Browse Forums Finishing Touch 1 Nov 18, 2010 12:23 pm What's the difference between Water based Enamel and Water based Acrylic interior trim paint (if any)? In the old days, all I knew was Water based Acrylic. Now I'm confused ... My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 2Nov 18, 2010 6:38 pm Lex…..I have noticed some changes in wordings floating around as well. Why, I don’t know, it just confuses everyone. But acrylic is a GLOSS – should clean up in water Enamel is a gloss as well but a lot smellier and a lot tougher – cleans up with Turps I’m not fussed on the water base enamel, but some say it’s good. Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 3Nov 18, 2010 8:34 pm Thanks, Mich I am too annoyed and unnecessarily confused with this new linguo. Wiki says something along the lines of "enamel" meaning a high quality ... In not-so-old days you would go and buy either enamel (and then it meant OIL based) or acrylic (which meant water based) - so there was no confusion. Now water based can be enamel too With the lack of any detailed info on this, I can assign it to (yet another annoying and unnecessarily confusing) marketing attempt . Unless of course someone out there can put some sense into this. I have found no difference on Taubman's site between enamel and acrylic water based paint, except that acrylic "gloss" is only 80% gloss. All other info is the same. Dulux is also quiet on any real difference. Someone mentioned before on h1 that water based enamels are hard to work with - hard to achieve a nice marking free finish I understood (or something like that). If only I could find the good old Performer water based acrylic from K-mart !!! (that paint was brilliant, no laughing about that!) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 4Nov 19, 2010 5:14 am ahhhh, for the old days! Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 5Nov 19, 2010 7:21 am Hi Lex, there are so many types of paints out there, let me explain the 3 most common. Water based acrylic: Generally a wall paint, low sheen is the most commonly used sheen level, some people like to use a flat, some like semi gloss. This type of paint is not suitable for trims and doors as it is not very hard wearing and chips very easily. Enamel: Turps based paint, generally suitable for trims and doors only, is very hard wearing but is very smelly, slow to dry and yellows over time. Available in low sheen, semi gloss and high gloss. Water based enamel (trim): Water wash up, dries like and normal acrylic and does not smell. Suitable for trims and doors, hard wearing (harder than a standard acrylic) but tends to be harder to work with than an enamel (less forgiving when it comes to brush marks etc) That’s all I can think of at the moment, I’m sure I have missed something though Current status: Busy making the house our home Built PD Francis 29 on our 576m2 block at Reflections in Tarneit Reflections Estate Thread Our Build Thread Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 6Nov 19, 2010 10:04 am Thanks, wizard ! Yeah, my thread/inquiry only relates to water based interior trim paint only. But, "lucky" for me , it seems that there are 2 types of water based trims these days - acrylic and enamel. I know the acrylic type (used it before), but what's the deal with this new type (water based enamel)?! Seems like you managed to find similar info as I did - seems like the term "Water based Enamel" is in fact the same as "Water based Acrylic" except that it is more hard wearing (or as some sites would say "of higher quality") and harder to work with! So, if that's really all that there is to it, I'll probably just stick to the "old" and reliable (acrylic) . I don't appreciate when they create a new product (or just a buzz word?) and then don't really define the new product. By "define", I mean it should also state the differences to other products clearly. BTW, I don't even look at the oil based enamels (the yellowing and the non-flexibility are not desirable for me, even if I ignore their fumes ). My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 7Nov 19, 2010 10:11 am There is no difference Lex, a water based enamel is the same as water based trim, some companies say water based enamel (this is incorrect as enamel means turps wash up) and some companies use acrylic trim. They are technically the same product, the reason they say water based enamel is so the products is compared to enamel products not water based products. Current status: Busy making the house our home Built PD Francis 29 on our 576m2 block at Reflections in Tarneit Reflections Estate Thread Our Build Thread Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 8Nov 19, 2010 12:46 pm Here's one of the old threads, if anyone else is interested in this topic ... http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=10104 I think this thread is more helpful than all "official" info on paint manufacturers' web sites I think, just by quickly reading this one Duke's reply, that I might swing into the enamel territory (water based, of course!) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 9Nov 20, 2010 7:32 am I've just used a satin finish acrylic (water based 'enamel'...silly explanation if you ask me!!), on a couple of pieces of furniture. The reason I chose acrylic was because it was easier to paint with, dries quicker (re-coat in 2 hours), doesn't smell nearly as much and cleans up in water. It also won't go yellow (as I was using white). As much as I love the finish of enamel paint (the good old oil based one!), I really hate painting with it and waiting for it to dry. The whole wording of 'acrylic enamel' really annoys me! Call me old fashioned, but enamel paint was always oil based, and acrylic was water based. They should have left it as water based 'trim' paint! Anyway, I'm very happy with my acrylic TRIM paint in satin finish on my shelf and desk! For trims around the house, doors etc, I have always used good old fashioned oil based ENAMEL paint! Henley - Wilshire Mk 3 ... I love my house!! Site start: 4th Feb 09 Handover: 10th Sep 09 Blog: http://stormygirlscastle.blogspot.com/ Build Thread: viewtopic.php?t=7166 Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 10Nov 20, 2010 7:48 am We have (oil) enamel trims, because: a) I didn't have to paint them and therefore deal with the horrible fumes and the messy turps clean-up; and b) because that stuff is super-hard wearing and my kids are careless monsters. I used a beautiful satin acrylic when we repainted trims and a built in wall unit at our old place because I simply couldn't deal with the smelly factor of oils. It looked lovely, but wasn't nearly as hard-wearing as proper enamel. If you don't have a house full of rowdy boys who drag stuff across your painted surfaces, it'd be perfect. Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 11Nov 20, 2010 8:15 am Stormy The whole wording of 'acrylic enamel' really annoys me! Call me old fashioned, but enamel paint was always oil based, and acrylic was water based. And phew! I thought I was the only old-fashioned one! In our old house, I painted all trims and doors with high gloss acrylic and I could never notice any "wear" issue . I guess the only issue would be running a vacuum cleaner head right against the skirts - but wouldn't a rough treatment (of skirtings) results in some dragging marks on oil based paint too?? Anyway, thanks ladies for your comments I invite manufacturers to please explain this "concept" (if anyone is watching). In the meantime, I think that water based "enamel" should not have happened to the world. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 12Dec 26, 2010 9:37 pm Marketing Gibberish plain and simple I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 13Dec 27, 2010 7:00 am Agree. It just astounds me that over and over again (everywhere) we get to see these strokes of "brilliance". It reminds me of a boss assigning a new project to the new young fellow who's just out of school and leaving them free hands (since there is no need for the project in the first place and it doesn't matter what comes out of it). If the young fella manages to come up with something that the boss likes, the project outcome gets broadcast. If not, the project "got canned due to changinig priorities" bla bla . Oh, but this should go into my (virtual) Ramblings Only thread Anyway, I actually went ahead and bought the enamel paint! I'll let you know if I think there is any difference or issue with it (compared to the no-fuss acrylic that I used before). Edit - clarity My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 14Dec 27, 2010 7:34 pm I painted an old dressing table in water based enamel paint, looks very nice great gloss easy to apply. Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 15Jan 03, 2011 8:44 am Well, I tested my enamel water based paint. First impressions - NOT impressive at all. Why? Firstly, the coat looks very, very thin when dried (and no, the paint hasn't been too thinned, it's actually quite thick on the brush and when applying and is tricky because you think it's way too thick). So far, need a third coat (on already previously primed and painted stuff!!! ) - some areas that were sanded back are still showing through my subsequent 2 coats! Secondly, every single tiniest imperfection of the timber underneath or filler that was sanded back flat is quite obvious. After the first coat, the filler even had a very obvious different gloss level Finally, this paint is not as easy to wash up in water as what I remember with the old style acrylic water based paint. In short, my factory pre-primed skirting boards which, all up, have 4 coats of this paint so far are still not good. At this point, considering buying the proper acrylic water based paint and testing that. That is, if they still make it. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 16Jan 03, 2011 9:14 am If I can get my daughter's camera I will take so pics.Finish is perfect,I am sorry about your painting,maybe it's different timbers. Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 17Jan 03, 2011 10:26 am Would you mind taking a good look and a pic over any area that has even the tiniest bump / microscopic lump, like some filler, or even grain? I also noticed that this paint very, very clearly shows all the timber grains, so you end up having the grain texture showing through fully painted timber . My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 18Jan 03, 2011 10:32 am I used a primer first,stated it fills in imperfection before using topcoat. Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 19Jan 04, 2011 8:06 am Can I ask what brand you used Lex Current status: Busy making the house our home Built PD Francis 29 on our 576m2 block at Reflections in Tarneit Reflections Estate Thread Our Build Thread Re: Water based - Enamel vs. Acrylic - ?!?!?! 20Apr 11, 2011 7:31 pm It's Taubmans' Water Based Enamel (aka Trim). Looks lovely from far away , but the old style acrylic (in the same specified gloss level) was a better paint, as far as I remember. Plus, I painted the same thing - skirting boards - with both!! I also think that the water based acrylic paint was somehow "whiter" and glossier Anyway, I did see a Taubmans' acrylic gloss paint (and I'm guessing it's the last of the stock, never to be manufactured again - ??), but I didn't buy it because I already bought 4l of enamel . Pitty, because testing them side by side would have removed any "brand name" issues. Actually, will look for it next time I'm at Bunnings. There was no other water based acrylic paint at all - is anyone aware if this paint type is still made by any manufacturer? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... The yellowing mainly occurs to white or very light colours. 1 2947 This link might answer your question. I had the same issue and it turned out to be the roller. https://www.sherwin-williams.com/painti ... %20coating. 4 18166 Hi Alex, Thanks for the reply again. I had a chat with the builder, he said he will use primer, then hydrotec which comes with colour and sealer as well. A Renderer I… 12 18097 |