Interior Paints
Consumer Reports: Interior Paints
March 15, 2014
Picking paint has become harder than just picking a color, as if that wasn t confusing enough, says Consumer Reports. Relying on past experience isn t a good way to pick a brand because paints are frequently reformulated, which changes their performance.
Consumer Reports recently tested 67 paints, including a pricey imporpatagonia guide jacket in a pouch0t from England known for its colors, to see how well they hide old paint, how well they hold up to stains and scrubbing, and the smoothness of the finish.
In fact, Consumer Reports has toughened its tests by applying water and oil based stains to painted panels. Most paints faltered in its new staining tests. Lowe s Valspar and Olympic satin finishes didn t make its Recommended list this time around. If Lowe s is your go to store for paint, use those paints only in low traffic areas.
Though its colors were lovely, Farrow Ball was the worst at hiding old paint. It took two coats of the $95 eggshell finish in white to do what the top rated Behr satin did in one. (The terms eggshell and satin are used interchangeably by companies to describe paints with some sheen.) More coats mean more monepatagonia outlet store ventura cay and time, and the Farrow Ball paint isn t self priming, unlipatagonia better sweater paintbrush redke most of the paints Consumer Reports tested. The eggshell anpatagonia guide jacket in a pouch2d gloss paints also left a rough, grainy finish and lost most of their sheen after cleaning, though both resisted stains well.
And Consumer Reports found that the color wpatagonia arizona homes for saleasn t that hard to match. It sent a secret shopper to three Home Depots with a panel painted with Farrow Ball s Lulworth Blue Estate Eggshell, $95 per gallon. day best of patagonia tour from el calafate to ushuaiaHe came back with three gallons of the top scoring Behr Premium Plus Ultra Satin, $34, in a blue created by computerized color matching technology. Testers applied the Behr to panels andpatagonia guide jacket in a pouch1 compared it with a panel painted with Farrow Ball. The Behr paints were about 1 percent lighter, according to its colorimeter, a difference that testers couldn t see.
How To Choose
White and other neutrals are in style again, Consumer Reports notes. And warpatagonia guide jacket in a pouch3m grays are hotpatagonia discount code kennedy, too, according to color experts. You can find inspiration at the manufacturers Pinterest boarpatagonia discount code unitedds and websites, where you can compare color palettes or play with tools that let you upload a photo of your room and virtually paint it before picking up a brush. Here s what else to consider:
>> Pick the finish. More people are using the same color for walls and trim, without much contrast in sheen, says Leslie Harrington, a color expert. This creates a clean line and redirects your eye to other thingpatagonia everlong review 650tis in the room the furniture, art. Semigloss isn t a must for trim. Many eggshell and satin paints have become much better at standing up to scrubbing, accordingpatagonia guide jacket in a pouch to Consumer Reports latest tests. Flat paints are better than eggshell at hiding imperfections because they don t reflect light, but flats are the least stain resistant, so they aren t a great choice for busy rooms.
>> Nail the perfect color. Light affects color significantly. So once you ve zeropatagonia guide pants pocketsed in on a hue, consider buying three samples: the color you re drawn to, and a shade lighter and one darker. Paint a sample of each next to a window and in an area that s dark, viewing the colors in daylight and apatagonia luggage wholesalet night, with the lights on and off.