Sigma Paints Saudi Arabia says that it is once again leading the way, with its recently introduced innovative and creative water-based texture finishes, offering customers an even greater choice of decorative texture finishes for their contracts, projects and villas.

The two new finishes, added to the already extensive range of Sigma Paints decorative products, are Sigmulto Color-Tex, a spray-applied self-coloured texture finish for interior substrates and Sigmulto Kiros, a hand-applied texture suitable for use on both internal and external substrates.

Sigmulto Kiros is a ready-mixed lime-free texture, based on copolymer resins, and is designed for use on a wide range of cementitious substrates.

"Sigmulto Kiros offers our customers the opportunity to have an entirely unique finish in that the pattern created is limited only by the imagination of the client or contractor," says a Sigma spokesman.

In order to display the creative possibilities of the coating and to provide inspiration to the customers and clients, Sigma Paints has introduced five designs as standard: Swirl, Brush Strokes, Broken Leather, Combed, and Old Plaster.

Swirl is formed by twisting a damp sponge, wrapped tightly in a plastic carrier bag, into the wet applied texture.

Brush Strokes is created with an appropriately-sized paint brush during the application of the texture.

Broken Leather is created using a medium pile roller during the application of the texture and lacing, flattening of the peaks with a spatula or trowel, before the texture dries.

Combed is created by dragging a plastic comb through the evenly applied wet texture.

Old Plaster Trowelled is created with a trowel, scraper or plastic spatula during or immediately after application.

Sigmulto Kiros can be applied to new, primed and previously painted cement-based substrates, provided good preparation techniques have been adopted prior to the application. The texture coating itself will hide or mask small surface imperfections and has good adhesive and cohesive properties.

The texture is applied to the prepared and primed substrate by brush, roller or trowel and can be manipulated with a plastic comb, spatula, the application tool itself, or by any other implement of the user's choice, to form the desired pattern.

"The versatility of Sigmulto Kiros shows itself once again when it comes to the choice of finish," the spokesman says. "The option of a single colour water-based flat finish, such as the very popular decorative water-based coatings Sigmacryl, Sigmadecor or Sigmatex, may be applied over the dry texture."

''Where a semi-gloss or satin finish is required, Sigmacryl Semi Gloss or Sigmacryl Silk may be applied, and where a gloss finish is required Sigmacryl Gloss may be applied over the dry texture.

''For interior surfaces, a two-tone finish, or an aged antique effect, adds interest and enhances the visual depth of the finish. This can be achieved by a further application of yet another decorative coating in the Sigmulto range, Sigmulto Expression.''

Sigmulto Expression is applied by brush or roller after the selected flat or semi-gloss finish has fully dried. The highlights or raised portion of the texture is wiped out, using a flat absorbent damp cloth, before the coating fully dries, exposing the underlying colour and producing a unique distressed effect. The visual effect is further enhanced by the selection of the initial finish, flat or semi-gloss, as the porosity or absorbency of a flat finish is greater than that of semi-gloss, hence the depth of the effect created will appear greater.

"Colour choice is a very important factor in achieving the results required and for those that are not too comfortable with choosing colours, monochromatic colour schemes, shades or tints of a single colour are Sigma's recommendation: a pastel green base colour of Sigmacryl or Sigmacryl Silk and a slightly darker shade of Sigmulto Expression will produce a subtle and pleasing effect," the spokesman says. "For the more experienced users of colour, the combinations are unlimited and the colour effects created can be very striking."

"Everyone appreciates originality and creativity in the field of decorative finishes but it can be very difficult to obtain. Now Sigma has provided that opportunity for all to be original and creative, but don't get too carried away," he adds.