Is all paint the same?

Limey

People often talk about good quality paint, I'd like to know what brands people prefer, or what is considered to be the best quality, whether it be Fleetwood, Dulux, Crown etc etc.

I got some cheap Fleetwood in a nearby shop but is it cheaper because it doesn't keep aswell as others?

mike65

Good question, I have never stuck to one brand and have never found one name better than another.

Mike.

311

I think devine paint is nice at the moment ,rich colours.
You can get it in MRCB ,The light seems to reflect off it differently than standard paint.

Sonnenblumen

Limey wrote:

People often talk about good quality paint, I'd like to know what brands people prefer, or what is considered to be the best quality, whether it be Fleetwood, Dulux, Crown etc etc.

I got some cheap Fleetwood in a nearby shop but is it cheaper because it doesn't keep aswell as others?

A very broad question, would not think there is a single brand that could be considered best in class of all the various areas of application be it interior, exterior, specialist application etc etc

I mean there are so many factors to be considered including area, method of application, cost, durability, longevity even colour!

Wertz

Farrow & Ball is considered "best" (ie. most expensive) when it comes to household paint. It's handmade from centuries old recipes blah blah and TBH compared to more down to earth brands like crown or dulux, I'd take the middle of the road stuff any day.
We've found when working with these expensive boutique paints (that interior designers simply adore dahling) that they have poor covering/hiding power, can be difficult to work with and all in all don't provide value (approx 3 times the price of standard brands).
That said, after the work is put in,(usually involving more coats than normal paint would take), the finish does look superb and the exclusivity of the colours and tones is something that cheaper paints can't replicate.
Our very own Colortrend do some very snazzy palettes too and their prices are a little lower than Farrow & Ball. Other handmade paints like Greenes and Fired Earth are quality too.

Paint prices mostly come down to one thing; the amount of solids and pigments in the paint and what they're made from. Instead of using a dye system like normal paint, most of the designer paints use natural ground pigments (like artist's paint).

Basically unless you have money to burn or your interior designer has delusions of grandeur, stick with the mid range priced stuff.
I needn't tell you that bargain basement paint isn't worth the can it comes in; you may as well just throw it down the drain as putting it on walls. It won't stand the test of time.
But even the highest quality brands eventually need re-painted, although from what I've seen over the years, people that go for the higher end finishes tend to leave them on longer.


[edit] Personally I find that dulux provides the best bang per buck.

magicbastarder

one reason for going with F&B is that it breathes more than more modern concoctions; so is better used on lime-based plaster than modern paint is.

antoinolachtnai

This is not true unless you go for something like distemper, which is quite a specialized farrow and ball product. If you are dealing with a full-scale restoration project, you need specialized products and advice.

Farrow and Ball emulsion is not claimed to be any more 'breathable' than anybody else's emulsion. It's not handmade and it's certainly not made from a centuries old recipe. As Wertz says, the pigments may be different.

I've gotten good results from colourtrend when i got colours mixed (sometimes colours mixed to match F and B colours, which are a great starting point sometimes). I find there's a nice 'sheen' off it. Dulux sell some great paint, although some of the colours in their premixed range don't look great on older houses. For paints mixed in the shop, a lot depends on the shop have a good setup and good quality control I think.

And there is definitely some crap paint around.

(I'm just an amateur though.)

Wertz

Well, handmade in the sense that anything is handmade these days....just less intensive production methods and more people involved in the process than simply automated plants like ICI or whoever. The methods used in their paper making are a lot more hands on than most commercial brands of wallpaper too...
As for "centuries old recipes" , most of their colour palette has remained unchanged for quite a while and is based on pigments that would originally have stemmed from use in artist oil colours...
It's not just the pigment/solid content that's different either....the actual binder in their emulsion doesn't use acrylic latex like most modern paints do (which is probably why it's a bitch to get to cover), that's why you can get such subtle sheens off it.
I'm no real expert on this stuff either, I just use it a good bit since the designers we work for have a thing for F&B, so I've picked up on the good and bad points...

Bottom line: buy what you can afford...if budget is an issue, try using less colours in your scheme and buy large cans/buckets of better quality stuff rather than multiple smaller tins. White or pastel based colours work out cheaper and better hiding power then darker or richer colours.

GreeBo

From personal experience, budget (B&Q) paint is ar$e
Hard to use, keeps brush strokes longer and poor coverage...

antoinolachtnai

Hi Wertz, thanks for that information, very good advice.

It is an acrylic paint though, right?

I have to say that I am fascinated by the premium they can get for their paint. I'm not saying it's not good value, just that it's amazing they can get so much for what is basically paint.

Wertz

Yeah but AFAIK the plastic content is much much less than normal emulsions...that's how they can manage such low sheen levels, but is also why when you apply it with a roller, it doesn't "build" as well as normal emulsion....by rights it should be brushed on everywhere, but who has the time (or the large brushes) not to use a roller these days?
As for the premium, well as I see it, it comes down to good marketing/branding, selecting a richer niche market (which sells it to the wannabes later on) and their palette is very exclusive (to the point that some of their colours are almost impossible to match on dye machines).
People lap this stuff up, and TBH, anyone paying an interior designer these days, usually isn't worried about small details like paint prices.
As I said the quality of the finish at the end is maybe worth the premium...at the end of it, labour is the most expensive part of any painting job (including when you DIY lol)...

mossym

we just painted our whole house as it's new..used crown everywhere and not one problem to report, not one blister, looks great, was going to use the b&q stuff as first coat but was advised not to and glad i did now...