Farrow and Ball paint

[Angelina]

I get that it's made using traditional methods, but is the finish superior? or is it just a poshed up brand?

[Seabag]

The finish is good depending on what you go for

Eggshell is just that, but don't expect to get done in x 2 coats

It's traditional in that you have to build the finish up through the coats

You might want to look at Little Green Paint Co, made in Manchester and a very good finish (if you can paint well that is)

Available at Whites Trade on Brockley Rise

[Angelina]

thank you :-)

[indiepanda]

Professional decorators seem to hate it - costs twice as much as the likes of Dulux and Crown and worse coverage - at least for emulsion anyway.

The people who owned my house before me painted the place top to bottom in the stuff but were too lazy to take the old wallpaper off first and sort out the poor walls. I am gradually getting the place re-plastered and painted, but not with F&B. You can get paint mixed to match it if you really love their colours.

[Hawley]

I can vouch for their estate emulsion, which dries to a very flat, chalky finish but you've got to be prepared to put the legwork in and prepare your surfaces well first as any small bumps, kinks etc will show through. Although their primer is pricey, I've found that the paint goes on a lot easier and coverage is improved when the walls are primed first. As Seabag points out, Little Green is also good. More expensive than Crown etc, but cheaper than F&B and they have a substantially larger palette. Our downstairs khazi is painted in LG Deep Space Blue. We used the Intelligent Matt Emulsion, which is surprisingly tough and wipeable as well as being very low sheen.

[Angelina]

thank you all.

I'm painting wood and really don't want to be let down by the paint....I'm going to try the Little Green.

And I love the sound of a Deep Space Blue loo :-)

[malumbu]

I used to make emulsion once. Peas easy. Mind you you have to get hold of a ball mill to grind down the pigment to the correct size, said pigment and resin.

Generally you get what you pay for. More dosh = a better pigment.

I've also made fireworks, but don't recommend that as it is illegal without a Home Office license. IT was a long time ago.

You can play "What's my Line"

[Tallulahdoesthehula]

We are having our house decorated at the moment. We have a professional painter and decorator in who hates F@B paint, says it's hard to work with and doesn't give the best finish.

He recommended Leyland paint which is apparently one of the main preferred paints for those in the trade. It can be mixed to any F&B colour since F&B do not own their paint colours, just the names (unlike Dulux).

We are about 1/3 of the way through and it's looking really good.

[healey]

Some decorators just hate F&B because it needs lots of coats. The estate emulsion is rather old fashioned to use, I guess.

The resulting colours are worth it though, rich with loads of depth.

[Salsaboy]

Having had to use it when supplied by customers I can say that F&B is shite. Poor coverage and hard to get a good finish. Leyland paint is fantastic and I now prefer it to Dulux Trade which I used to swear by. Sanderson is also very good but expensive.