kitchen wall paint- Eggshell or soft sheen.

[Stringman_uk]

Hi All
Our kitchen has been painted in Johnstones durable matt.
It looks nice but is not very hard wearing at all.
I am looking at repainting it (same colour so would prefer Johnstones) and am not sure which would be better Soft sheen or Eggshell.
I know that eggshell will be tougher but more expensive. I am also not sure which has the "mattest" finish?
If Eggshell is tougher and more wipeable and matter then its a given to choose that, but if soft sheen is much more matt and still wipeable then the cost might factor in.

Any thoughts and recommendations are appreciated.
Thanks

 

[JohnD]

I find eggshell difficult to clean.

Kitchens are prone to splashes and marks.

 

[Stringman_uk]

Thanks for that.
I thought eggshell was wipeable?

To be fair there is only one area that gets splashed a fair bit.
Have just see Johntones do a matt could everlast that is supposed to be durable and wipeable.

 

[aveatry]

I used this on my kitchen last year and it has a soft Sheene https://www.thepaintshed.com/johnst...HzigMVBp1QBh32UTb2EAQYASABEgLBxfD_BwE#223=404 its even supposed to be scrubbable - let alone wipeable.
I always go over with a foam roller for a final finish which give it a flat smooth surface rather than an eggshell. It was the hardest wearing wipeable paint I could find. Mat is never any good to try and clean no matter what the tin says.

 

[Stringman_uk]

I used this on my kitchen last year and it has a soft Sheene https://www.thepaintshed.com/johnst...HzigMVBp1QBh32UTb2EAQYASABEgLBxfD_BwE#223=404 its even supposed to be scrubbable - let alone wipeable.
I always go over with a foam roller for a final finish which give it a flat smooth surface rather than an eggshell. It was the hardest wearing wipeable paint I could find. Mat is never any good to try and clean no matter what the tin says.

Thanks for that. that goes with my thinking but goes against JohnD's thoughts. when you talk about the finish (using the the foam roller) are you referring to the finish via the roller (orange peel effect) or the actual paint finish/sheen?
Thanks

 

[opps]

I would use a mohair roller rather than a foam one. Foam rollers can leave tiny air bubbles which blister when they burst.

An alternative, very durable finish would be something like Zinsser BIN (a shellac based paint). It can be tinted but there are no guarantees about the colour accuracy. Expensive though.

A problem with waterbased finishes is that splashes of cooking oil will soften the paint if left sitting on the surface too long.

Years ago I painted my kitchen walls with oil based eggshell. I could use a green scouring pad to remove hardened splashes. Big downside- the room stank for a few days. Mind you, much less smelly than the 2K lacquer that I sprayed the worktops with.

 

[aveatry]

Thanks for that. that goes with my thinking but goes against JohnD's thoughts. when you talk about the finish (using the the foam roller) are you referring to the finish via the roller (orange peel effect) or the actual paint finish/sheen?
Thanks

I lay on with a mohair and cut in with a brush and then very very lightly go over it with a foam roller meant for gloss paint. I dont think the "egg shell" describes the texture of the paint but rather it describes its slight sheene. I am very pleased with it so far. I was painting bare new skim so i first used the johnson joncryl under coat- wattered down as per for new plaster

I would use a mohair roller rather than a foam one. Foam rollers can leave tiny air bubbles which blister when they burst.

Yes that is right but not if you dont lay it on too thick in the first place trying to do it in 1 or 2 coats. I also thin it down a bit and end up doing about 3-4 coats.
I use the foam roller on top because I do not like the texture left behind with any "normal" rollers

 

[opps]

I lay on with a mohair and cut in with a brush and then very very lightly go over it with a foam roller meant for gloss paint. I dont think the "egg shell" describes the texture of the paint but rather it describes its slight sheene. I am very pleased with it so far. I was painting bare new skim so i first used the johnson joncryl under coat- wattered down as per for new plaster

Yes that is right but not if you dont lay it on too thick in the first place trying to do it in 1 or 2 coats. I also thin it down a bit and end up doing about 3-4 coats.
I use the foam roller on top because I do not like the texture left behind with any "normal" rollers

When trying to maintain a wet edge with waterbased paints, Floetrol is great (as is propylene glycol). Nothing wrong with a tiny amount of water, but too much will thin the paint and mess with the curing process and the level of suction. PG is far cheaper than Floetrol, but not quite as good. Neither "thins" the paint though.

