Color, sheen and/or finish selector for coatings and other characteristics of surfaces

1. A grout selector comprising:

a flat substrate having opposing surfaces;

a coating on at least one of the surfaces of said substrate or being said substrate, said coating having a color replicating a color of a type of grout; and

fold lines in said substrate for enabling the coated substrate to be placed between adjacent coverings to simulate grout between the coverings for observation by a viewer to decide if the replicated color is acceptable.

2. A grout selector according to claim 1 where there are at least two fold lines configured when folded for the grout selector to be placed between the adjacent coverings to simulate grout between the coverings.

3. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein the coverings are generally rectangular in configuration, and said fold lines are straight parallel lines.

4. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein there are more than two fold lines, said substrate being foldable about different selected pairs of fold lines to vary the width of the folded substrate.

5. A grout selector according to claim 1 and further comprising a selected aggregate on said coating for simulating one of the finishes of a grout available for selection.

6. A grout selector according to claim 5 wherein the aggregate is beads.

7. A grout selector according to claim 6 wherein said beads are polypropylene beads having a thickness in the range of 60 μm to 400 μm.

8. A grout selector according to claim 5 wherein said aggregate is selected from the group consisting of beads and ground up nut shells.

9. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein the substrate is a cellulosic material.

10. A grout selector according to claim 9 wherein the cellulosic material is paper having a thickness in the range of 0.004 inches to 0.016 inches.

11. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein the substrate is a polymeric material.

12. A grout selector according to claim 11 wherein the polymeric material is selected from one of the group consisting of polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate.

13. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is a solvent-borne coating.

14. A grout selector according to claim 13 wherein the solvent-borne coating is a cellulose-derivative resin.

15. A grout selector according to claim 14 wherein said cellulose-derivative resin is selected from the group consisting of nitrocellulose, cellulose acetate, ethyl cellulose and cellulose acetate butyrate, and one or more solvents selected from the group consisting of acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl acetate, methanol, ethanol and nitromethane.

16. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said coating is a latex composition.

17. A grout selector according to claim 16 wherein said latex composition includes at least one acrylic resin dispensed in an aqueous medium.

18. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is a cellulosic material, and said coating is a solvent-borne colored coating composition.

19. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is cellulosic having pores, said coating is a latex composition and the pores are sealed against water in the latex composition.

20. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said coating is selected from the group consisting of a nitrocellulose lacquer coating and a UV coating cured with a selective waveband of UV radiation.

21. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is prepared for shipping in a flat condition, for ultimate folding by a user of said grout selector.

22. A grout selector according to claim 1 wherein said fold lines are selected from the group consisting of a set of scores, a set of reverse scores, U-shaped scores, perforations, separated slits and thin indented lines.