An overwhelming variety of paints is now available on the market. Even when considering a single-manufacturer white indoor emulsion, the options can be extremely confusing, with little guidance in concise form on any website you can find. One of those dilemmas is the choice between Dulux Trade Matt Emulsion.
A quick glance will confirm the options:
- Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt (or as one client called it, Vinly Slick)
- Dulux Trade Supermatt
- Dulux Trade Diamond Matt
There is also the non-trade line, but I won’t bother with them as this question will likely come up in trading. So here it goes:
Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt – So named because it has plastics added to increase durability, especially when the surface is cleaned and cleaned in the future. Although it is not completely resistant, it will take a bit more abuse than a non-vinyl paint. Very good opacity.
Dulux Trade Supermatt – This is the paint that has new construction in mind, or at least new plaster. This paint can be applied to plaster that is still drying. The reason is that this paint is not vinyl quality, nor plastic, so to speak. Therefore, it remains more porous and the plaster can continue to breathe underneath.
Dulux Trade Diamond Matt: The tough guy! Do you have children and do you paint the walls of the corridors? This is the one for you, advertised as 10 times stronger. I can believe it when I use it. You really feel like you are painting on a layer of vinyl. Although it’s Dulux’s credit, it’s going well and you certainly wouldn’t know it.
So here is a scenario to highlight the differences: you are doing a job and it is a hallway, stairs and landing. The plasterers have just finished. The chippy has been hanging all the doors, fitting baseboards and architraves, etc.
First, all the bare plaster (ceiling and walls) is painted in Supermatt, mixed with a proportion of water. This would be more than 30% but not more than 50% depending mainly on preference. I’d say more than 30% is pretty safe, as it will soak up the plaster rather than create a layer that will just peel off. It is especially important to use Supermatt where the plaster has not fully dried, due to the porous qualities mentioned above. We can use Supermatt or Vinyl Matt for the last two coats on the ceiling, some recommend a final coat of Vinyl.
Then we paint all the walls with a layer of Vinyl Matt. This gives it great opacity and covers very well. Then a second layer where we want to finish with this painting.
The client has specified that he has a dog and three children, he wants the best for his new home and is looking for durability, he does not want to call you again to touch up in 6 months because all the walls in the immediate hallway. They are dirty and the paint is worn where it has been cleaned so many times. So we applied Diamond Matt on both walls of the hallway and continued up the stairs.
This is just an example to outline the different qualities of the paints. Hope this provides a basic understanding of the differences. The Dulux site has extensive information on these paintings, but no comparative data.