 

[aveatry]

When trying to maintain a wet edge with waterbased paints, Floetrol is great (as is propylene glycol). Nothing wrong with a tiny amount of water, but too much will thin the paint and mess with the curing process and the level of suction. PG is far cheaper than Floetrol, but not quite as good. Neither "thins" the paint though.

Yes the wet edge issue - I try to work really fast and only water down as per manufacturers info but that additive sounds interesting.

 

[Stringman_uk]

That sounds ideal, I was thinking of this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Ingredients-Mono-Propylene-Premium-Quality/dp/B01C1LBCZC/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3KJ44KJJBCNCB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LIPHGDJLBKE6DB83a5fGpJP6cuV7UdKz1CczMlkBbrTykckteSSLphBRFsuopifIis03zI-Q_o5iEoUboqEQWTDKvyqAAdeWn0q9QyFyBYQp92FJaxQR2_VF30aUJzgF86P5yLBVB5314Ju8kxIXkdNDY77DfX3ucTwzQUmq9SfjNUiiGduQurjTTXjbK5xa.lHWXSw6LaV7-P3CPoickXtSmRHnuW0mQ1clcMSsYTDw&dib_tag=se&keywords=propylene%2Bglycol%2B500ml&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1736868251&s=kitchen&sprefix=propylene%2Bglycol%2B500ml%2Ckitchen%2C97&sr=1-4&th=1

as its about half the price of floetrol.
So I think it will be the acrylic eggshell for the kitchen and if its to shine we will try everlast matt in other rooms

 

[michealangelo]

If it's white I find wickes bathroom soft sheen great paint

Wipeable matt paint is a con in my opinion

 

[opps]

That sounds ideal, I was thinking of this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Ingredients-Mono-Propylene-Premium-Quality/dp/B01C1LBCZC/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3KJ44KJJBCNCB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LIPHGDJLBKE6DB83a5fGpJP6cuV7UdKz1CczMlkBbrTykckteSSLphBRFsuopifIis03zI-Q_o5iEoUboqEQWTDKvyqAAdeWn0q9QyFyBYQp92FJaxQR2_VF30aUJzgF86P5yLBVB5314Ju8kxIXkdNDY77DfX3ucTwzQUmq9SfjNUiiGduQurjTTXjbK5xa.lHWXSw6LaV7-P3CPoickXtSmRHnuW0mQ1clcMSsYTDw&dib_tag=se&keywords=propylene%2Bglycol%2B500ml&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1736868251&s=kitchen&sprefix=propylene%2Bglycol%2B500ml%2Ckitchen%2C97&sr=1-4&th=1

as its about half the price of floetrol.
So I think it will be the acrylic eggshell for the kitchen and if its to shine we will try everlast matt in other rooms

A mate of mine didn't want to pay for floetrol, so I gave him a bottle of PG which I had purchased years earlier (and never used). He said it made a massive difference.

 

[opps]

Wipeable matt paint is a con in my opinion

A big problem with wipeable matt paints is that the area wiped can become shiny if wiped too often or too aggressively.

I did paint my hallway with dead flat oil based paint once. Like the oil based eggshell it was very robust, as smelly as the oil based eggshell, but even more expensive (and given the lack of natural light in the hallway, it yellowed). Prior to that, I used matt oil based varnish over matt emulsion. Looked great for a couple of years but then started to yellow inconsistently (presumably where the roller lines over lapped).

 

[michealangelo]

A big problem with wipeable matt paints is that the area wiped can become shiny if wiped too often or too aggressively.

I did paint my hallway with dead flat oil based paint once. Like the oil based eggshell it was very robust, as smelly as the oil based eggshell, but even more expensive (and given the lack of natural light in the hallway, it yellowed). Prior to that, I used matt oil based varnish over matt emulsion. Looked great for a couple of years but then started to yellow inconsistently (presumably where the roller lines over lapped).

I just don't think they are up to it

I think a decent soft sheen or specific kitchen or bathroom paint is fine as long as its minimum 2 coats , preferably 3

Much tougher than wipeable matt or so called tough matt

The problem is these days people I think have been tucked in by marketing

And of course in the case of the basic wickes bathroom paint I use on my kitchen ......and bathroom ....is that as far as i know .....it only comes in white

 

[aveatry]

Agreed with the mat paint, I have tried diamond matt 10x mat or whatever they call it and they are all rubbish when it comes to wiping marks off.
The kitchen I used the jhonsons eggshell and everywhere else in the house I use dulux soft sheen.
I also find with the mat that it catches dirt in the air and you can see it in the corners at ceiling level. Or a build up above a radiator - very faint from dust rising from the heat. Matt is nasty stuff used by builders to mask bad plastering.