Painting Questions asked by Clients: Acrylic or Oil Based?

Acrylic enamel versus oil based enamels

Today’s modern paints are better than the older oil based paints simply because of the tougher and more flexible materials used.

Apart from being nearly odourless they also have low VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) compared to oil based products that have very high VOC’s, some of them cancer inducing and generally not good for your health. 

Acrylic enamel once cured is actually quite hard but retains a degree of flexibility.

However it is important to note when using acrylic enamel in a steamy area such as a small bathroom with little ventilation then the bathroom should not be used for bathing/showering for at least a week. Still it is better not to have that awful turpentine smell throughout the home which you get with oil based paints.

Exterior Acrylic paint.
Unlike oil based enamels, acrylic is like your skin, it allows moisture within the home to flow through its ‘skin’. Blisters on the exterior of weatherboards are almost certainly caused by heat on the exterior causing the internal vapours drawn through the cladding and being stopped by the oil based enamel which is impervious. So acrylic paint rarely blisters under normal circumstances. Therefor weatherboards started initially with a waterborne undercoats and two exterior house acrylic top coats will give far less trouble in the long run. Repainting in say 12 years is simple: a wash down, fill any defects etc. and apply two more coats. However our company prefers to use three coats initially.

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Powdering is the slow breakdown, layer by layer of exterior acrylic. This is a normal process and does not affect the integrity of the paint, hence the repainting in 12 years or so. No turps, scraping back flaking paint etc.

Do remember though if the acrylic is painted over existing enamel then the pressure of the paint curing can cause delamination of the old enamel coating underneath the new acrylic coating.

Make sure your painter tests the old coating first to determine if it needs to be removed.

For more information contact Paul at info@0800wepaint.co.nz


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