A regional paint manufacturer located near Melbourne faced recurring customer complaints about noticeable shade inconsistencies in their water-based interior wall paints. Despite adhering to a standard mixing process, differences in hue were apparent once the paint dried on walls.

We conducted accelerated storage and stability tests and identified that pigment flocculation was causing uneven color distribution. The root issue stemmed from the choice of dispersant, which was insufficient to maintain pigment stability over time.

To address this:

• We replaced the existing dispersant with a high-efficiency, polymeric dispersant that offered better pigment anchoring.

• Introduced a co-solvent system to help maintain uniform dispersion and prevent drying-related clustering.

• Added a wetting agent to ensure better pigment integration during mixing and application.

• Standardized the mixing sequence and timing, creating a repeatable lab-to-production protocol that ensures batch-to-batch consistency.

As a result, customer complaints dropped significantly, and the visual quality of the product was restored, even under varying humidity and substrate conditions.