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Gauging a Paint's Performance Before It Hits the Wall
For most people, the only indicator of quality on a paint-can label is the price, but a few key facts help explain the difference between a $15 can and one costing $60 or more.
(By Andrea Bruce -- The Washington Post)
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Latex binders at the high end are made of pure acrylic, which adheres well and holds the pigment particles tightly against the wall. The labels of the cheaper paints may say "latex acrylic," but the binder is largely or entirely vinyl acrylic, which does not adhere as well. The cheapest paints use less binder, so they adhere even more poorly.
Within the categories of pigments and binders, there are gradations of quality.
The acrylic binders in the most expensive paints will be more finely ground and more tightly packed, which makes the paint more stain-resistant and better-adhering.
Graham's Aqua Borne Ceramic, which sells for about $60 a gallon, adheres so well that "it's hard to get off your skin," said Bruce Dondero, a house painter in Michigan who specializes in high-end residential work.
On the East Coast, Graham's parent firm, Muralo, sells Ultra Ceramic, a similar product.
Dutch-made Eurolux, which is sold in the United States by Fine Paints of Europe for $90 a "Euro-gallon" (this works out to about $125 for a U.S. gallon), has such finely ground pigments and binders that "a finished wall starts to look and feel like the body of a new car," Dondero said.
Even the best paints are not perfect. Darker colors can be problematic at every price because their production requires less pigment base and more colorant. As a result, the finished paint film will be soft, with less staying power. When you try to remove a spot, you may leave burnish marks, and some color may come off. The problem lies in the colorants, which were originally formulated to be used with oil-based paints. These paints, once a staple, are not commonly used anymore in many areas for environmental reasons.
Benjamin Moore's new $60-a-gallon Aura line claims to have solved this problem with a new colorant system that was formulated to be used with water-based paint.
The distinctions between binders, pigments and colorants are not the ones that you are likely to hear when you go to buy paint. The differences emphasized by most salespeople are the finishes -- flat, eggshell and satin. Those are produced by using different sizes of pigment and binder particles.
A flat finish is more porous, while eggshell and satin finishes are more impermeable and cleanable, though this is a relative term. A cheaper satin is more impermeable than a cheaper flat, but the pricey flat will perform better than either of the cheap ones. In kitchens and bathrooms, where there will most certainly be water and dirt, you are always advised to use the more impermeable eggshell or satin, even with the $60-a-gallon paint, said Jim Norton president of Muralo.
The salespeople may also talk about "coverage" -- the area of wall that a gallon will cover. The industry average is 400 square feet, but the more expensive paints can cover more area, so you may need fewer gallons to do the job.
Katherine Salant can be contacted via her Web site, http:/
Copyright 2007 Katherine Salant
