Universal Pigment

Universal pigment is the colorant a coatings shop keeps on the shelf so it can tint resin on site instead of ordering a factory-colored kit for every job. It is used two ways. Most of the time it goes into a base coat that will be tinted to match a flake blend, and the rest of the time it is coloring a straight solid color floor where the coating itself is the finished look.

Pigment colors the film, not the concrete. That is the distinction that matters when a customer describes what they want. A pigmented coating is opaque and consistent, and it hides the slab, the patches and the shade variation underneath. A dye or an acid stain does the opposite, penetrating into the concrete and letting the slab's own character come through. If somebody asks for a mottled, variegated, natural look, pigment is not the product. If they want a clean uniform color, or a base coat that disappears behind chip, it is.

Dosing is per gallon of resin, and the rate belongs to the coating manufacturer. Every resin system has its own maximum pigment loading, and exceeding it can change flow, gloss and cure behavior in ways you will not see until the floor is down. Look up the letdown ratio for the system you are tinting and follow it. If the system does not publish a rate for an outside colorant, mix and cure a sample board before committing a floor to it.

Compatibility is the other thing to settle before you mix. Confirm the pigment against the specific resin you are running, since epoxy, polyurethane, polyaspartic and polyurea all behave differently with colorant. Whatever system you land on, tint the resin side, get it uniform through the entire pail before the hardener goes in, and tint every pail for one floor in the same session so you do not end up with shade banding across a large pour.