Mixing Your Own "safety" Paint

jproffer

OK painter friends...a question:

I need to mix paint and "sand" together for safety purposes. I know I can buy this stuff pre-mixed, but I have about a ton of sand sitting in the back without a home , and I also have means to screen out anything to big to mix into paint...SO:

Anyone have any idea how much per gallon, and what size "sand" is usually used for this?

ProWallGuy

I honestly don't know if the type you buy to add to paint is any different from play sand or whatever. I'd do it.
How much? I usually start adding it to a paint setup (five gallon bucket), mix it good, and test drive it with a brush. When it looks thick enough, I paint away.
Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take it back out!

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation

slickshift

I did make my own for a boat project a while back
I really can't remember the ratio
It was play sand type, it might have been labeled "landscape sand" (?) but it was...pre-screened(?)...all the same size, or close anyway
I made several mixes, like PWG says (though I did gallons), and tried them before I got the ratio right

Teetorbilt

I have found that if you premix it tends to get streaks. I do it this way.
Make a sand shaker from a coffee can with nail holes punched in the bottom. Roll out some paint and shake the sand onto the wet paint. Let dry and come back with a lockdown coat. The end results are far superior to premix.

If you want to play around with textures, you can use glass beads, bubbles, Q-cells, different grades of sand or, for real serious jobs, ground walnut shells.

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Dale

If you're using your own sand I'd wash it first to get the dust off....or not.
I like Teedorbilt's idea for even application.

jproffer

Thanks Dave, I thought the same thing, I already washed it....actually I washed it, sieved (screened) it, took out the sizes that I wanted, washed it again and sieved it again to get any little amount of dust that was left out. One of the advantages to working in a rock quarry QC dept.

Good idea Teetor about sprinkling after the first coat.

ProWallGuy

Hell, after all that, I would have went and bought some painters sand and called it a day!

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Wallpaper Hanger St. Louis
Digital Murals Installation