How To Make Paint Glossy? [2 Easy Methods]

In these modern days, we are attracted to vivid color combinations that freshen-up our moods when we are relaxing in our comfort zones.

Color combinations help us to change our mental state and improve it while working in our co-working space or spending time with our family.

I have seen that people are mostly engaged with glossy paints rather than traditional paints. It actually is a gorgeous combination of smooth and shiny colors to get the perfect vibrancy of color combinations.

One can say that glossy paints are slightly expensive. But, you don’t need to worry about it. In this article, I will be covering in detail about how to make paint glossy.

You simply need to stick till last so that you won’t miss any important points to shine your space with glossy colors.

What Is Gloss Paint?

Let’s know about the basics of gloss paint. The gloss paint or gloss is generally composed of small pigments. It is hard, shiny and durable perfectly suited for your walls to shine better.

It also refers to the sheen level of paint. The sheen level of paint is directly proportional to reflection of paint. If the sheen level is high, then the reflection of paint is high. 

The best way to apply gloss paint is with brush, roller or spray. One can easily get spray paints for metal to shine perfectly.

Why Is Gloss Important?

As mentioned earlier, gloss paints help us to improve our moods and mental well-being. Also, it has an amazing appearance and perfect serviceability in your room.

Along with smooth and shiny surfaces, gloss paint improves durability of paints having moisture and stain resistance. It is suggested to use eye-friendly sheen level of paint. This will help you to reduce excessive reflection and imperfection on the surface.

The gloss level has a significant impact on color perception. Color perception refers to good color combination to avoid any dull colors that may affect your moods.

It is preferred to use a high gloss level of paint. It has a richer color combination than a low gloss level of paint.

Types Of Gloss Paints

There are top 7 types of gloss paints. They are flat, velvet, eggshell, low sheen, semi-gloss, gloss, high gloss. Let’s know more about these types of gloss paints.

Flat

Flat gloss paints are applied on walls. The range of gloss level ranges from 0 to 5 for flat level. These paints easily hide any surface imperfections and allow you to get a better finish on the walls.

These gloss paints are mostly suitable for living rooms, dining rooms or bedrooms. One can have a better finish with flat gloss paints on ceilings. 

Stains are hard to remove on flat gloss paint. These paints have low reflectivity so they are preferred to use in the house.

Velvet

Velvet gloss paint is the second crucial type of gloss paint. It has a 5 to 9 range of gloss level of paint. Velvet gloss paints have higher gloss compared to flat gloss paint. These gloss paints are ideal for a kid’s room which can be more washable or scrubbable.

Eggshell

Eggshell gloss paint is slightly closer to velvet gloss paints. It has the range of gloss paint from 10 to 15 having warmth and depth on surfaces compared to flat gloss paint.

These gloss paints can remove stains easily than flat or velvet gloss paint. Eggshell gloss paint can also be used for dining room or kid’s room.

Low Sheen

Low sheen has high gloss! These are quite similar to eggshell gloss paint having the range of gloss paint from 20 to 25. These paints are preferred in areas having high gloss. One can also use in areas where more cleaning is required as these paints can be easily cleaned.

Low sheen gloss paints are ideally used for kitchens or bathrooms. One of the limitations of low sheen gloss paint is that surface imperfections can be easily identified on the surfaces. These have less smooth finish compared to flat gloss paint.

Semi Gloss

Semi-gloss has a perfect glossy appearance and is less reflective on surfaces. These gloss paints are stain resistant and easy to clean due to glossy finish. It has a range of gloss paints from 40 to 50. 

Semi-gloss paints are ideally used for kitchens and bathrooms where more cleaning is required. 

Gloss

Gloss paint has a high reflective surface having a range of gloss paints from 70 to 80. These paints are stain resistant and tough in nature compared to other gloss paints.

Other than kitchen or bathrooms, gloss paint can also be used for doors or cabinets. Due to the high range of gloss paint, it can easily highlight the surface imperfections.

High Gloss

As the name suggests, high gloss paints have 85+ range of gloss levels perfectly used for office doors or cabinets where there are more fingerprint touch on the surfaces.

