THE SILENT TRUTH ABOUT ORDINARY PAINT – YOU NEED TO KNOW

HOW ORDINARY PAINT PROPAGATES FIRE

When it comes to building and facility safety, aesthetics, and durability, paint might seem like a minor detail. However, the type of paint you choose can make a significant difference—especially when it comes to fire safety. While ordinary paint might beautify your space, it is also one of the major hazards in every space where it has been applied, and it becomes a primary source of fuel and a medium for the fastest fire propagation and transfer.

Here’s why opting for fire-retardant paint is a smart choice and a life-saving decision.

Ordinary paint propagates fire primarily because its ingredients act as fuel, contributing to rapid flame spread once ignited. The degree of fire propagation depends on whether the paint is wet or dry, its chemical composition, and the number of layers applied.

Over time, as buildings are renovated or redecorated, paint is re-applied to walls and ceilings to improve the aesthetics. However, increasing the number of paint layers on these surfaces can increase their flammability. It is a well-established fact that multi-layered paints can be a fire risk and lead to rapid flame spread in the event of fire. Effectively, when you add conventional paints, you are adding fuel for a fire to use.

How Paint Acts as Fuel

• Combustible Ingredients: Most paints contain organic compounds, binders, and solvents that are combustible materials. When exposed to a heat source, these components ignite and burn.
• Rapid Flame Spread: A single layer of paint adds a small amount of fuel, but multiple layers of paint can significantly increase a surface’s flammability, leading to a much faster spread of flames across the surface in the event of a fire.
• Vapor Ignition (Wet Paint): The most significant hazard with liquid paints, especially oil-based ones and lacquers, comes from the vapors they release. Flammable liquids can give off enough vapor at relatively low temperatures to ignite when they come into contact with a heat source. The vapor itself, not the liquid paint, is what initially burns. The fire can then “flash back” to the liquid source. The ability of a flammable liquid to flow can also spread the fire over a large area quickly.
• Spontaneous Combustion: Rags soaked in oil-based paints and stains pose a specific risk of spontaneous combustion. As the oils dry, they release heat through oxidation. If this heat is trapped, for example in a pile of rags, it can build up to a point where the material ignites on its own.

Types of Paint and Fire Risk

The fire risk varies significantly by the type of paint:

• Oil-Based Paints: These are generally considered flammable or combustible because they contain organic solvents. Even when dry, the cured film remains combustible and can burn if exposed to fire.
• Water-Based Paints (Latex and Acrylic): These are considered less hazardous in liquid form because water is the primary solvent. While wet, the water content reduces the fire risk. Once dry, the remaining solid film is still combustible and although the fire propagation risk is lower compared to oil-based coatings, it still poses a major threat.
• Spray Paints: These are highly flammable because they use highly flammable propellants like propane or butane gas.

The Critical Difference – Fire Retardant Paint

In contrast to ordinary paints, specialized fire-retardant paints are designed to slow down fire propagation or even stop a fire instantly. This is where NOFIRE® A18 Fire-Retardant Intumescent Coating becomes the solution.

NOFIRE® A18 – The Proven Fire Protection Solution

NOFIRE® A18 is a high-performance, Class-A and UL-certified fire-retardant intumescent coating designed to protect lives, assets, and infrastructure. Unlike ordinary paint that feeds fire, NOFIRE® A18 actively reacts to fire.

When exposed to high temperatures above 200°C, NOFIRE® A18 expands rapidly, forming a thick insulating char layer that slows fire spread, reduces heat transfer, minimizes smoke and toxicity, and protects the integrity of the substrate.

NOFIRE® A18 can withstand temperatures exceeding 1093°C (2000°F) and is engineered to surpass the most severe requirements for fire performance, durability, ageing resistance, and environmental safety.

Where NOFIRE® A18 Is Used

NOFIRE® A18 is ideal for residential and commercial buildings, data centers, server rooms, and UPS rooms, electrical cables, cable trays, and control rooms, strong rooms and vaults, wooden and steel structures, and critical infrastructure and fire-prone areas.

Instead of adding fuel to a fire, NOFIRE® A18 buys time, protects escape routes, and significantly reduces the risk of catastrophic loss.

Make the Safer Choice

Fire safety is not about aesthetics alone. It is about choosing materials that protect lives when it matters most. Ordinary paint hides a silent danger. NOFIRE® A18 transforms paint into protection.