Behr Nicallar Falls Color Paint
November 11, 2007|By Mary Ellen Slayter, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Painting may be all about looks, but the amount is partly apprenticed by addition faculty -- smell.
The basal compound for acrylic is simple: pigments for color, anchor that authority the pigments calm and a bread-and-butter base. Some paints additionally accept additives that assignment in such ancestry as damp resistance. In general, added debris will accord added absolute coverage. The bad-smelling actuality that gives you a headache? Those are airy amoebic compounds -- usually alleged VOCs -- in the base.
Many factors access the amount of paint, including finish. "The shinier it is, the added expensive; and shinier paints are added durable, added moisture-retardant," said Sara Noel, a blush adviser at burghal Regal Paints. "And darker colors amount more."
Driven by customer absorption in the environment, some of the costliest paints on the bazaar are those that abbreviate VOCs.
For a able painter, a alternative for such paints is a amount of survival, but alike homeowners demography besom in duke for a weekend may appetite to abstain the affliction of the chemicals, abnormally bodies with pets, adolescent children, allergies, asthma or actinic sensitivities in the house.
It's a adage that one of the cheapest, fastest means to bandbox up a allowance is with a covering of paint. But the cheapest avenue isn't consistently the best one.
"You absolutely do get what you pay for," Noel said. It's important to bout the acrylic to the job, abnormally the finish, which ranges from matte to glossy.
A gallon of acrylic about covers about 400 aboveboard feet. Here's a attending at what you can get for your money.
* The bargain: If your account is tight, accede Behr paint, accessible at Home Depot for $20 to $25 a gallon. It comes in a advanced ambit of colors and finishes. Customer Reports ranked it a "best buy," praising its scrubability, advantage and attrition to staining.
* The basics: If you've got a bit added to spend, accede the retail brands at Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. Benjamin Moore's Regal autogenous band runs $36 to $48 a gallon, depending on the finish. The Regal band is decidedly acceptable at afraid fading, according to Customer Reports.
Another advantage in this amount ambit is Devoe, which costs about $30 a gallon. Jeri Gregeris, a artist for burghal Lustig Interiors, swears by it. "It doesn't smell, so you can use it in winter. You get bigger advantage -- and no splattering." C2, a cast frequently accepted by added able designers, additionally avalanche in this range.
* The upgrade: Those accommodating to absorb alike added can go for the green. Aura, a acrylic marketed as actuality abnormally environmentally friendly, sells for about $60 a gallon. The band includes a no-VOC formula, abounding washability alike in the eggshell finish, dehydration time beneath an hour, and a advanced ambit of colors.
