The key difference between hardener and thinner is that hardeners are useful in solidifying leftover latex paint, whereas thinners are useful in making a paint spread easily.
Hardeners and thinners are substances that perform roles opposite to each other. A hardener is a substance that is added to harden another substance, such as a paint or varnish. A thinner is a volatile liquid that is useful in thinning a paint.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Hardener
3. What is a Thinner
4. Hardener vs Thinner in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Hardener vs Thinner
What is a Hardener?
A hardener is a substance that is added to harden another substance, such as paint or varnish. We can use a hardener in some mixtures simply to increase the resilience of the mixture once it sets. However, sometimes we use hardeners in other mixtures as a curing component. Furthermore, a hardener can act either as a reactant or as a catalyst during the chemical reaction that takes place during the mixing process. We can also call a hardener an accelerator.
There are different types of hardeners, such as aliphatic and aromatic amines, anhydrides, and polyamides. Typically, hardener molecules are smaller compared to resin molecules. Therefore, hardeners have low viscosities.
Moreover, a polyamine hardener is made from organic molecules that consist of two or more amine groups. In paints, we use paint hardeners to solidify leftover latex paint. Then there is no problem in applying the paint.
In addition to paints, we can use hardeners in concrete. Concrete hardeners are water-based impregnating and hardening sealers having a high quality, and they are developed to speed up and simplify the mechanical sanding and polishing of the concrete floors.
What is a Thinner?
A thinner is a volatile liquid that is useful in thinning a paint. The most common form of thinners is lacquer thinner. Lacquer thinner is a type of cellulose thinner that is usually a mixture of solvents. It is able to dissolve in a number of different resins or plastics that are useful in modern lacquer. In the past, lacquer thinners frequently contained alkyl esters such as butyl or amyl acetate, ketones such as acetone or methyl ethyl ketone, aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g., toluene), ethers (e.g. glycol cellosolves), and alcohols.
However, modern lacquer thinners have to comply with low-VOC regulations. Often, these formulations contain acetone along with small amounts of aromatic solvents.
What is the Difference Between Hardener and Thinner?
A hardener is a substance that is added to harden another substance, such as paint or varnish. Meanwhile, a thinner is a volatile liquid that is useful in thinning a paint. Therefore, these two substances have opposing roles. So, the key difference between hardener and thinner is their basic function; hardeners are useful in solidifying leftover latex paint, whereas thinners are useful in making a paint spread easily. In other words, hardeners make it difficult to spread paint while thinners make it easy to spread the paint.
The below infographic presents the differences between hardener and thinner in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Hardener vs Thinner
Hardeners and thinners are important substances in construction and other industrial purposes. They typically perform roles that are opposite to each other. Therefore, the key difference between hardener and thinner is that hardeners are useful in solidifying leftover latex paint, whereas thinners are substances that are useful in making paint spread easily.
Reference:
1. Farid, Saad. “What Is the Composition of Paint ‘Thinner’?” ResearchGate, 13 Nov. 2021.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Mix of Epoxy Resin and Hardener” By Dzhang2680 – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Phase 2 house renovation day 15 – lacquer thinner” By John Karwoski (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr