ALKYD RESINS, COMMONLY KNOW AS “ALKYDS,”, are synthetic polymeric materials that have been used in the coating industry since the 1930s. Today they continue to be the "workhorse" polymers for the paint, coating, and printing ink industries. Alkyd and chemically modified alkyd polymers find use in most types of liquid organic coatings for architectural, air-dry, and baked industrial and maintenance coatings. Alkyds are a special class of polyesters that often have vegetable oil or fatty acids coreacted into the polyester, and these compounds provide the distinctive air-cure feature of many of these compounds.