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Valspar paints

A

Astonian

gone but not forgotten
Hi guys
many years ago down aston church rd nechells there was a paint company by the name of postans paint whom made paint
doe,s any body remember that one - i know they was there for
donkey years , but to day i travelled down that way today to go to my barbers phil lynch at bordesley green by the hospital
and as i travelled down aston church postans paint has become valspar paints and i thought to myself blimey valspar paints
they went out of business years ago and off the market never to be heard of but they are back on the scene i know there paint was rubbish years ago when i was an apprentice paiter and decorater
when i was a little whipper snapper== how many of you remember valspar paints did you ever try it does any body know how long since postans paint left and they valspar have beeninaston church rd it was nice to see the villa taverern still operating mind you there was a few dodgy characters out side - best wishes astonian ,;;
 
Interesting that you thought Valspar was hopeless paint. We think nearly all paint today is rubbish. We do the doors and skirting and a year later one can see through it. I think it was the lead that made paint good, but I could be wrong..I'm not a expert on the subject.
 
My Father in Law was a painter and decorator he used Valspar to paint my Morris Minor - fantastic job and not a brush stroke in sight. I wanted Tekaloid but he stuck with what he knew.

Have to admit it was still good when I sold the car.
 
Hi maggs
very true in deed why doesnt your paint last long
do you prime it .
Do you give it under coat
how many coats do you give it
most people today do not give there doors the proper treatment
they will either give it a coat of gloss or the under coat on its own
thats today s problem the two in one paint ain,t worth a light
people for the quickest will paint with one or the ther as looks good and bright and new thats there attittude so the neibiours like it
its nothink to do with lead paint and also there is beleive it or not a knack to painting and its all in the wrist action my dear
best wishes astonian ,;;
 
Hello Astonian,

Thanks for reply. We always rub down, undercoat at least twice, then top coat twice, but nothing seems to work. I will tell my husband about the wrist action though. Can you recommend a paint. Outside we use Sadolins Superdek..now that is a good a paint. We never fail with that one.
 
Hi Astonian.

The words Postans Paint brought back a lot of memories for me.

When I was a youth learning my trade painting and decorating we used to decorate Moor St Warehouse at regular intervals and they always specified Postans paint Blush Ivory as I recall which was posh Magnolia.
When we ran out of paint the Foreman used to give me the bus fare and send me to the works in Nechells and I always will remember the wire handles cutting into my fingers on the way back.
I seem to remember it was a good quality paint but what would I know I was only 16 at the time

Regards Steerboy
 
Many years ago i painted inside my bath with Valspar paint it lasted for several years despite the fact that we bathed in quite hot water it started to peel off at the bath water level so i got an acrylic bath and took the cast iron bath out, the colour i painted it was dark blue, i was very pleased with the quality of the Valspar paint. Len.
 
I remember Postans Paint when I used to sell filtration materials to them. Their ad-line was "Postans Paint I Trust". I was never very impressed with it.

Years ago I worked in a paint laboratory, and there was a notice on the wall thus:

"Never Buy Cheap Paint, Cheap Tools, or Cheap Women".

And that's about right, too! A paint is only as good as the surface you apply it too.

Bernie, we too brush-painted a car (a Mini) with Valspar enamel, and it was superb!

Big Gee
 
I used both Valspar and Tekaloid to paint cars when I was selling them from home in Brum, I preferred Tekaloid because it quickly dried hard and could be cut and polished like cellulose. Even brush painted the vintage Rolls with it.
When I moved down here one of my customers regularly painted his cars with Valspar and a paint roller. :). E.
 
Hi all,ref. Valspar paint, I used to buy small tins of Valspar in the mid '50's from a paint suppliers on Newtown Row, I think it was at the junction of Lr. Tower St. I used it to paint my model boats , and I thought it fantastic stuff. Mind you,the quality did seem to vary according to what colour was being used, I always found the dark green and the dark blue to be superior to any other colour in regard to ease of application,drying to a gloss, and general 'niceness'. Would there be any reason for this, the pigments used for example, or was it my imagination? Mal.
 
