# painters-why white clothes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538 "2000-09-08T20:26:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/1 "2000-09-08T20:26:31Z")
I couldn’t find anything in the columns about this, even though it seems I should have. I would think it’s a very common question. Why do house painters usually wear white clothes and hats? ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/2 "2000-09-08T20:31:51Z")
Just a guess: white and light clothing reflect the sun’s rays rather than absorbing them so they would stay cooler in white or light clothing. ---
**Author:** ![Kyberneticist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@Kyberneticist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyberneticist)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/3 "2000-09-08T20:34:56Z")
So they don’t leave dark fibres from wooly clothes, and dark smudges from dyes on freshly painted clean walls? ---
**Author:** ![Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/779978/32.png) [@Zumba\_The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zumba_The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/4 "2000-09-08T20:35:49Z")
Painters wear white because they usually get paint all over thier uniforms. The paint is less obvious on a white uniform then it would be on a uniform of a different color. Assuming of course that they don’t paint many things in dark colors. Most houses/interiors are lighter colors. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2000, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/5 "2000-09-09T00:56:45Z")
There’s also the issue of cleaning. Anything that can bleach out paint would pretty much destroy any kind of dye the clothes could be colored with. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2000, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/6 "2000-09-09T01:20:43Z")
So why is [this](http://192.41.13.240/artchive/v/velazquez/meninas.jpg) painter dressed in black? huh? huh? ---
**Author:** ![Spider\_Woman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Spider\_Woman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spider_Woman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2000, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/7 "2000-09-09T01:31:16Z")
That is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for posting it. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2000, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/8 "2000-09-09T02:56:07Z")
Because the majority of the time painters are working with white paint, and because other materials (primer, plaster, etc.) painters work with are also white. I didn’t find a column about this in the archives, so I must have gotten it from the Imponderables guy\*. [sup]\*I swear I never bought any of his books. I read them at the library–I didn’t even check them out![/sup] ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/9 "2000-09-09T15:15:09Z")
the cloths they use to protect the floors are also white 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2000, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painters-why-white-clothes/32538/10 "2000-09-09T15:52:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*So why is [this](http://192.41.13.240/artchive/v/velazquez/meninas.jpg) painter dressed in black? huh? huh? \*\* Well, Because he is an ARTIST, not a PAINTER. (he’s also a painting himself, so he’s an artist’s model, chosen for his looks.)