Liquid Concrete Pigment - ColorBlast Pro™ Pigment Paste

1. Scope — the colors this data sheet covers

This data sheet covers seven color codes, in both pack sizes. Each is a liquid pigment dispersion for integrally coloring concrete, cement, mortar, stucco and grout.

The paste codes are their own set. A paste code is not the powder code with the same number — the color, the chemistry and the dose can each differ, so figures do not carry across between the two lines in either direction. Paste 102, for example, is a carbon black. §3 gives the pigment in each paste code.

Paste 201 and powder 203 are different materials, and the difference is one of hue as well as strength. Neither is an alternative form of the other, and the performance figures published for 203 apply to 203. Check that the pack and the order read 201.

Direct Colors publishes no standards-conformance statement for these color codes. The conformance statement in DC-TDS-PIG-03 covers the color codes listed in that document (§11). Where a specification calls for pigment conforming to a named standard for integrally colored concrete, bring the requirement to Direct Colors before submittal.

2. Product description

ColorBlast Pro Pigment Paste is a pre-dispersed liquid pigment added to a cement-based mixture during batching. The pigment is already dispersed in a liquid carrier, so it enters the batch as a weighed liquid rather than as a dry powder, and no dry pigment is handled. Color is distributed through the material rather than applied to its surface, so there is no surface color layer that can peel or flake; appearance change comes from wear and weathering of the concrete itself.

Seven colors, in a 2 lb pack and a 44 lb net pail. The paste is sold and dosed by weight throughout this document.

2.1 Intended use

These products are formulated for coloring concrete, mortar, stucco and other cement- and lime-based materials. They are not formulated, tested or sold for candles, wax, resin, soap, cosmetics, personal-care products, food-contact applications, or any application involving contact with skin or ingestion. A safety data sheet is available for each color; read it before handling.

3. Pigment designation

This section states pigment identity. Composition and ingredient information sits in the safety data sheet for each color code. The table identifies the pigment in each code by its Color Index designation, the designation a specifier uses to name a pigment.

206 Charcoal is a black. Contact Direct Colors on 405-275-6657 for its pigment designation, and ask before specifying where a project requires a declared pigment identity for a black. The designation shown for 102 is 102's.

Two of the seven are blacks, and they are not the same product. 102 is a carbon black; 206 is a different black. They sit on different dose ladders (§6.2), their figures do not transfer, and the use limitation in §9.2 belongs to 102.

4. Physical properties

The figures below are published nominal values. Documentation is held on file by Direct Colors and is available to specifiers on request.

Some viscosity bands are wide. Where a mix design, a metering pump or a dispenser needs a value held to a tolerance, ask Direct Colors before relying on the middle of a band. Dispersible in water is a property of the material rather than an instruction to dilute it — see §8.

These are published nominal values rather than Direct Colors test results, and no warranty attaches to them (§11).

5. Packaging

Both packs are sold by net weight — 2 lb net and 44 lb net — and weight is the only unit in which this product is sold or dosed. A container's capacity is not a quantity of product, so order by net weight and dose by net weight.

The 44 lb pail is filled to weight rather than to the top of its container, so how full it looks varies from one color to the next. The colors here differ in density by roughly a factor of two (§4), so 44 lb of the densest occupies about half the volume that 44 lb of the least dense does. Every pack holds its stated net weight — check the label rather than the level in the pail.

5.1 What a pack covers

Sacks = pack weight ÷ dose. Cubic yards = sacks ÷ the sacks in your mix.

"Trial quantity" is printed wherever a 2 lb pack does not reach a whole sack at that dose; the 2 lb pack is a trial-batch and test-panel size (§10.1). The cubic-yard figures assume a five-sack mix (470 lb cementitious per cubic yard); change that and they change with it — a six-sack yard covers less ground per pack, not more.

6. Dosage

Paste is dosed as a percentage of the weight of cementitious material — cement plus any supplementary cementitious materials — rather than on the weight of the total concrete or the volume of the pour.

6.1 The dose is pounds of paste

Every dose figure in this document is pounds of paste per 94 lb sack of Portland cement, not pounds of pigment. A paste step and a powder step carrying the same number are not equivalent, so a dose does not carry across from a powder shade code (§6.3).

6.2 The two dose ladders

Each ladder below is the range developed for those colors in the laboratory. Five colors run the standard ladder; 102 Carbon Black and 201 Blue run a lower one. Each step up a ladder is a deeper shade of the same color.

Both ladders assume the cement is the whole of the cementitious content — a five-sack mix is 470 lb cementitious per cubic yard on that basis. Where fly ash, slag or any other supplementary cementitious material replaces part of the cement, dose on total cementitious weight using the percentage column, and ignore the sack and cubic-yard columns.