Eric Gibson said:
I used both Valspar and Tekaloid to paint cars when I was selling them from home in Brum, I preferred Tekaloid because it quickly dried hard and could be cut and polished like cellulose. Even brush painted the vintage Rolls with it.
When I moved down here one of my customers regularly painted his cars with Valspar and a paint roller. :). E.
Click to expand...
My FiL once bought a car that had been sprayed with a Flit Gun I kid you not. He rubbed it all down and brush painted it with Valspar - once he had removed and replaced the brown paper that had been used to bridge a hole in the door panel that is.:rolleyes:
 
mallyb2 said:
Hi all,ref. Valspar paint, I used to buy small tins of Valspar in the mid '50's from a paint suppliers on Newtown Row, I think it was at the junction of Lr. Tower St. I used it to paint my model boats , and I thought it fantastic stuff. Mind you,the quality did seem to vary according to what colour was being used, I always found the dark green and the dark blue to be superior to any other colour in regard to ease of application,drying to a gloss, and general 'niceness'. Would there be any reason for this, the pigments used for example, or was it my imagination? Mal.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, the darker a paint the less solids it will contain, making it easier to apply. Lighter colours, including white, have a much higher loading of pigment and filler, for opacity, and (again generally speaking) the higher the solids the poorer its 'brushability'.

Big Gee
 
One of the best paints I've used was Woolworth's own brand - made by Macpherson's.
Painted a car with it once, a Riley RM, pale blue.
Woolies later changed to Leyland paint - never as good.
Painted the house with Crown 'Duradio' once, in the 60's - a red shade, notorious for bleaching in the sun, but it stayed bright for over 10 years!
Tekaloid used to be the best coach paint, difficult to work but a good hard lasting finish. The name is used by another maker now, the stuff is .... (guess the bad word!)
'Elf and safety rules now determine that paint cannot contain lead, or oil solvents - everything is water based now, and it's difficult to get good lasting finishes with today's paints.
 
Thank you Lloyd,

I was beginning to think it was us. We haven't painted well in this house for a long time. The water based paints are great for cleaning the brushes. But that is there only virtue in our opinion. However, as I said before Sadolins Superdec seems very good for outside.
 
Lloyd I thought that Oil based paints were discouraged due to environmental concerns not Health and Safety. That was certainly the case with the Motor Industry changing over anyway.

Incidentally Oil or Solvent based paints seem still to be available albeit with reduced level of solvent - See This

Re: Tekaloid - I knew it was not anywahere near the same quality as it used ot be but had not realised it was now woned by a different company - thanks for that.
 
Just nicked this from another forum, it might be of interest. E.

the good news;

However unbeknown to everyone Tekaloid although not stocked at paint
stockist anymore almost disappeared overnight which left only two
companies (to my knowledge) still manufacturing Tekaloid, the Avenue
group and Breakwells paints, these two companies who are big enough have setup paint mixing in the original Tekaloid formulae.

So thats why Tekaloid is not widely available but nevertheless still
obtainable. Tekaloid can now be mixed to specification by the two outlets
mentioned above means that almost any straight colour can be mixed in
Tekaloid, which broadens the colour range dramatically as opposed to the
original Tekaloid colour rage having less than a hundred colous to
choose from, now has thousands.
 
At Hockley Brook, in the 1960's I remember seeing a conspicuous advert for Valspar Paint. It may have been more noticeable to me as my mother had a paint and wallpaper shop, but I have a suspicion it may have been made locally. Can anybody help please?
 
From internet

If it matters, we’re on it.
The Valspar Corporation is the fifth largest North American manufacturer of paints and coatings, a business it has engaged in since 1806. Its sterling reputation was built on the Valspar varnish, which was unveiled in 1906 as the first coating for wood that retained its clear finish when exposed to water. For most of its long history Valspar was a relatively small manufacturer. During the last thirty years, however, it has achieved Fortune 1000 status through an aggressive acquisition campaign.
For over 200 years, Valspar’s innovative paints and coatings have enhanced iconic buildings and the world’s best-known brands. From Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis to the Hong Kong Convention Center, from a Coca-Cola can to a Yamaha grand piano. From the green that defines John Deere to Coca-Cola red. Creating high quality functional and decorative coatings
 
