Supposedly the new Emerald line is their answer to Aura.

Have not used it but something to ask about at the SW store.

I really like their Duration, actually more than BM Aura.

Why do you like Duration better?

My (independent) paint man says there is nothing else out there like Aura. He loves it. I think it's the color lock he likes so much. Says it holds its color over the years and you can scrub away as much as you want. He also said I'd be extremely happy with their Regal Classic and it would dry slower (a little more VOCs).

Thanks Funcolors and nosoccermom. I have heard of the Duration paint before but like I said I'm just not familiar with Sherwin Williams paint. I wonder what the difference is in the paint itself between the Duration and Emerald lines. I will be making a visit back to the store and will have to do some investigating. Thanks again.

Hi snookums--I will have to say that not only can you not scrub the Aura, but even trying to wipe it gently with a cloth really messes up the finish. Now I tend to use dark colors so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. I haven't found a paint yet that can be scrubbed or touched up for that matter without leaving a noticeable spot where it was done. Having said that, the Aura coverage is great and I love the finish itself.

I have to agree that the BM was less scrubbable than the Duration. Both times it was a relatively dark, strong yellow, one in the hallway, the other in a kid's room. In fact, I had the SW mixed trying to match the BM yellow.

Really. That's amazing. What finish was it? Do you mean it burnishes easily?

I will have to check it out (I'm using matte). He went on and on about how you could scrub this stuff to death. I think it's the color lock he really likes so much.

Never ends!!

Mine is the matte finish.

I've never had a problem wiping down BM Aura Matte or touching it up. I prefer the BM Aura to SW Duration. SW seems to be thinner, more runny and splatters more on the roller.

sis2, I'm wondering why you want to stick with the Aura since it hasn't been durable for you.

There certainly are some mixed reviews on the Emerald.

My BM Aura DOES NOT scrub away nor can I paint over some gel hair product that fell on the walls. The color looks great but I do not recommend for bathroom walls or any wall that needs cleaning.

I have Aura in a med-light color and it does not scrub well at all plus I thought that it was a pita to use as it dries too quickly and clumped. I used Emerald recently and while I like it I may still like duration the best, it cleans and touches up very nicely.

I used eggshell for the walls. I also found that BM covers less than SW, or rather, I need way more paint than I'm initially told, even when painting plain white walls.
Just recently I used BM Aura because I wanted a specific color for my dining room, and they simply couldn't match it even remotely at SW. So far, haven't tried to scrub it.

sis2, what happens when you try to wipe it off even gently? Are people using chemicals or rough rags like a washcloth?

Yvette, did you use their Spa & Bath formula?

No paint is going to be perfect, they're still trying I guess so they are just much better than in the past. I'm just very surprised after all the rave reviews for Aura matte I've read here on GW and BM makes great claims you can wash it no problem.

Duration seems to get better reviews than Emerald but I haven't looked around that much. Muralo Ultra Ceramic is another one that is supposed to be very durable. It has tiny ceramic particles in it. Self leveling. Pittsburgh Paints Manor House is another the pros here say is a great paint.

Yes, I used Spa and Bath formula....very disappointed in such an expensive paint!

That's the problem. It's so expensive, of course we want the great claims to hold true!

snookums-Personally I love the finished product of the Aura. It's just beautiful. We have a painter because I quite lack the skills in that department. He loves the Aura paint and the coverage is great. I have used three different brands of paint in my home and none are scrubbable. I have used a soft wash cloth as well as a sponge and have never scrubbed them but kind of dabbed them a little. In all of the paints, it has left a burnish mark which is very evident especially in the dark colors.

I see. Thanks for the info! I have completed my bathrooms in the Aura, bath & spa too. I read that the matte is good there because it doesn't show water streaks from steam. I was able to touch up a cream color already and do not see marks.

the main difference I noticed between the emerald and duration is that the emerald is low/no voc and it didn't have as much of a smell. We have most of our home in duration, and we recently did our hallway in emerald. I thought it was harder to get coverage, but I think that was at least in part to going from a cream to a light gray, and it was very hard to see the difference until it was dried.

My mil retired from sw, so we tend to always use them for the family discount, so I've never actually used bm before.

I've used Aura throughout my house and loved working with it. I haven't done much wiping/scrubbing, so it remains to be seen how well it will hold up. I didn't find that the paint "clumped", unless I tried to paint over an already-painted area too soon before it was fully dry. I did like that it was fully dry and ready for another coat in only about an hour.