apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Here's the deal on low-VOC paints. I highly recommend foregoing the "low" VOC paints and just going straight for the no-VOC paints. I also recommend getting them from smaller companies such as Yolo Colorhouse or American Pride. I have had a lot of experience with Yolo in particular and consider it a highly durable, very high quality zero-VOC paint.

Most zero-VOC paints can be mixed into any color. Make sure that your paint supplier is using a zero-VOC tint - some tints are highly toxic.

I think the biggest reason zero-VOC paints aren't everywhere is simply because (1) the demand isn't high enough yet, (2) original low- or zero-VOC paints from 10 and 15 years ago painted horribly, giving many contractors bad impressions of them despite new, quality formulas, and (3) because for any major paint company to reformulate their paint would require a large investment of time and therefore money that most large companies are unwilling to part with.

I second the no-VOC paint recommendation from smaller companies.

I used AFM SafeCoat primers and Green Planet paints and actually enjoyed every minute of painting. Both have great coverage (I even had to thin them down a bit), smell good, and Green Planet's palette made choosing colors a snap. Yolo has a wider range, and I've heard good things about them as well.

I couldn't be happier with either company, and am grateful we don't ever have to go back to the days of chemical headaches and that awful hangover feeling the day after - especially because the doors and windows had to be kept closed due to freezing temperatures outside.

Sorry for not contributing to anything earlier - you've all given me so many great ideas. Will post how everything turns out when it's all finished. Cheers.

I read in the NYT's Home and Garden Section that you have to repaint a room every two years that uses low and no VOC paints because the paint doesn't last. I haven't used it so I can't confirm or deny their claim.

I have used Safecoat paint, also American Pride, and they were a pleasure to use, covered very well, and have lasted for far longer than two years and look as good as new. Here in Portland Oregon we also have Metro Paint, not as many colors, but also extremely low VOC and as it is 100% recycled paint, helps close the reduce reuse recycle loop. I recently tried this paint on the wall in my craft room and was very pleased with the results, no offensive odor, and the paint was very thick, mostly covering in one coat.

I've been doing a lot of looking at low and non-voc paints, and in general, what I have seen is a not very wide color range. The Safecoat paints though, seem to buck this trend, so I'll be using them on my walls in just a few days.

I'll be back to let you know how it goes!

We recently repainted our bedroom using Olympic's zero-VOC paints. While we loved the ease of doing this simply at Lowe's (and the fact that the cost is virtually the same as conventional paints), we are starting to worry that the quality is simply not as good.

It has been about two weeks since we put the final coat on (and in some parts of the room, there are 3 coats!), and anything that even gently touches the wall will scratch or damage the paint!

Maybe this is "user error"- we're no experts, but I have been a bit disappointed to see it scratching off so easily. Anybody else experience this??

I've never tried a zero-VOC from Lowe's or Home Depot, but the quality of Yolo (which does color matching now) and American Pride are outstanding. Safecoat is good too, but I didn't happen to like it as much as the other two I've tried.

I can't see any cons to these brands, other than if I suddenly want to paint on a Sunday (which does happen) I'm out of luck.

I recently painted the inside of a bookcase. The local Benjamin Moore store recommended that I get the "Aura" paint since it was only a few dollars more. They were able to mix it in any color I wanted. I didn't notice any difference in application from regular paint. There was NO SMELL though which was great.

We just painted our bedroom with Yolo's Water 02, and it looks awesome. 2 coats, and my only complaint is that is splatters everywhere, but that could be my (lack of) paint skills.

I'm a huge fan of Yolo paint and it's non-VOC.

Is there really no smell at all? I'm pregnant and the better painter in my pair...if we have painting to do before the kid arrives and chaos takes over, I've been trying to figure out who should do it. Seems like no VOC plus no VOC tint should mean no problem...anyone have knowledge of this?

I've used Benjamin Moore Eco-Spec and Aura, both in pretty deep tones. Good experiences with both.

Eco-Spec (which I imagine they are phasing out with this new line) is very un-smelly, which is great. It requires a lot of stirring before you start working with it, but that's not really a big deal. It is noticeably less viscous than other paints, so if you tend to drip a lot, it's not for you. I actually really like it because I find that when edging with a brush, the less viscous paint is nice to work with.

Aura is a very high quality paint and you can sometimes get away with fewer coats of it, which is a huge bonus. We just had our house painted with the new exterior Aura and the contractor seemed to have a very high opinion of it. I did a small half bath (just had to do the top half of the wall with the Aura and got away with just a quart! Crazy! The color is very vivid and I'm very happy with it.

I haven't tried Yolo and the others. I would like to. But I'm so addicted to Benjamin Moore's color samples and I can buy armfuls of them at my nearest hardware store, so I'm not that inclined to switch.

ZERO smell, jmandel8. Zero. I had my entire apt. painted with them, and you couldn't tell from your nose. I was STUNNED.

I agree with some of the earlier posts...go with the No-VOC paint. I painted with Sherwin Williams Harmony line (primer and paint) about 1 1/2 years ago, and my paint is holding up very well. It took one coat of primer over the previously antique white walls, followed by two coats of my new color. I used eggshell in the hallway, it's washable which is a plus. My favorite purse is black, and leaves scuff marks every now and then. I used a flat paint in my living room (bumpy apartment walls), and have found getting rid of small marks is easy there too. Most of their colors are available as no-VOC, and they can custom tint or adjust. The biggest selling point...I have pretty sensitive asthma and I painted it all myself! The only con, it it isn't available in some of the deep tones.

I've been doing a lot of painting with the Safecoat paints over the past week, and it's been working just fine. I had to do two coats (I suspect I should have used a primer) but the coverage is great, the paint itself is fine, and there wasn't very much smell. We had to keep all our doors and windows closed due to the temperature, and I noticed a very faint chemical smell after we'd been painting for about 6 hours, but it's definitely not offensive or as strong as the other VOC paints.

The following post is in response to Nickel525's questions about Benjamin Moore's new Natura Paint:

Q: I'm wondering if there are ANY cons to the low VOC paints?

A: The only caveat would be the fast drying properties of the product. However, this obstacle is easily overcome by maintaining a wet edge as you work your way around the room. Doing so will provide you with superior results as well as a uniform finish.

Q: Does it not cover as well, or can you only get a limited color choice?

A: Benjamin Moore’s Natura™ premium interior waterborne paint’s are formulated with a 100% acrylic resin, uses Benjamin Moore’s proprietary waterborne colorants and provides an excellent dry film appearance. Natura offers excellent hiding properties in addition to superior stain resistance. Available in a complete line of tinting bases, this allows you to choose from thousands of colors within the Benjamin Moore Color Collection.

Q: Because if not then why in the hell didn't they invent these earlier? And why do we still have high VOC paints?

The paint industry has been steadily moving towards Greener products over the last several years. With the industry’s evolution as well as technological advances, superior coatings with minimal emissions are now possible. Back when low VOC paint technology was in its infancy, Benjamin Moore & Co. was among the first paint companies to offer a low voc paint product. Introduced in 1994, Pristine® paint (now known as Eco Spec WB) featured very low volatile organic compounds (VOC).

Natura Zero VOC Paints—Now available in WA, OR, CA & TX.
Available nationwide, Spring 2009.


Regards,
Mark3441
advice@benjaminmoore.com