Colour mixed breathable paint

[Feltwell]

Here at Feltwell Towers I'm having to tackle one of my ultimate horrors - decorating! :shock:

The lounge no less, a room which to be quite honest needed doing when we moved in 13 years ago . Mrs F is a patient lady!

Now we're not fussed about period correctness when it comes to decoration, it's more what we like but that also has a nod to the age of the house - so - the decision has been made to decorate the alcoves either side of the chimney breast in an arts & crafts Morris wallpaper, with the chimney breast painted in one of the bolder colours on the paper and the rest of the room painted in the background colour of the paper. Using the paper throughout the room would be a bit much, it is quite bold by our standards.

So - I need to be able to colour match paint to the paper. Dulux Trade Emulsion would be easy, but would prefer to get breathable paint if I can. It's not critical, the whole room is painted in emulsion currently and there is no damp issue, and actually the vast majority of the painted area will be internal walls - but it is preferable, especially underneath the bay window which prior to major bay window repair was badly damp.

Are there any clay paints or similar that can be colour matched to samples that anyone has used?

Decorating is not my area of natural expertise - give me something nice and easy like rebuilding a chimney rather than impossible like choosing curtains or wall colours! :lol:

 

[steveb]

I used Earthborn clay internally and Keim paint externally - not sure if Keim mix but they have large colour swatches where each swatch is kind of half a postcard sized so it makes it easy working out if they have a match. They have a full range of internal and external paints - pricey but if it's good enough for the queen I figure that it is good enough for me

https://www.keim.com/en-gb/literature/literature/keim-colours/

The avantgarde range is quite funky , we went for one of those for the exterior of our place. You can order the swatches I think, or any dealer will probably have a full set in store. That range seems to be art deco inspired so a number of quite bold colours

 

[Feltwell]

Thanks Steve. I googled Keim to find out who distributes for them in the UK, thinking it would be Brewers or one of the other chains, to have a look at a swatch. No, they distribute themselves, and only have 1 outlet - which by a staggering coincidence is about 5 miles from me! So providing the "dreaded lurgy" doesn't stop me going there, that's definitely an option to look at, though they still don't do tinting for small quantities.

Anyone know any other suppliers who do do tinting?

 

[steveb]

They must keep their distributors a secret then , Heritage Cob & Lime in Bideford is locallish to me and stocks it. If you are buying in any quantity Keim will send a man round F.O.C. to recommend and spec, although they don't have any larger swatches than the distributors have.

Worth calling Mike Wye as they sell pigment and plenty of products - depends if you fancy a DIY mix job. Actually thinking about it our builder hand-mixed some Earthborn clay with pigment to create a couple of unique colours but that was mixed by eye so not needing to match anything - it just ended up looking "right". That was partly due to Earthborn's labelling having a wobble at some point and what the tin said wasn't what was in it - and they seemed a shame to throw away!

 

[Flyfisher]

Last year we had coverage problems with some F&B ‘Brinjal’ distemper in a hallway. After three coats it was still blotchy!

We ended up talking to https://www.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk/ who supplied a tin of their clay paint colour-matched to the F&B distemper. One coat and it was fine.

To be fair it was on top of three other coats of F&B distemper, so I’d normally expect two coats to be required. The colour match was also good.

 

[paulc]

Worth calling Mike Wye as they sell pigment and plenty of products - depends if you fancy a DIY mix job.

I've been using artists pigments from a local shop. Packaged by Cornelissen, distributed by Roberson, and available in quite a few places. Depending on the quantity required, it can work out cheaper to go direct to Cornelissen - They have a shop in London and do mail order, but it is the shipping that kills it for me.

Colour matching from dry pigments can be problematic - If the pigment is not fully mixed with a drop of water first, you quite often end up with "colour bombs" of pure pigment. Helps to grind the pigments with a muller on a sheet of plate glass first.

 

[Feltwell]

Thanks everyone, that's given me some options to try.

 

[Bogart]

Not sure if good old limewash would work can get that to nearly any colour, though you might need 10 coats

 

[Feltwell]

Limewash with 3 kids? No, not really an option! I must admit if I can possibly avoid messing about with pigments I will do, I have a lousy eye for colour!

 

[Toby Newell]

1. Buy paint colourisers. Leyland do them. I use Mixol. Google.

2. Buy a large mixing bucket.

3. Experiment at small scale.

4. Be conservative. Obviously if you add too much tinter you need to go buy more paint to dilute.

5. Once you think you have the right colour, paint on a scrap of your substrate / lining paper and let dry. (Foxel and James used to do this in Carrington, alas they are no more)

6. Adjust colour.

That's it. Mixol make the pigments for OEM paint manufacturers for both house and automotive paints, the stuff you buy is exactly the same as what squirts out the colour matching machine. Except with practice your eye and intuition can be more accurate.

 

[Toby Newell]

*Farringdon you infernal chell specked.

 

[ElectronicFur]

1. Buy paint colourisers. Leyland do them. I use Mixol. Google.

2. Buy a large mixing bucket.

3. Experiment at small scale.

4. Be conservative. Obviously if you add too much tinter you need to go buy more paint to dilute.

5. Once you think you have the right colour, paint on a scrap of your substrate / lining paper and let dry. (Foxel and James used to do this in Carrington, alas they are no more)

6. Adjust colour.

If going the colourisers route, what paint do you recommend mixing them with then? Would Leyland Contract Matt be suitably breathable?

 

[Toby Newell]

sorry Fur, I am not up to speed on modern paint formulations. Dulux (ICI) paint was widely regarded as the best quality in the UK from a function point of view but formulations change, so champions come and go. I have heard Leyland paints are poor quality from a few people, but I have used them in the past with no problems.

I would go with a more expensive paint for the best results.

 

[CliffordPope]

Presumably anyone with access to one of the Dulux machines could use all its colour-matching facilities but substitute a tin of your preferred base coat instead of the standard one?
Smaller paint shops do that anyway - I've often been asked whether I want the Dulux or a cheaper base.
The machines can adjust for different sizes - the "20% extra free" type of tin works just as well, with all the dyes scaled up proportionally.

 

[LadyArowana]

Presumably anyone with access to one of the Dulux machines could use all its colour-matching facilities but substitute a tin of your preferred base coat instead of the standard one?

Slightly related to the Dulux question, on the issue of choosing colours. I wanted to get my paws on the full fan deck of all their colours and was aghast at the price of then when Google returned the top results as from Ebay. They were listed at anything from 55 to 120 quid. No idea why as they were also readily available from a normal supplier of paint for 11 plus P & P. I wondered if it was a different item, but it is exactly the same and a great toy.

 

[CliffordPope]

I agree - the machine plus a supply of paint would be my useless luxury to take on a desert island.

I've got a complete set of cards, collected bit at a time for free from B&Q. I never tested exactly how many I could get away with in one go, but 10 seemed a reasonable number without arousing suspicion.

 

[MatthewC]

Having just painted our lounge with clay paint, I have to say that I'd be wary of trying to match a colour by mixing it myself. It seemed to go through three or four shades when drying, and the final shade is dependent on the consistency of the lime plaster underneath, so you need a completely dry second coat before you can see the final colour of what you have mixed. Then you do it all again...

 

[Zebra]

Decorating is not my area of natural expertise - give me something nice and easy like rebuilding a chimney rather than impossible like choosing curtains or wall colours! :lol:

I have to take issue with this statement Feltwell, you are entirely responsible for the choice of colour of my front door, which I love! https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14463