Tack – The degree of stickiness of a film during drying.

Tack Cloth - A fabric impregnated with a tacky substance that is used to remove dust from a surface after sanding or rubbing down, and prior to further painting. It should be stored in an airtight container to preserve its tackiness.

Tacky - The stage in the paint’s drying process at which the film is sticky when lightly touched.

Talc – An extender that helps make paint smooth.

Tall Oil – A blend of resin and oil acids obtained as a by-product from sulphate process for making paper.

Tertiary Colors – Colors each made up of mixtures of two secondary colors. Tertiary colors do not appear on the color wheel.

Thermoplastic – Becomes mobile or softens under heat.

Thinner – A volatile liquid used to thin or lower viscosity of paint.

Through Dry – Ability of film to show no loosening, detachment, or evidence of distortion when the thumb, placed on film with maximum pressure is turned through 90 degrees in a plane of film.

Tint – A color thinned or let down with white; also used as a verb to describe the changing of a color by addition of other colors as colorants.

Tinting Base – A base paint, usually white, made to be changed in color by the addition of colorants.

Titanium Dioxide – The most used white pigment since the use of white lead has been restricted.

Toluol/Toluene – Flammable aromatic solvent made by coal tar distillation.

Tone – A value of a color produced by adding gray to the color.

Tone Down – The process of reducing visual prominence.

Toner – Usually referred to as a non-extended pure organic pigment, though some are based on metals.

Tooth - In a dry paint film, a fine texture imparted either by a proportion of relatively coarse or abrasive pigment, or by the abrasives used in sanding; this texture improves the burnish properties and also provides a good base for the adhesion of a subsequent coat of paint.

Top Coating – Finish Coat.

Touch Up - Application of paint on small areas of painted surfaces to repair misses, mars, scratches and places where the coating has deteriorated, in order to restore the finish.

Toxic – Poisonous.

Toxicity – Degree of poisonousness.

Transparent - Having the property of allowing light to permeate without diffusion or scattering; clear.

Triadic Color Scheme - A color scheme using three colors that are equidistant on the color wheel.

Tri-Sodium Phosphate (TSP) - A cleaning compound based on an alkaline material. Because it contains phosphate, its use may be controlled in certain geographical areas.

True – Exact or level or perpendicular as applied to walls.

Tung Oil - A fast-drying oil obtained from the nut of the tung tree; also known as chinawood oil. Generally used in fine wood finishing and in spar varnishes.

Turpentine – A colorless, volatile liquid paint thinner derived from pine tree resins.