The Best Satin Wood Paints
What is satin wood paint is an often debated question amongst professional decorators & DIY'ers, which is why our team of experts has put together this handy guide to satin wood paint, so you can find the best one for you!
What is Satin Wood Paint?
As you may well know, interior emulsion paints come in a range of finishes that vary in terms of their 'sheen' or amount of light they reflect. These finishes include matt, eggshell, satin & gloss, with matt offering the least sheen and gloss offering the most. Satin sits just below gloss, as a paint finish with a mid to high amount of sheen, which is why it is usually used on interior & exterior trim such as doors, windows, skirting boards & radiators. This is especially the case in modern décor, which favours a less reflective look, which is why gloss had gone out of fashion.
Due to growing popularity, almost all major paint brands have a satin wood paint on offer, both for interior & exterior use. These come in two forms; oil-based and water-based:
+ Harden much quicker
+ Offer higher durability
+ Achieve less brush strokes and can be easier to work with
- Can take a long time to dry
- Can yellow over time
- Higher VOC's
+ Quick drying time
+ Non yellowing
+ Lower VOC's
- The finish achieved at first can be less impressive
- Prone to chipping
- Take as long as two weeks to fully harden
This is our experts list of the best interior satin wood paints that are available in the UK today:
1. Crown Trade Fast Flow QD Satin
Crown Trade Fast Flow QD Satin is a water-based satin paint that has excellent opacity and leaves an attractive finish that is easy to achieve. It has all the characteristics of a traditional solvent based satin, with the added benefits of a water based formulation, including being quick drying and low odour. It also comes with a lower price tag than a lot of other high-quality satinwood paints, meaning you get fantastic value for money!
Another big plus of Crown Trade Fast Flow QD Satin is that it can be mixed in thousands of colour with our paint mixing service. This means it can be mixed in any RAL, British Standard, NCS or Dulux colour, plus equivalent shades of other major paint manufacturers. This also includes designer shades.
2. Dulux Diamond Satinwood
Diamond Satinwood from Dulux Trade, although it is a water-based formulation, it again offers all of the benefits that come with a water-based paint with the quality finish that you achieve from using an oil-based paint. It has exceptional durability, meaning it will not scuff or mark easily like some water-based paints can. Once again it can be mixed in thousands of colours, giving you that crucial flexibility with the colour you opt for!
Overall, it is simply certainly one of best satin wood paints on the market if you are willing to spend a little more on guaranteeing the best possible results.
3. Crown Trade Satin
The cheapest oil-based trade satin wood paint on our list is Crown Trade Satin. This is an extremely competitively priced oil-based satin wood paint that is self-priming, offers fantastic opacity & is highly durable. Like almost all oil-based paints it does have a long drying time, however if you take your time, you cannot go wrong with this product. The drawback is that it does not come in brilliant white and cannot be mixed in any colour, which is a real shame. Overall if you want a good quality trade satin wood paint in a standard white shade and do not want to pay the price of other oil-based satins then this is the one to go for.
4. Dulux Once Satin
A great option is Dulux Once, which doesn’t need an undercoat and requires just a single coat on any interior wood and metal surfaces. This is an oil-based formulation, which is non-yellowing & long lasting, although it does suffer from the longer drying times that is common with oil-based paints, with a 16 hour drying time. Unfortunately, this is only available in brilliant white. If this is not a problem for you however, Dulux Once is an extremely easy and affordable option.
5. Armstead Satin
The final recommendation from our experts is Armstead Satin, which is only in fifth position due to the very high-quality of trade satin wood paints that are available today. Made by the same manufacturer's as Dulux, Armstead Satin is a more budget version of the standard Dulux Once Satinwood, which although is slightly lower quality, is more affordable than the satin paints from Dulux. Armstead Satin can be mixed in any colour, making it the cheapest option if you are looking for a particular shade other than white.
How To Use Satin Wood Paint
As with any decorating project, preparing the surface correctly and understanding exactly what you need to do are the two most important aspects, the rest is easy! Try to research as much as possible before beginning, as it will save you time & effort in the long-run. Each product will have different instructions, so try to read them before beginning for the best results. Generally, satin wood paints are self-undercoating, although applying primer on to bare wood before application is going to get you a much high-quality finish then simply painting straight on the surface.
It is important to identify whether you are using a water-based or oil-based satin paint, as these will have different drying times, have different coverage rates and generally will act differently with the surface and the brush they are being painted with.
Make sure you use high-quality paint brushes for the best results. For oil-based paints natural bristle brushes are the best to use, with a 3 to 4 inch wide brush is ideal for larger areas and a 2 to 3 inch brush best for skirting boards and smaller areas. For water-based paints, a synthetic bristle brush would be best, again with 3 to 4 inch brush best for large areas and 2 to 3 inch best for trim.
In Summary
Overall, there is a fantastic level of quality with satin wood paints available, with all of the major retailers offering something different. The best satin wood paint for you depends entirely on your budget & your needs. If you use one of the paints our experts have recommended, you should achieve a fantastic finish that is far superior to one you would achieve with any off the shelf satin paint.
We hope this has answered any questions you may have had regarding the best satin wood paints available in the UK today. If you require any more help, just send an email to hello@paintersworld.co.uk and our expert team will be on hand to give you any advice you require. At Painters World we have a wide range of paints available, so no matter the job, we've got the right tools for you.
