Mysterious blue flecks appearing in white paint

[Kateykrunch]

does anyone know what these are, thought at first the paintwork had been caught with a blue pen and of course blamed the hubby, but its not him!

[Alcoblog]

does anyone know what these are, thought at first the paintwork had been caught with a blue pen and of course blamed the hubby, but its not him!

From Alcopedia ...

 

Blue flecks in white paint ...

 

White paint is of course created by mixing all the twelve primary colours together, normally in the ratio of 3:1. The same colour white can also be achieved by mixing in different proportions ... a phenomena known as metamerism.

 

Blue paint is made from re-cycled wheelie bins, which are liquidised and mixed with a binding agent ... normally toothpaste or vanilla essence. This produces a very stable colour known as 'International Klein Blue', invented in 1961. Before this date, blue did not exist.

 

However, due to the massive popularity of blue, there now exists a world shortage of wheelie bins which the dustbin men authorities are attempting to correct by using powerful electro-magnets in the bin lorries. International Klein Blue (unlike other colours) is of course very magnetic, therefore when the binmen turn on the magnets, all blue is attracted to them.

 

This of course applies to the blue in the white paint people use for painting woodwork etc. The absence of the blue causes the white paint to turn yellow, which I'm sure many people have noticed.

 

Paint manufacturers have tried to prevent this blue magnetic migration by mixing the white paint with eggshells which form a tough inpenetrable surface, through which the blue cannot escape.

However, although not escaping, the blue does unfortunately collect in small clumps just below the surface of the white paint, causing 'mysterious blue specks'.

 

Scientists from a leading paint manufacturer and famous scientific laboratory have now joined forces to form 'Alcodulux' ... a company dedicated to manufacturing a metameric white paint WITHOUT the use of blue wheelie bins.

'Intergalactic Alco Blue' is now available (at large cost) using fully synthetic waste-paper collecting receptacles, by simply sending a signed blank cheque to the address on the left hand side of this post.

[aliceBB]

does anyone know what these are, thought at first the paintwork had been caught with a blue pen and of course blamed the hubby, but its not him!

 

Where exactly is the paint and how recently was it applied?

[Maz3]

Could it be brightening agents, to make white appear whiter?

[slugger]

does anyone know what these are, thought at first the paintwork had been caught with a blue pen and of course blamed the hubby, but its not him!

 

Are you using Eggshell paint ?

[Alcoblog]

Are you using Eggshell paint ?

 

Precisely! (see post #2)

[Maz3]

(see post #2)

 

We were trying to ignore it

[slugger]

Precisely! (see post #2)

 

It's your post that made me think

[Alcoblog]

It's your post that made me think

Just to point out that 'International Klein Blue' does actually exist ... it's a blue that contains no white whatsoever.

[psynuk]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Klein_Blue

I read the page and kept wondering, does Alcoblog edit the wiki??

turns out, probably so

 

"These included performance art where Klein painted models' naked bodies and had them walk, roll and sprawl upon blank canvases as well as more conventional single-color canvases.

 

International Klein Blue in culture[edit]

 

Literature

In the novel Zero History by William Gibson, the character Hubertus Bigend has a suit made of material in IKB. In the novel he states that he wears this because the intensity of the color frequently makes other people uncomfortable, and because he is amused by the difficulty of reproducing the color on a computer monitor.