# Accidentally bought untinted ceiling paint



## CyrusR (Mar 16, 2015)

No, you won't have any trouble. Did you want it tinted?


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## preciouschristy (Jun 14, 2009)

I just wanted white, but I know white paint usually says "white." Since it is just the ceiling, I was hoping it wouldn't matter, but I didn't know if not having it tinted white would cause issues.


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## CyrusR (Mar 16, 2015)

A lack of tint won't make the paint weaker, less adhesive, or otherwise more prone to fail in some way. It might not hide as well, but that's not usually a problem on ceilings. 

It is a white tint base, right? Which ceiling paint is it, specifically?


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

preciouschristy said:


> I accidentally bought untinted ceiling paint (I didn't realize that ceiling paint came in anything but white). I didn't realize till I was ready to start painting. Am I going to have any trouble if I use the untinted base instead of white?


In 30 odd years, that's all I have ever seen


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

I think we have a misunderstanding of terms here.

Some paint is designed to be used right out of the can. This is also a white base that can be tinted to other colors. An example of this is Sherwin Williams Extra White.

Some other paints are designed as base paints only. That means they expect tint to be added. However there are many "whites" out there, and all of them would look like white on your ceiling.

I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with using a base paint by itself. There have been posts on this forum over the years that have explained why some paint should be tinted (even if still white), but I can't remember why.

However there's another trend to paint ceilings off-white or not white, but I think that's an unrelated topic.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

Precious Christy:

The only reason I can think of NOT to use a white tint base on your ceiling is that a gallon can of tint base will be less than full. Depending on what colour you're wanting the final paint to be, the tint base will be anything from a little to a lot less than full. But, if you say it's a white tint base, it should be pretty close to being full. Tint bases that have a lot of empty space in the can are mean for heavily pigmented paint colours like Cherry Red, Navy Blue, Canary Yellow or Hunter Green, as opposed to whites and off-whites.

If you haven't used the tint base, you might consider returning it for a refund and buying any company's white tint base WALL paint. Ceiling paints are really nothing more than wall paints formulated with a less expensive acrylic resin so that they cost less. Paint companies figure that you don't need as durable a paint on a ceiling because ceilings don't get dirty and therefore the ceiling paint won't have to stand up to scrubbing to remove stubborn marks. I disagree with the paint companies. Ceilings do get marks on them and some of those marks can be just as stubborn as marks on walls. And, nothing looks worse than a dull spot on a ceiling where the paint has been scrubbed off trying to remove a stubborn mark. That, in fact, looks worse than the mark itself. In my books, it's best to use a top-of-the-line wall paint on your ceilings as well as on your walls.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

Whenever I do ceilings I normally get SW bright white base in a low sheen eggshell, PM200. Works fine, looks good. I don't like the traditional ceiling paints. I like the bright white look. Just my taste though.
Mike Hawkins


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

For ceilings I usually buy ceiling paint that is white and doesn't need anything.


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## hellohello (Oct 17, 2013)

*Masking Tape Not Sticking*

Post deleted by user - sorry!


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