Paint Advice

We strongly recommend one whenever the surface is new, porous, stained or uneven: bare plaster, bare wood, metal, flaking old paint, or moving from a dark colour to a light one.

A primer seals the surface, evens out its absorbency and gives the topcoat a stable base: the colour comes out truer, more uniform, and lasts longer. Allow roughly 0.5 L of primer per 1 L of topcoat. Our primers are tinted to suit the topcoat colours they belong with.

Two coats on most jobs: that is what gives the colour its full depth and an even, uniform surface.

Allow for a third on bare, unprimed surfaces, with certain highly saturated reds and yellows, or when covering a strongly contrasting colour. Always respect the recoat time printed on the tin between coats. For a wall without marks or joins, follow our 7-step application method.

As a guide, at 20°C in a properly ventilated room:

• Marble Matt Emulsion: touch dry in 1–2 hours, recoat after 3–4 hours.
• Multi-Surface ranges and floor paints: touch dry in 2–3 hours, recoat after 3–4 hours; allow 24 hours before light use of a floor.

Full cure of the film, however, takes 2–4 weeks: until then, clean the surface gently and avoid hard rubbing. Cold and damp lengthen these times noticeably - see also our twelve paint defects and their fixes if something is not drying as expected.

Walls and ceilings, woodwork, doors, skirting, furniture, radiators and metal, floors, and certain exterior surfaces (brick, render, wood, metal) with the appropriate range. Each product page states the surfaces it is intended for; preparation remains, in every case, the key to the result.

Yes. Our paints can be applied by brush, roller or spray. For spraying, follow the settings recommended by your equipment manufacturer and thin very slightly with water if needed. Always test on an offcut before committing to the finished surface.

Slight thinning with water is fine to ease roller or spray application. Beyond that you degrade opacity, durability and film uniformity. See the product advice sheets for the permitted rates product by product.

Not necessarily. Our paints are formulated for professional decorators and careful home decorators alike: with good preparation and decent tools, the result is within your reach. For a complex job - high ceilings, period joinery, floors - a professional remains the safer choice, and our trade area is open to them.

Several of our water-based formulations let water vapour pass through, which prevents blistering and flaking on surfaces that need to breathe. That matters most in older buildings, where moisture must be able to escape through the walls rather than be trapped behind an impermeable film. To understand what separates a water-based paint from oil-based, lime or silicate, see types of paint explained.

Yes, staying with breathable water-based products - Marble Matt Emulsion or a matt Multi-Surface finish. Make sure the lime plaster has fully carbonated and dried (several weeks, depending on thickness and season), dust it off, then apply a suitable primer. Avoid very closed finishes, which would work against the wall's breathability. Lime or a matt water-based emulsion: our comparison of paint types helps decide.

Yes, once the plaster is completely dry - two to four weeks depending on thickness, ventilation and season. New plaster is very absorbent: dust it thoroughly, apply a primer to even out the absorbency, then your two topcoats. Painting too early causes patchy sheen and crazing that is hard to put right.

The Multi-Surface paints are made for this: they cover wood, primed laminated MDF and metal, and come in four sheens - dead matt, eggshell, satin and gloss. For doors handled every day, an eggshell or satin cleans more easily than a matt. Degrease thoroughly, sand lightly, apply the Multi-Surface primer, then two thin coats.

The Multi-Surface paints suit metal and radiators, paired with the matching primer. Always paint a radiator that is cold and switched off, dusted and degreased first, and wait for the film to cure fully before turning the heating back on.

Yes, with the ranges intended for it - our masonry paint for brick and render, the Multi-Surface finishes for exterior joinery. Work in dry weather, roughly between 8 and 25°C, out of full sun and with no risk of frost or rain in the hours that follow.

Start with our digital colour card to draw up a shortlist, then test properly: order the physical colour card, which is free, and two or three sample pots.

Apply each colour generously in two coats on several walls in the room - near the window and in a darker corner - and look at them at different times of day. Judge them against your floors, fabrics and woodwork, which throw their own colour back onto the wall. Our visualiser gives you a first impression from a photo of your room, and our 7-step method covers the test itself.