102 and 201 are stronger pigments, so they use a lower dose range. Their recommended range ends at 2 lb of paste per sack; dose them on the lower ladder rather than the standard one.

6.3 The maximum is the top of the color's own ladder

There is no universal maximum paste loading for this line. The maximum for each color is the top of the laboratory-developed ladder for that color — 7 lb of paste per 94 lb sack for 101, 119, 204, 205 and 206, and 2 lb of paste per 94 lb sack for 102 and 201.

Do not exceed the top of the ladder for the color you are using without written technical guidance from Direct Colors. Each ladder ends where the laboratory work ended, and loading a cement-based mix beyond an established range can affect strength, set time and finish. Call 405-275-6657 before dosing above a ladder top.

A 10% loading limit is a limit on pigment, and a paste dose is not a pigment loading. Paste is part pigment and part carrier, so the weight of paste in a mix is not the weight of pigment in it: the top of the standard ladder, 7 lb of paste per 94 lb of cementitious material, is 7.4% of cementitious weight as paste, not 7.4% pigment. Direct Colors publishes no solids content for this line, so a pigment loading cannot be calculated from a paste dose.

The ladders are Direct Colors' own recommended dose ranges (§11), and they are starting points for a trial pour (§10.1). A recommended dose is not a prediction of the color of the work (§10, §11).

6.4 Cement base

Gray Portland cement has its own color and mutes every pigment. White Portland cement with the same paste at the same dose produces a different, brighter result. State which cement the work will use before selecting a color or a step.

205 White is the special case: it has to overcome the gray of the cement rather than tint it, so it behaves differently from the other six across the ladder. Discuss 205 with Direct Colors before committing a dose.

7. Storage, shelf life and freezing

Store above 37 °F. Do not allow the product to freeze — in transit, in storage or on site. Bring deliveries indoors, and do not leave paste in an unheated truck or store, a job box or an open yard in freezing weather.

If a pack arrives frozen or partially frozen, contact Direct Colors within twenty-four (24) hours of delivery with the order number and photographs, per the published shipping policy. After that it is no longer possible to establish whether the product froze in transit or after delivery. In cold-weather months, monitor tracking and bring packs indoors as soon as they arrive, and do not place material from a pack that arrived frozen.

8. Mixing

1. Weigh the paste rather than measuring it by volume. The colors differ in density (§4), so a volume is not a dose.
2. Add the paste to the mix, not to the surface. This is not a dry-shake, a broadcast color hardener or a stain, and it is not poured or brushed onto finished concrete.
3. Charge the paste with the batch water so that it is carried through the mix, and rinse the container into the batch so the whole dose is delivered.
4. Mix until the color is uniform through the batch, then keep the batch sequence, the mixer, the mixing time and the materials identical across every batch on a job. Direct Colors publishes no mixing time for this line — establish it on the trial batch (§10.1) and hold it. Under-mixing is a common cause of streaking and mottling.
5. Account for the liquid the paste carries (§6.1). Where the mix design controls water closely, allow for it and confirm on a trial batch; Direct Colors publishes no water-equivalence figure for this line.
6. Do not dilute the paste to make it easier to pour, and do not pre-mix it with anything other than the batch water.

9. Limitations

Do not add water after batching, and do not use calcium chloride or any chloride-based accelerator. Added water lightens and washes out the color, and the result is not recoverable; chloride accelerators cause mottling and discoloration in colored concrete.

• Do not exceed the top of the ladder for the color you are using (§6.2). There is no single maximum for the line (§6.3).
• Maintain a consistent water/cement ratio and a 4–6 inch slump across the job.
• Do not blend a paste with another paste, with a powder, or with any other colorant.
• Store above 37 °F. Do not allow the product to freeze, and do not use paste that has frozen (§7, §11).
• Color cannot be corrected after placement. Approve the color before the pour.
• Formulated for cement- and lime-based materials, and not for candles, wax, resin, soap, cosmetics, personal-care, food-contact or any skin-contact or ingestion use (§2.1).

9.1 Exterior work and air-entrained mixes

Direct Colors publishes no exterior-service data and no air-entrainment data for this line, and holds no documentation on the effect of these products on entrained air or on their behavior in exterior service. Exterior work, freeze–thaw exposure, and any mix specifying entrained air therefore call for a conversation with Direct Colors and a trial pour before the product is committed (§10.1).

• Call Direct Colors at 405-275-6657 and describe the mix, the exposure and the finish.
• Make a trial pour in the work's own materials, exposed as the work will be (§10.1).
• The determination of suitability is the buyer's (§11). Direct Colors does not design mixes and is not present when concrete is batched, placed, finished or cured.

