Pioneer Athletics

Our experience and our tests have shown that the issue is not so much that humidity affects the adhesion of paint to grass as that humidity strongly affects the drying and curing process. In general, paint may be dry to the touch in a relatively short period of time. This could be 5 minutes or an hour and 5 minutes. However, the paint takes longer to cure. The curing process depends on a variety of factors such as temperature, humidity, air flow, rain, etc.

After any latex paint is applied, the drying process begins. This is simply the evaporation of water from the paint. The curing process starts once all of the water has evaporated. Curing involves the individual latex particles sticking together (coalescing) to form a continuous film. During curing is when important properties such as water resistance and adhesion develop. Sufficient curing occurs in a couple of hours under warm and dry conditions. However, complete curing can take up to 14 days. In general, paints will be easier to remove and less durable the less the paint has cured.

We have seen situations during high humidity when paint is applied late in the day and may be dry to the touch before night fall. Dew forms on the turf and the paint. Therefore, the uncured paint re-saturates as it is essentially underwater for up to 16 hours. The paint will take much longer to cure and perform properly under these conditions. The paint is less durable until it is sufficiently cured. Fans, heat and blowers can help speed up both the drying and the curing processes.

Companies selling grass paints as removable synthetic turf paints are hoping that the customers remove the paint before it cures too much. Once grass paints cure on most synthetic turf fields, it is incredibly difficult to remove. What is unique about a product like Pioneer’s GameLine is that this paint will dissolve with Blitz Remover Solution even after full curing.

Share your experiences, questions and comments.