Talc is one of the most widely used extender minerals in paint. It is used in exterior and interior architectural paints, semi-transparent and opaque wood stains, specialty coatings, and industrial/OEM (original equipment manufacture) applications. Talc is a true functional extender mineral. Its platy structure, hydrophilic surface, and inert chemistry help in the formation of coatings that provide a real moisture barrier. The platy structure also promotes a strong, flexible film.

Talc is the least hard of the industrial minerals—rated as 1, the lowest, on the Moh’s hardness scale. This softness makes it a particularly good additive in sanding primers.

When ground to an ultrafine size, 1 micron median, talc can be used to control gloss and sheen in industrial coatings.

Another talc application in coatings is in predispersed liquid colorants used for in-store tinting of paints. Talcs help keep the pigments suspended and deagglomerated and maximize development of tinting strength from the prime pigments used in the colorant.

Specialty Minerals Talcs for Coatings
Specialty Minerals Inc.’s (SMI’s) Talcron^® talc products come in a wide range of particle sizes and size distributions and are useful in a broad range of coatings applications.

Standard 325 mesh filler talcs find use in exterior and interior architectural or decorative coatings as film reinforcement and moisture barrier additives and contribute to improved weatherability. Finer grades are used in sanding primers and in maintenance coatings. The finest products are used as gloss and sheen materials in both architectural and industrial coatings.

All SMI’s talc products for paint are mined and processed in our Barretts, Montana facility.  We recommend the following products for paint:

• Talcron^® talcs – 1 to 8 micron bright paint talcs.
• Sericron^® 2M and 3M talcs – 8 micron talcs, with 200 and 325 mesh topsizes for careful color control and consistency.  
• Microtalc^® MP 70-22 and MP 50-26 talcs – 7 and 8 microns, with 200 and 325 mesh topsizes, are general purpose grades.

Click on a product name to download the technical data sheet for that product.

 

Learn more:

• SMI minerals for paint
• SMI minerals for architectural coatings
• SMI minerals for industrial coatings
• SMI minerals for specialty coatings
  
  
• What is Talc?
  
  
• Download technical data sheets for Specialty Minerals products
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• About Specialty Minerals Inc.
• Specialty Minerals plant locations and profiles