Paints and coatings include paints, enamels, and varnishes. Traditionally paints consist of pigment particles dispersed in a film-forming substance - resin and in solvent which provides the desired viscosity. The paint composition may also include a variety of additives and fillers. Varnishes are an oil and natural resins solution. Synthetic resins can be used as well. Varnishes are coatings which dry up due to evaporation of the solvent.

Usually, paints consist of up to 70% of solids; the rest mainly consists of solvents. The amount of solvents in paints is limited in accordance with the rules governing environmental pollution, as a result of which paints containing a small percentage of organic solvents or having no organic solvent were created. Such paints include water-based latex colorants, paints biconstituent catalyzed paints (for example, epoxy-urethane systems), high-solids (up to 70%) paints, including plastisol colorants consisting primarily of pigments and plasticizers and powder coatings.

In general, the manufacture of paints and other coatings is a series of sequential operations on the appropriate equipment with the use of group processing methods. All operations are mainly mechanical without a chemical interaction of components. The process involves mixing of raw materials, dispersion, dilution and adjustment, pouring into containers and transportation to the warehouse.

Step 1: Loading of bulk materials into dissolvers and initial “coarse” stirring. Raw materials for the production of paints come in as liquids, solids, powders, pastes and hydraulic fluids. Raw materials (pigments, pastes, etc.). are weighed manually and premixed. Raw materials are placed into dissolvers and mixed.

Stage 2: “Fine” remixing in bead mills. Clumps of pigment may appear during the mixing process. After the initial mixing, the suspension is supplied into bead mills. The clumped pigment particles are milled to the original size to provide dispersion in the liquid base material. Different milling machines are used - three-roll mills, ball mills and graters. Each pigment particle is wetted during the process of abrasion and crushing.

Stage 3: Adding of resins. After the primary milling which may last for 48 hours, the resin is added and milling is repeated for a shorter period.

Stage 4: Adding of colorants. The milled pigment (milling) flows by gravity into a container located underneath, then other additives, such as colorants, are added and mixed.

Stage 5: Paint viscosifying. Diluents, such as resins or solvents, are added.

Stage 6: Paint filtration. After mixing, the paint is filtered and then flows by gravity to packing area.

Stage 7: Packing. Packing is carried out manually or mechanically. At this stage the paint is poured into the filling container.

Stage 8: Cleaning of production equipment and its preparation for a new production cycle. After dispersing, it is required to clean containers and mills before loading the next batch of raw materials. For this purpose, special tools and alkaline cleaners and solvents are used.