"Green" paints

pollys

Has anyone used "green" paints. We are decorating at the moment and would like to use paint that is not harmful to us or the environment. We need a paint for the door, skirting boards and window sill and an emulsion for the walls and ceiling.

Thanks

shona_2

Have a look at this page:
http://www.homesandgardens.com/shopping/essential/The_Essential_Guide_to_Paint_article_81434.html

for a simple guide to this paint etc

Shona

pollys

Thanks for the link Shona.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has actually used "green" paint, and how it compares to the usual brands. I know it's not going to be money saving but i don't want it to be a waste of money.

BaJi_2

pollys wrote:

Thanks for the link Shona.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has actually used "green" paint, and how it compares to the usual brands. I know it's not going to be money saving but i don't want it to be a waste of money.

I've used a green emulsion from the green building store. It was a bit of a pain in the bum to use actually, I think it is a bit like the old whitewash. It contains chalk and so is sticky and tough to use. This was one brand (whose name I have forgotten) however. Others may be different. The finish after painting was excellent though and it is very tough. The room has a fresh non-chemical smell to it also. The emulsion paint also gets used up quickly too.

I've also used green wood preservers and white matt paint for interior and exterior wood. The wood preservers are very good on un-treated wood and good on previously treated wood (I found it took longer to dry on treated surfaces and it will run if it rains soon after you painted it). The white matt paint was the best I've ever used. It hasn't yellowed at all. It is very tough and is as bright as the day I painted it.

All the green paints and preservers are much more expensive than synthetic paints.

pollys

Thanks BaJi, I don't live too far from the Green Building Store so will definately be taking a look there, I think the paint they sell is Auro (or something like that) I was wanting a gloss type paint for the door and window (both have been previously painted) and an emulsion in a neutral colour, white would be fine, for the walls and ceiling. It's good to know they are tough paints as I have 4 children.

Many thanks for the reply.

BaJi_2

pollys wrote:

Thanks BaJi, I don't live too far from the Green Building Store so will definately be taking a look there, I think the paint they sell is Auro (or something like that) I was wanting a gloss type paint for the door and window (both have been previously painted) and an emulsion in a neutral colour, white would be fine, for the walls and ceiling. It's good to know they are tough paints as I have 4 children.

Many thanks for the reply.

I the emulsion I used was called Ecosol (now levasol and primasol). The Natural paint collection made the matt (and gloss) wood paint. I have kids too and the paint survied their testing procedures.

theanimallover

Auro do a match pot, I've got one in dusty pink (a kind of nice earthy muddy pink) I haven't used it yet - but the shop where i got it from, had painted the whole shop in it and it looked nice....

dadoallen

Hi

We recently used ECOS paint, both soft sheen emulsion for the walls and gloss paint satin finish for woodwork. I would recommend them, they went on easily and had virtually no smell. We also used some special atmosphere emulsion that is supposed to absorb chemicals in the air
(don't know if that worked but it made us feel good that we were 'de-chemicalising' our home).

Ecos Organic Paint is supplied from Unit 34 Heysham Business Park, Middleton Road, Heysham, Lancs, LA3 3PP. Tel: 01524 852371.
Web: http://www.ecospaints.com/

All the best

Dave

sandieb

I recently used Farrow and Ball Estate Emulsion. According to their paint card "environmentally preferable, low odour and exceed all the proposed European environmental legislation scheduled to 2010." They have low volatile organic compounds ....

The paint was lovely to use, went on like silk and absolutely NO smell to it. Also the colours seem to have great depth.

Julysea

I used Ecos paints on my place when I last painted and they were fine - lovely colours, next day delivery service and go on just like 'ordinary' paints. We used emulsion on walls and ceilings and gloss on paintwork and it's been great. The best bit is that I didn't get an awful headache putting in on like I always get with normal paints. They are expensive though, compared to normal paints.

greentomato

I have used Ecos emulsion paint on walls, it went on very well and had a lovely colour, with good coverage. I would recommend them, they are a bit more expensive but probably not any more expensive than some other top-end paints.

However I have also used Auro emulsion paint and was not so impressed. Firstly it actually smelt quite strong, not a particularly pleasant smell, it might be linseed I think. The paint we used was white and you had to mix the powder pigment into it. The colour had to be constantly mixed or it separated out, and we still got quite a patchy look to the walls. It was a nice earthy colour so if you are going for a rustic look that is fine, but it looked a bit strange in our bedroom.

So I wouldn't recommend the self-mixing type of paints personally.

In my current flat we had loads of painting to do when we first moved in as it was a bit neglected, and I simply couldn't afford to use all environmentally friendly paints. So I used some of the Dulux Breatheasy paint which has a lower VOCs than other paints. I found the smell not bad at all, and as I have asthma I'm quite sensitive to these things. But not so green I'm afraid!