These are most durable and stain resistant compared to other gloss paints. Also, it is tough in nature and easiest to clean where there is greater formation of dirt or dust on the surfaces.

How Does Paint Shine?

There two main points that affect the shine of the paint. One is the range of gloss levels and the other is pigment volume concentration.

We have already seen the range of gloss levels. Let’s know about pigment volume concentration.

Pigment volume concentration refers to the volume of pigment present in it. It is directly proportional to its concentration. If the pigment level is higher, the pigment volume concentration level is higher.

One can conclude that higher levels of pigment volume concentration lowers the gloss level of paints. 

These gloss paints have more binder which helps to keep the paint for a smooth and shiny surface. 

If the paint contains more pigment, then it has less binder. If there is less binder, then paint becomes non-reflective or less glossy.

One of the significant elements is binder which helps the paint to shine, having less pigment volume concentration. Also, more binder can help to stay away from excessive dirt formation on the surface keeping it clean and glossy.

Advantages Of Gloss Paint

We have learnt about definition and types of gloss paint. Let’s know the advantages and limitations of gloss paint briefly.

Before starting we know that durability is the foremost advantage of gloss paint. These glossy paints have less pigment and more binder which makes it smooth and look glossy.

• Attractive Nature

The attractive nature of glossy paint in the room helps you feel relaxed and release any stress in your coworking space. The matte finish on the ceiling helps to reflect less and draw more attention from people in the room.

• Humidity Resistant

The gloss paint has smooth and reflective nature and is durable in nature. Along with its durability, it is water or humidity resistant helping you clean the surfaces without worrying about color removal.

• Easily Washable

As we all know that glossy paints have smooth nature which helps to clean or wash without removing the colors. Gloss paints are used in kitchen and bathroom areas where there’s a need to wash the surfaces time-to-time.

• Highly Reflective

The range of gloss levels more than 10 are ideally highly reflective. Flat gloss paints are less reflective than semi gloss or high gloss paints.

• Wide Applications

Gloss paints can be used on any surfaces including living room, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, cabinets or doors having smooth and shiny surfaces.

Limitations Of Gloss Paint

There are few limitations of gloss paint. However, I’ll compare it type-wise.

Surface imperfection is the main limitation of any gloss paint. It’s smooth and highly reflective surfaces conceal the surface imperfections. Sometimes, brushstrokes can be easily identified on gloss or high-gloss paint application.

Flat gloss paint has a less reflective surface.

Gloss paints have very smooth surfaces which can identify surface imperfections.

Surface brushstroke imperfections can be identified in semi-gloss paint.

How To Make Paint Glossy?

One of the easy methods is, you can use any traditional paint and mis it in a gloss or high-gloss paint to meet the required level range of gloss paint for your walls.

If you need to try something easier, then I have a second method. You can simply get a polycrylic varnish and mix with the original color. There is no exact composition. What I suggest is go for the first method without worrying about the glossy effect.

In the first method, you need any high-gloss paint to mix to achieve 100% glossy effect. 

I’ll be mentioning the best gloss paint for the wall below. You can use it to mix to achieve a perfect glossy effect.

Best Gloss Paint For Walls

RECOLOR Paint

The super glossy and professionally recycled RECOLOR Paint is a perfect choice for smooth and shiny surfaces. This semi-gloss paint can cover an area up to 450 square feet filled with super shiny color on your wall.

The brand assures about the quality of paint and offers you perfect smooth color paint without having any stain effect. 

The approximate dry time for RECOLOR Paint is 2 to 6 hours. You can easily wash the walls without worrying about color removal. The paint is durable in nature. 

Along with walls, it can be applied on wood, concrete or metal surfaces having humidity resistance. 

Collectively, it can be said that RECOLOR Paint is the perfect choice to use to make paint glossy and shine your rooms with smooth colors.

Conclusion

I hope you have learnt how to make paint glossy. If you follow all these steps, you can create glossy paint at home. 

If you have any queries, you can drop your queries in the comment section below.