9.2 102 Carbon Black — before you order

102 is a carbon black dispersion, recommended for interior and protected applications and for concrete that is not air-entrained. Carbon black is not recommended for air-entrained concrete, and exterior flatwork in freeze–thaw regions is normally specified with entrained air. For exterior projects, or any mix specifying entrained air, call us at 405-275-6657 before ordering and we will point you to the right product. A test pour is recommended on any project.

10. What determines the finished color, and how it is approved

A floor is judged on its surface, and the paste is one input among several — the others are controlled on site. The same paste at the same dose produces a different result if any of these change:

• Cement color, brand and source. Gray cement mutes every color, most on bright shades and on 205 White
• Water content and water/cement ratio — the largest single cause of batch-to-batch variation
• The step chosen — moving up the ladder deepens the shade of the same color
• Aggregate and sand color · supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash or slag
• Curing method, timing and temperature. Even curing and even drying give even color
• Finishing technique and timing · sealers, cures and surface treatments, which generally darken the apparent color, solvent-based sealers most of all
• Efflorescence — a whitish surface deposit arising from the concrete itself, which can make the apparent color pale or patchy

Holding the mix design, the materials and the methods constant throughout a job — cement and aggregate from a single source included — is the best available means of reducing variation. It does not eliminate it, and Direct Colors does not warrant the result (§11).

On efflorescence. A whitish surface deposit that can appear as new concrete cures, making the apparent color pale or patchy, and more noticeable on colored concrete than on gray. It arises from the concrete itself rather than from the pigment. Direct Colors publishes no treatment for it and states nothing about whether or when it clears.

Direct Colors records the lot supplied against the order. That is record-keeping: no lot-to-lot color tolerance is published or offered for this line.

10.1 Mock-up — the basis for approving color

Make a test panel using the actual cement, aggregate, water, admixtures, dose and finishing method for the work, cured as the work will be cured, and approve the color from the cured panel. Where the work is exterior, expose the panel as the work will be exposed.

Color cards, screen renderings, printed swatches and samples made with other materials indicate a color; they do not predict it. The cured panel in the project's own materials is the basis for approving color (§11). Direct Colors will prepare a match against submitted materials, on the terms in §12.

11. Data status and terms

The Color Index designations in §3 and the density and viscosity figures in §4 are published nominal values taken from documentation held on file. Direct Colors gives no warranty of any of them, of any performance property — light or weather performance, alkali resistance, batch-to-batch uniformity of color, dose response or coverage, none of which is published here for any of the seven color codes — or of the color, appearance, uniformity or condition of any concrete in which a product here is used, at any age or under any lighting; the finished appearance depends on the variables in §10, and Direct Colors controls none of them.

Whether a product here suits a given use and method of application is the user's determination. Color references create no warranty (§10.1), nothing here is an undertaking to repair, replace or refund, and no employee, agent, dealer or representative has authority to give a warranty for a product in this document.

Direct Colors' own statements stand as written, and none of them is a prediction of what a finished pour will look like:

• Store above 37 °F, do not allow the product to freeze, and do not use paste that has been allowed to freeze — §7
• Shelf life six months from purchase, unopened; no figure is stated for an opened pack — §7
• Formulated for cement- and lime-based materials, and not for the uses ruled out in §2.1 — §2.1, §9
• 102 is recommended for interior and protected applications and for concrete that is not air-entrained — §9.2
• The recommended dose ranges, and each ladder top as the maximum for the colors on it — §6

No warranty, and no conformance statement, from any other Direct Colors data sheet reaches this line: DC-TDS-PIG-03's warranty and conformance cover the color codes listed in it, and DC-TDS-203's fastness figures are color code 203's.

Full terms. This section summarizes the warranty position. Every sale is governed by the Direct Colors Terms of Service and Refund Policy, which contain the complete warranty, remedy, claim-period and liability terms and which govern in the event of any inconsistency with this data sheet.

12. Where to ask

Call Direct Colors on 405-275-6657 before you specify.

• A safety data sheet for the color code you are buying — one exists for each code in §1, and a sheet for one color does not describe another. Ask for the code, not the line.
• A prepared match — send the cement and sand intended for the work and our color lab will work up a match to approve. A prepared match describes the color achieved in our laboratory, from the materials submitted, under our conditions; the cured panel remains the basis for approving the finished color (§10.1, §11).
• Anything this document refers out — 204's density, 206's designation, a mixing time, a water equivalence, a solids content, a dose above a ladder top (§6.3), an exterior or air-entrained mix (§9.1), a specification naming a standard (§1).

13. Document control