Can You Mix Acrylic Paint And Cement?

If you are trying to mix acrylic paint with cement to create a kind of colored cement to apply or coat, then this topic is for you. Certain characteristics between these two elements make them incompatible with mixing.

Yes, you can mix water-soluble acrylic paint with cement coloring, but you should keep in mind some recommendations and know the other options available for coloring cement.

Acrylic paint consists mainly of acrylate and pigments and both can also be used as an ingredient in concrete. But not every pigment is suitable, and just as little every acrylate. In addition, there are other components in the acrylic paint that may not be compatible with the concrete.

Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint that contains a plasticized material, so make sure that if you are going to get acrylic paint to mix with cement and water it is water-soluble paint.

In case you achieve a mixture of acrylic paint and cement/water, you must keep stirring the mixture constantly, because cement precipitation may occur in the mixture.

And even if there is the possibility of mixing water-soluble acrylic paint with cement, it would not be a very economical option compared to other methods of coloring cement.

Acrylic and latex paints are made from acrylic resins. Latex paints are water-based, while acrylic paints are chemical based.

Cement is mixed with water to create concrete. As you already know, water and oil do not mix, so oil paint would not be a good choice.

Water soluble oil paints are made, but they are only meant to be cleaned up with water, not thinned for use with water, as the water would cloud the paint.

So, if you really want to mix cement with acrylic paint, you would be well advised to use water-soluble paint, as the paint would end up being cloudy anyway when mixed with cement.

I would not recommend mixing acrylic paint with cement as a first choice for coloring cement, because it seems like a waste to buy something like this just to color cement when there are so many better options for this project.

Acrylic paint consists only of pigments and acrylic binders. The acrylic binder is partly made up of plastics, and polymethylmethacrylate.

In some cases where painters have used acrylic paint mixed with cement and lime, it has been confirmed that the paint improves the hardness and strength of the coating. This is similar to polymer concrete, which is a very strong type of concrete that is composed of mineral aggregates and resins.

In the case of polymer concrete, the plastics have the function of binding all the aggregates (gravel, sand, rock flour) and not the cement. In this case, it would not be a cement matrix but a plastic matrix.

Plastics as admixtures are not uncommon in the production of concrete or mortar.

Other options for cement coloring

There are several methods used to color concrete:

Use of dry pigment: cement pigment is an insoluble substance to change the color of the cement or concrete to which it is applied, and are often used to achieve unusual colors, usually red, yellow, or black, although orange, green, or blue shades are also achieved.

This dye, being insoluble, is swept across the surface of the freshly finished concrete.

Liquid pigments: The liquid pigment, unlike the dry pigment, is used at the time of mixing the cement, providing a permanent coloration. This pigment is mixed into the wet concrete before it is poured.

Up to one small 10-ounce bottle per 66.1 pounds of cement can be used for mixing.

Acid stains: Acid stains are also liquid solutions that are used to color cured cement, this type of colorant unlike dry and liquid pigment works through a chemical reaction in the fully cured cement and is generally used on floors and horizontal surfaces.

How to properly mix acrylic paint with cement?

Basically, you must create a balance between not adding too much paint to the mixture so that the cement becomes grassy, and not diluting the paint too much that the color is not distinguishable.

To dilute correctly it is recommended to add 2 liters of paint for every 10 liters of water. This corresponds to 20% of paint in relation to the amount of water in the mixture. Remember that you must first mix the cement with the water, and then add the paint to this mixture.

Remember, this is not a 100% compatible mixture, so cement settlements can occur. During the application, you must keep stirring the mixture at all times, since the cement could settle in the mixture.