# QLDS builders white paint



## ric knows paint (Oct 26, 2011)

Hiya Michael,

Most all manufacturer's "finish" whites (as opposed to tint bases) are off cast with a little lampblack (among other colors) for a number of reasons...(1) Pure Whites (tint bases) do NOT hide very well. The off casting helps in hiding, without it, walls often appear streaked and "shadowy"...(2) Pure white has no distinctive character of it's own, is highly reflective and picks up all surrounding colors - often times this appears as a dingy yellow instead of a pure white...(3) Pure whites are not great for light distribution. Light reflects more evenly and softer from an off cast white...and (4) Similar to # 2, off casting makes white seem whiter. The addition of lampblack, which has a black-bluish tint, is not dissimilar to bluing added to laundry detergents to make whites seem whiter (think Wisk Laundry Detergent and others). Bluing makes white seem whiter and blacks seem blacker - If you were a comic book reader as a kid, think of what color Superman's hair was. Obviously it was black, but it always had a blue streak through it that made it appear more black. 

Bluing added is not just limited to paint, or laundry detergents, or Superman's hair. Also think of appliances (ovens, refrigerators) and K&B fixtures (tub, sink, toilet etc.). Those whites are very grayed off compared to a pure white, but you'd never describe them, color-wise, as anything but white.

This is also, and especially true of ceiling paints. Ceiling paints are different than wall paints...Now I know I'm gonna get some disagreement here, but you really shouldn't use ceiling paint for walls or vice versa - at least not for your own home, but here's why. Ceiling Paints are even more off-cast than finish wall paint whites. The reason for that is just as described above - better hiding, better light reflection, whiter appearance. Manufacturers load ceiling whites with more pigment for greater hiding since nobody wants to paint a ceiling twice - Unfortunately, the pigment load isn't necessarily all the good kinds of pigment - sometimes there's a greater amount of hiding pigment (titanium dioxide), but usually the greater pigment load comes from less expensive filler pigments and tinting colors (such as the lampblack). Filler pigments essentially add bulk to a product and absorb binder. The more binder that is absorbed, the flatter the paint film - for a ceiling, you want a dead flat finish to hide imperfections and for best distribution of light.

Unfortunately, and this is the reason you don't want to use a ceiling paint on walls, when the binder is absorbed to the point that you achieve a dead flat finish, you lose all washability and stain resistance. 

Most washable flat wall paints have a slight degree of angular sheen. This is necessary for a modicum of washability and stain resistance, and also to minimize burnishing. If a washable flat wall paint were to be used on a ceiling, and the lighting conditions were right, the angular sheen necessary for washability would show imperfections and create glare on the ceiling since you always view a painted ceiling from a parallax.

Finally, many of your inexpensive wall paints (usually apartment or commercial grade) are very similar to ceiling paints - high hiding, high build, dead flat and off-cast as hell. The end users need these finishes to be dead flat because they are cheap and able to hide a multitude of sins - these end-user typically are not concerned with the way this product washes or resists stain. There are other differences between commercial grade paints and consumer lines of ceiling paints but their application behavior and appearance are similar.

Sorry for the long winded response and I hope this was more informative than confusing. Good luck.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

Ben Moore's Muresco is a very good ceiling paint. it is my standard.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

My crusade is to convince people ceilings do not necessarily have to be white. I happen to think most rooms look really stupid with white box tops. It is all a throw back to gas light days. Plunk a gas lamp in the middle of the room, paint the ceiling white so it reflects, and hope the place does not burn down.

Can you think of a more worthless place to put a light fixtures with maybe 4 75 watt bulbs than the middle of a room? I guess you can carve a turkey once or twice a year under a fixture. I moved lighting in my restorations where it could actually do some good. And I painted ceilings so they had some design presence. Never white unless I had to do so. I even called in paper hangers to do nice ceilings in Old Victorians.


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