One downside of colder winter temperatures is the affect on paint viscosity, making it thicker and reducing ‘flow’ so it’s more difficult to spray.

As the thermometer drops don’t be tempted to over thin the product to compensate – it may appear to spray more easily but it takes more coats to achieve coverage, it’s prone to runs and once it’s baked the gloss level is dramatically reduced and that’s a serious issue with clearcoats and ‘direct gloss’ colours.

While several good solutions are available, one of the most practical is to take advantage of booth temperature. Simply mix the product to the recommended ratio and let it sit in the booth while doing the final prep (blow off, tack rag, etc) on the job. Five to ten minutes in a booth operating at around 23°C will allow the heat to soak into the cold product. The warmed mixture will flow and spray far more easily and there will be no sacrifice of gloss.