Sherwin Williams Lead Free CR

I just bought out another striper (Thanks Woodie(TheStripeZone/OKC) for the generous terms). If you've seen my previous posts, you know, I'm a devout Aexcel user and have been for 6+ years. Anyway, in the deal, he threw in 50+ gallons of S/W lead free CR. SO, I thought what the heck. I had 5 truck stops to do this week.... I'd try it on them. Here's the results for those who care. In comparison to the Aexcel CR. On opening the can, S/W has the same 1/4-1/2 inch of settled crud in the bottom (as most paints do)... which I mixed up with a splash of toluene. Not a real problem in my book. Color...S/W looks kinda milky in the can, not as bright as Aexcel, but tends to brighten some as it dries. As far as trash/ clogging... very minimal. Probably not more than once every five gallons or so. Thickness...S/W required no thinning whatsoever even down into the 40 degree range. I can see where this would be better in colder temps, but on hot day in the south you'd probably have to use a 217/219 tip to get a 4" line. This time of year, I use a 419 with the Aexcel I guess it's just thicker. Drying time...here's where I ran into a problem. S/W took at least 45 minutes to dry well. Still tacky up to an hour after application. (10-12 mils thickness at 55 degrees) Where the Aexcel was drying in about 10-15 minutes. Application looked better/smoother with a 317 tip... dried a little quicker(cut mils down to 8-10) All in all . I could use this product if I had to. Obviously it is safer being lead-free and environmentally friendlier (The VOC per gal S/W 2.2 versus Aexcel 2.9 which probably contributes to the difference in drying time.) Definitely, would be fine on jobs with no traffic to deal with. Just glad I picked up some extra cones in the deal. Hope this helps someone, Dwayne.

We use SW CR when we get in a pinch, but we are an Aexcel user almost exclusively. We've had very similar expereinces with SW CR as you describe. But the one that stands out most comes with time. In our experieince the yellow SW CR fades and loses its brightness in a short amount of time - almost to a chalky color. We've not had this problem with Aexcel - some attribute this to the lead content which SW CR does not have. Whatever the case, we stay away from SW CR unless we are forced to use it.