference whether it be a palatial residence with great expanse of green lawn and great clumps of shrubbery, or a bungalow with its modest grass plot and old-fashioned garden of four-o'cloeks, snap-dragon and holly hocks--it is home. Into that home he puts his very best thought design and plan; pays particular atten tion to the quality of the lumber and hardware; selects the very best heat ing and lighting systems that he can afford--because it is to be his home.
The selection of colors with which the house is to be painted should call for equal care. One may build a home that is perfect in every architectural detail and yet detract from its beauty by using an improper combination of colors for that particular style of house, or by using one that does not har monize with the surroundings.
Homes of the California bungalow type, setting low in the ground, should generally be painted in light colors for the masses, with strong, sharp accents of color on the smaller parts, such as the windows and door sashes, the frames and some of the smaller mouldlags. If the porch is not paved with red brick, the floor should be painted in dark red.
The New England Colonial house, *ith its free treatment of the classic orders, looks at its best in white or light buff tones, without any strong
^cent, with the possible exception of file shutters or blinds, which are often painted with very pleasing effect in a dark green or a blue green color.
Familiar to all who travel through our beautiful suburbs is the Suburban Cottage style of home which followed theunattractive Mansard roofperiod of American architecture. It was suggested originally to our
native architects by the de signs of such Englishmen as Norman Shaw, Goodw'n and other illustrious men who f lowed Ruskin in the Gothic revival. This type of house lends itself to a wide range of colors. Brown russets and gray greens fit this style well and blend harmoniously with almost any surroundings. The Dutch Colonial house, with its homey, comfortable. Gambrel roof, was adopted by the Dutch set tlers of Long Island and is extremely attractive to a great number of people. It lends itself to the many special features that make a home particularly cosy. The two great stone chimneys suggesting the big open fireplaces in side the door, with the side lights, are characteristics that carry with them an atmosphere of warm welcome. The color treatment of this house permits of considerable latitude. The vertical wall surfaces should, however, be light, and the details in white or very light tones to show the fine mouldings; the shutters should be in brown or green. The English half-timbered house is an American adaptation of a style of house built in certain districts of Eng land during Elizabethan times. Its distinctive characteristics are indicated by its name, light tone plaster panels alternating with dark timbering. Strong contrasts in colors may be se lected for this bouse. Dark green or brown for the timbers and barges, us ing stain rather than paint in order to retain the natural grain of the lumber, although paint can be used with just as much satisfaction, and russet tone for the roof shingles, with strong color accents for the sash and other small parts, combine to produce most pleas ing effects. The use of concrete or hollow tile with concrete or stucco facing is in creasing as a building material for
"good homes." The emphasis given
DUP190000339
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A ittUMtitw comhi*Mtin of B*rriso*s Tow* *md Country Point for th* My and tri* of u Dutch Colonial dttigu Asare, with Harrinru Shintit Staia for th* roof
GOOD HOMES
and How to Paint Them
' E seldom build more than one '%] \ home in a lifetime, and we put
^ into that home the very best ma terial and equipment that we can afford. We go very carefully into the quality of the lumber that is to be used--it's to be our home, that we expect to live in for years to come; but do we look as closely into the quality of the paint that is to be put on this lumber--isn't it ofttimes a
question of "looks" rather than "pro tection " ?
Harrisons Town and Country Paint will give you the protection as well as the beauty -- there arc years of addi tional wear in it. It is not just an ordi nary mixture of lead and oil, but one that is built on a formula with a reason for every pigment that goes into its
manufacture.
Ifyou are going to build this Summer, or intend re-fainting, write for a copy of1 ` Good Hemes and How to Paint Them,"
In it you willfind a suitable combination of colors for the type of house you are building and something on Harrisons Town
and Country Paint -- the house paint with the accumulated, experience of a century and a quarter in the manufacture of
paint products, as an assurance of its quality,
''
E. I. d u Po n t d e Ne mo u r s & Co.
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
PHILADELPHIA
CHICAGO
BOSTON
NEW YORK
MINNEAPOLIS
KANSAS CITY
COLUMBUS, O.
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