Every colour page on the site offers a 'pairs with' selection: shades from our card that work alongside the one you are looking at, for woodwork, a ceiling or an adjoining room. Our neutral groups, sorted by undertone, also make pairing easier. For a whole-house scheme, write to us - our colour team can help.

In short: the flatter the finish, the more light it absorbs and the more it disguises imperfections; the glossier it is, the easier it cleans and the better it resists rubbing.

• Marble Matt Emulsion - interior walls and ceilings, maximum depth of colour.
• Multi-Surface Dead Matt - walls, woodwork and furniture, including colour drenching.
• Eggshell - woodwork, doors, skirting, furniture; the best all-rounder.
• Satin / gloss - heavily used, damp or scrubbable surfaces.
• Decorative Floor Satin - interior floors.

Our Find Your Finish guide covers each case room by room.

Marble Matt Emulsion is our interior wall paint: ultra-matt, breathable, loaded with ground Carrara marble, it delivers the greatest depth of colour and is washable. It is the default choice for walls and ceilings.

Multi-Surface Dead Matt shares that very flat look but also goes on wood and metal, inside and out: it is the colour-drenching paint, for when walls, woodwork, doors and radiators all need to disappear into one shade.

Use our paint calculator: enter your room's dimensions, the number of doors and windows and the number of coats, and it gives you the litres and the tins to order. The page also explains the maths if you would rather do it yourself. If your surface is unusual, write to us.

Our standard sample pots hold 100 ml and cover roughly 1.5 m² - enough to paint several test patches in two coats. Some finishes are also offered in 250 ml, covering roughly 3.75 m².

Not in every one. The 100 ml pots are offered in Marble Matt Emulsion; a selection of Multi-Surface finishes is available in 250 ml. Each colour page shows what can actually be ordered for the shade you are looking at.

Dust the area, then apply two generous coats, respecting the drying time - a single coat lets the wall colour underneath show through and misleads you.

Paint several patches around the room rather than one, or paint stiff card you can move from wall to wall. Look at the result in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening under artificial light, and judge the colour beside your floors, fabrics and woodwork. The full method, with the mistakes to avoid, is in How to test a paint colour at home.

The colour card presents all our collections, with swatches painted in real paint: it is the starting point, and it is free. The fan deck offers larger swatches, collection by collection - the professional's tool. The box of colour gathers large A5 swatches you can hold straight against the wall to judge a shade at something like life size.

Our paints are water-based, so warm soapy water is all you need: rinse immediately after use until the water runs clear, then dry brushes flat or bristles down. Do not pour paint-laden rinse water down the sink - let it settle, then take the residue to a household waste recycling centre.

Yes, and on a smooth surface the repair generally disappears - provided you use the same tin, or at least the same batch, and the same tool as the original coat.

On a wall painted several years ago, though, the colour has moved with light and wear: better then to repaint the whole plane, corner to corner, for an even result. Always keep a little paint back for these touch-ups. A touch-up that shows, roller marks, a colour that differs from the card: our paint problems, causes and fixes.

Act while it is wet. Lift the excess with a scraper or the back of a spoon, without spreading it, then blot with an absorbent cloth. Clean with warm soapy water, blotting rather than rubbing - rubbing drives the pigment into the fibre. On a dried stain, soften it with hot water first, then start again.

Three approaches, depending on the surface: a pressure washer for large exterior areas, a chemical stripper applied then scrubbed and rinsed for delicate or interior areas, and a wire brush or sanding for small patches. Protect yourself (gloves, goggles, mask) and always test on a discreet area first: old brick is soft and marks easily.

Up to around 18 months if it is properly closed and correctly stored. Wipe the lid channel before closing, press the lid down firmly, and keep the tin away from frost and heat, between 5 and 25°C, out of direct sun. A tin left in the garage over a hard winter will not be usable.

Keep a labelled part-tin (colour, finish, room) for touch-ups. Never pour paint down the drain: part-full tins go to a household waste recycling centre as hazardous household waste. Completely empty, dry tins go with your ordinary packaging recycling.