FPE-lore...her goes!! What makes a "Great" paint: 1) Extremely fine pigment grinding. - I've been told they use an old-style ball-mill, and grind pigments for 3 WEEKS...instead of the U.S.'s "hours", or a day or so. - This leads to VERY DENSE/OPAQUE film-builds. - The Gloss-levels of their Brilliant lines are near mirror-like because of this. - Details like this are discussed on their DVD. 2) 2 Colorant types..."Pastes"... - VERY important here! - The U.S. uses Glycol-based Universal-Tint-Colorants (UTC's), because these mix into BOTH Latex AND Oil binders. - Instead of the LIQUID Glycol-based colorants 99% of mfr's. use, FPE's are VERY finely ground/dense PASTES. - This makes a deep FPE color MUCH more opaque than the typical U.S. "loads-of-liquid colorant" built colors. - So...instead of dumping a boat-load of liquid Glycol-based colorant into a sheer dark tint-base, FPE uses pastes. - Another HUGE difference...FPE uses SEPARATE Acrylic and Alkyd colorant-pastes! So....Latexes and Oils each have their own colorants! CHEAP...No. Effective...Very. - Bottom-line...the FACTORY and the stores use THE SAME COLORANT! In a way, an FPE store IS a "factory" of sorts... 3) Friendly Ingredients: - Low VOC's in the Latexes. - Only light odors too, and dissipate quickly. 4) My own tests: - I've described my "Wine Red" test on the Paint forum. ONE COAT...pulled thin...COMPLETE OPACITY...NOT normal! - I did a pop-and-water rub test on this too. - Using the Oil glosses...Uffda. You can SEE yourself clearly! And I used a foam brush... - Same thing with the Low-VOC ECO. Beautiful, bright, clean gloss! - Because of this, I ordered some for my downstairs bath. VERY pleased...I left it as one coat! Very tough film. - The Eurolux Matte I used seems totally impervious to water. It's more of an Eggshell look though... Soooo...to ME...this stuff is the Four-Seasons of Paint! Faron

Perfect timing for me, this thread. We've replaced our 2'x11' kitchen bench seating area (termite damage -- caught early, but still...), and I just finished priming with Stix. In all my reading, I didn't anticipate how thick the primer would be, fresh out of the can -- my stir stick, jammed into the primer, stood at attention without issue! I contacted INSLX customer svc and was told I could thin with water. I did so, but it was still too thick to level well (I didn't want to exceed the amount of water recommended). I had to sand a fair bit to knock down the ridges. (I've repainted every door, spindle, baseboard and trim in this 26 y/o house of ours by now, using Lowes' American Tradition semi-gloss, and always got a smooth finish.) I have a can of Cabinet Coat at the ready, but am concerned about obtaining a flat finish: foam roller vs quality brush. How does one keep a wet edge when painting such a large swath, even if the paint levels well? (And I've read CC dries rather quickly.) I'm crossing fingers that CC will be the proper consistency (after a good stirring), so I won't have to worry about buying an extender (such as Floetrol or whatever INSLX might recommend). Whizz high-density foam rollers were recommended on one DIYer's site. Though, she was painting only cabinet door surfaces and wasn't dealing with the surface area of a wall-to-wall bench.

I used to use SW but switched to BM upon the strong recommendation of my painters, who have no affiliation and usually have me buy the paint, so I know they aren't getting kickbacks. BM goes on beautifully for me, covers completely, and can take a beating. Love the new Aura line. Just painted all the formal rooms in Safari. Maybe I'm just oversold, but I don't read design mags. To me, BM just looks rich. The dh works in a business that services the paint industry, and their scientists swear BM really is more highly pigmented and better formulated compared to the other big name brands. Hype? Dunno. But BM has never failed me. I think we are almost 100% BM on our walls now.

Okay, I’m going to put in my 2 cents here, mostly to educate the DIY’ers out there About paint. I worked in the paint department of both Home Depot & Lowes for a combined 6 yrs up until 2016. I’ve taken ALL the available paint classes. I’m going to tell you guys a secret... the reason it takes a MINIMIUM of 2 coats, is due to several influencing factors. #1) your wall texture. The more porous, or heavily textured your wall is, the more likely you will get less “coverage” out of your paint, because it is either being sucked up by the texture, (usually unprimed) or it is a bumpy texture which has more surface area to cover per brush/roller stroke. #2) your roller. The texture of your roller must match the texture of the wall. Smooth walls require a shorter napp. Heavier textures require a longer napp. When these things don’t “match” so to speak, you’ll get what are called “hollidays” in the painting world. It’s those little spots where the “under Color” shows through, as if the new paint took a “Holliday” in that spot. This happens all the time when using rollers, regardless, but it’s worse when your napp is too short for the texture. #3) the amount of titanium white your paint brand started out with Before tinting. Titanium white is GENERALLY what are Considered “solids” in the paint, although I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting. #4) the COLOR of the new paint. each color has a “depth” which requires a particular amount of tint. Whites, off whites, pastels, and generally lighter colors are tinted using a WHITE tinting base. These cans are the purest whites that company offers, and can be used right off the shelf. They are usually 3/4 or more full of Titanium white. Medium dark colors are tinted into a “medium” tint base. These cans CANNOT be sold directly off the shelf and must be tinted. They have less overall volume inside the can to begin with, (in order to leave room for tint.) & they are around 1/2 titanium white. Dark or deep colors are mixed into a ”DEEP” tint base. These cans have the least overall volume to begin with, and there’s about 1/4 or less of titanium white in each can. Here’s the secret.. titanium white is what provides the coverage! Tint, by itself, doesn’t cover, it’s somewhat like a gel, and is VERY sticky on its own. It is essentially pure pigment, mixed with an additive to make it viscous. when you take a color, let’s say RED, which by itself has a very translucent property, and you dump a whole boatload of it into a can which (in order to achieve that deep rich he’d you’re looking for) has virtually no titanium white in it, you’re going to get a see through paint, no matter the brand. now, have you ever been offered a tinted (usually grey) primer to put on under that red paint? Did you choose against it, thinking it would be unnecessary? Think again! That neutral grey, gives that red paint a dark neutral base to start from! It richens the color on the first coat! You can sometimes have the primer tinted pink, but grey primer or a grey paint base coat works best. (Don’t believe me? Do a sample board painted 1/2 white, 1/2 medium grey, then paint red across the whole thing.... see? 😉) also, don’t expect your deeper colors to dry as quickly. they don’t. Tint, by itself, never stud.. or “cures” because there are zero gardeners in it. All that tint needed for that deep color, created a very sticky situation inside that can. The other secret I’m going to tell you deals with the other additives in your can besides the titanium white. They are the clear liquids. The chemical mixture and amount of each of these, determines the dry time, viscosity, elasticity, yellowing propensity, durability, hardness and water soluabLilith of the paint. They are basically the GLUE holding it all together, and keeping it on your wall. Each company has a different proprietary blend, making its paint unique. Ive found, that for the most part, how well it turns out with YOUR can of paint, is based on the project, the knowledge of the painter, and the teaching/advising capabilities of the sales clerk. Other than that, MOST paints are created FAIRLY equally. Do your research people. There! Now that’s a thing you know. 😉👍