Thanks Mike - does this mean it was American originally or not? I have seen before the Americans taking over something English and claiming it as their own, so was this the case here? (for any members over the pond, my sister lives in North Carolina and my brother in Florida, not being rude here, just factual)

I probably noticed the advert because my mother used to stock Valspar and she swore by it. She was a fantastic painter of woodwork - if it had not got a mirror finish, she rubbed it down and re-painted until it had!! Perhaps the advert was for a stockist? She used Corbetts I know that much, I think they were on Newtown Row - so not too far away for them to have had an advert.
 
Valspar are still in Aston Church Road as far as I'm aware, but I think they manufacture mostly powder coatings these days. They are indeed an American company.

Their Valspar Enamel was very good stuff indeed, and I wonder if it's still available.

Big Gee
 
In my early days as a painter i remember if you used Valspar paint you had to realy vent the room as the fumes were very strong.
 
ys and in my opinion as i recall it and used it it was cheap and dreadful it ran like a river from your brush and that was a harris,s brush the bestyo can buy
and the fumes ws terribly you was correct robert and yes the varnish was good but therepaint was a no; no; i to can speak of it from a painter view as i left school and
served a five year apprenticeship within the city of birmngham education departent and also a board of traing course prior to that apprentcehip as well
you cannot go wrong with a tin of durolux quarlity paint
best wishes astonian
 
Father in law, who was in the building game most of his working life, used to swear by Thornley and Knight paint, made I think in Birmingham. He always thought that Dulux, Crown, Manders and Berger were inferior rubbish !
 
And, of course, there was Docker Brothers' paint, in my day much used by Birmingham City Transport. We had some wooden panelling in our Kings Heath cottage living room which was always a sort of dull brown - I won't use the non-PC word! - and my mother's boy friend decided to liven the place up by using Docker Bros' primrose - a decided improvement! :)

Maurice :cool:
 
I have to say Doug, that my mother used to think Dulux was horrible paint. She always did all of the painting, and once she had the shop, she got to know most brands (at least of the ones she dold). She also used to stock Johnstone's too, which I think she approved of. Funny really, to think of a woman having an opinion about paint, especially in 1960! At that time most women did not decorate, it was the husband's job. She sold wallpaper as well and she had to use this funy machine to take the border off, it was at that time that papers just started to arrive ready trimmed. Cutting glass was also one of her skills - I think there must have been a lot of broken windows around, she used to buy quite a bit of glass in. This little corner shop was No 10, Linwood Road, but has since been demolished, for some strange reason.
 
hi maurice
my oldest brother worked at dockers for years he was in charge in the stock room and the ware house
he also said what you have said rubbish he would not use it but as you say its for a different thing
best wishes alan astonian
 
As an apprentice signwriter in the 50's working in Stafford Street, we used Leyland paint, showrooms in Dale End, Dockers, Postans, and Valspar, all had their own merits and snags, we used particular manufacturers for a particular colour we needed.
Today I only use Farrow and Ball paint, exspensive, at £90 a gallon, but the best, used on all National Trust properties.
 
Good afternoon Alan (well it is here at any rate)!

If I remember right, most of these paint ingredients for all manufacturers used to come out of ICI at Billingham, so it seems that the skill was in mixing it/choosing the proportions of ingredients as all paints contained much the same stuff. When I lived in Kings Heath, my next door neighbour was a buiilder/decorator and he used to go down to a drysalters and mix the stuff himself. No exotic colours mind you, just the usual dark brown and brunswick green. :(

Maurice :cool:
 
He obviously painted all the hospitals and clinics then, Maurice!!

A lot has gone through my head about paints since this thread started, we used to sell Permaglaze too and Magicote. Magicote was the first 'thixotropic' paint, it was jelly in the tin, but put your loaded brush against the woodwork and it used to thin out. It was really something in those days. We went two or three years running to the Magicote Ball, which I think was held in Coventry. Quite a glamorous occasion for me at the time - I remember Noelle Gordon being the guest of honour at one of them.
 
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