Have to paint some skirting and doors and I’m leaning towards using water based quick drying gloss instead of oil based,as it’s supposed to be non yellowing. Has anyone used this type of paint, and does it go on ok compared to oil based gloss? Many thanks.

Dunno but we always use Sikkens and it never goes yellow.

Also interested in decorators opinions on this. So I’ll lurk for a bit.

Have just primed a load of skirting ready to fit with water based primer/undercoat (Dulux) and wondering what I can put on it now…

Water based has never been as good as solvent based/oil in my experience.

Main difference is the application – water based doesn’t seem to flow out and level as well although it is less “draggy” when you brush it.

Prep and good brushes make application and final results better. Yellowing is down to paint formulation and conditions it is under once applied. I imagine you get good and bad formulations of each.

dulux have application guides and will tell you which products are compatible with your primer. I think I put solvent over the water primer.

Bet oil based smells better

If you use an acrylic based paint on previously oil based painted surfaces, make sure you prep well and paint with primer. Otherwise it will scrape off with a finger nail.

I’m not a decorator, so don’t really know, but I have used the water based Dulux gloss paint and it was truly awful, as are one coat gloss products.Have used Crown oil based gloss recently and results were very good.

Gloss? Inside? How very 20th century…

Water based always gives a poorer finish IME, I always use oik based.

Where do you source your oiks, Al? 😀

I would never use oil based white gloss again as it yellows terribly. We have white walls throughout our house and the doors and skirtings turned a horrible shade of yellow. It doesn’t happen with water based paint as its the oils that cause the yellowing. It’s not as easy to get a good finish and its slightly less durable but worth the trade offs to not go yellow.
Andy

I always use water based for white as it doesn’t yellow, I use the Crown quick drying and it’s proved hard wearing. The only issue I’ve had is that conventional knotting will eventually show through so I now use a blocking primer. Also use synthetic brushes not bristle.

I would never use oil based white gloss again as it yellows terribly. We have white walls throughout our house and the doors and skirtings turned a horrible shade of yellow. It doesn’t happen with water based paint as its the oils that cause the yellowing. It’s not as easy to get a good finish and its slightly less durable but worth the trade offs to not go yellow.
Andy

Dulux by any chance? Problem was solved and you now need the blue lid solvent gloss not the white – there is something on the website.

The oils used are different, some yellow some don’t. It is perfectly possible to formulate an oil based paint that doesn’t yellow. There are solvent based paints out there that will stay white for longer than you’ll care but they are not available retail and are ££££££. To say that all oil based paints will yellow worse than water based is not true.

I believe the reason for recent problems is the european legisaltion on the environmental profile of the paint. As water based is generally less harmful they didn’t need to change. The solvent ones did and they put in an ingredient that didn’t work.

jonba – Member
Yellowing is down to paint formulation and conditions it is under once applied. I imagine you get good and bad formulations of each.

Interesting…so it’s not what is under the paint then? I ask as I’ve recently recoated some architrave with 2 coats of Johnstones non-drip gloss and the GF and I both think it’s starting to yellow again which is the reason I re-coated 😥

The wood is old so I’m leaning strongly towards ripping out and re-archtraving…

I tend to use trade oil based gloss ie Wickes. Doesn’t seem to yellow unless hidden ie behind a sofa. Not really sure why. Experiences with water based ones have been horrendous

For gloss it’s always oil based for me. Mainly as it’s a lot easier cleaning the brushes with a jam jar of turps, rather than gallons of water that gets into the water system. Turps is reusable, and one jar cleans a lot of brushes. When it’s done, pop the lid on and off to the recycling center!

As for the yellowing, all over = duff paint, in spots means you didn’t use some sort of knot-stop on the knots in the wood. The wood presevatives/resin come out of solution when the paint hits it, more so where the knots are.

I’ve recently done up an old house, with lots of white woodwork. I went with satin as it seemed more appropriate for the building, but I think the idea’s the same.

I settled on Wilko’s own brand, much cheaper and seems pretty good. The non-drip was awful, like painting with toothpaste.

The acrylic based goes on easily and dries quickly but surface finish is less good, it’s also more matt and seems less hardwearing.

I’ve settled on the one coat satin. It really is one coat, goes on well and dries in c.12hrs.

£13 a tin I think.

I won’t use oil based inside as I don’t want to poison my family and water-based is a little less eco-unfriendly. The results with gloss are less than glossy and flaky, satin seems fine so far.

I’m running (inadvertently) an experiment; when I was decorating last I ran out of oil-based Satinwood and in error bought water-based to finish the job. The result is the architrave is painted in oil-based and the doors in water-based. It’s been 18 months and the oil-based is getting quite yellow whereas the water-based is still as white as the day I painted it.

Thing is, when I was actually painting I was cursing the water-based as I had to apply 2 coats to get the opacity,whereas the oil-based only needed 1 coat.

Note: the oil-based paint goes yellow where there is no/very low exposure to VU light as the linseed in it goes off (it’s no good trying to re-colour the white with a VU light once it’s gone yellow!)

I’m now doing our Hall, Stairs and Landing so mucho gloss-work, upon which I am intending to use water-based paint even though I will have to go over it a couple of times because I’m unlikely to need to re-do it in 2 years time!

EDIT: as jonba suggests, the paint I used that has yellowed is Dulux, and I read elsewhere in teh internets that Dulux have fixed the issue, however I’m still going to go water-based.

Water based has the edge for yellowing and drying times. Oil for ease of application and opacity of finish. Durability depends on the paint.

The main complaint about the water-based is that it dries too fast and doesn’t level like an oil-based so you get a less than perfect finish. You can buy a product called Floetral to help with this but you also need to be much more scrupulous with your prep so you start with a really smooth base – an oil based primer is best. You also need to adapt your technique – “get it on, leave it alone” is the key.

For water based I think Sikkens, Little Greene and Johnstones all give good results in that order.

Recently had the house painted – I asked the decorator the same thing. He said always oil based – water based isn’t as tough and doesn’t give as good a finish.

I’ve never noticed it yellowing.

They are very different paint with pros and cons for both. I prefer water based as it’s faster drying and has no or very little odour. Water based is more elastic so to some extent moves with the wood but doesn’t flow out as well as oil based. Oil based is very tough but can become brittle and yellow over time.

Good quality paint is the key with both. I use Farrow and Ball mainly now. Also good brushes. I use Purdy.

All personal preference though I think.