An overwhelming variety of paints are now available on the market. Even when considering a white interior emulsion from just one manufacturer, the options can be extremely confusing, with little concise guidance on any website you might find. One of those dilemmas is the choice between Dulux Trade Matt Emulsion.

A quick look around you will confirm the options:

• Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt (or as one customer called it, Vinly Slick)
• Dulux Trade Supermate
• Dulux Trade Diamond Matte

There is also the no-trade line, but I won’t bother with that, as this question would probably come up on trades. So here it goes:

Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt – So named because it has plastics added to increase durability, especially when the surface is wiped down and cleaned in the future. Although not completely durable, it will take a bit more abuse than a non-vinyl paint. Very good opacity.

Dulux Trade Supermatt – This is a paint with new construction, or at least new plaster, in mind. This paint can be applied to plaster that is still drying. The reason is that this paint is not vinyl quality, not plastic, so to speak. Thus, it remains more porous and the plaster can continue to breathe underneath.

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt: The tough guy of the bunch! Do you have children and paint the walls in the hallway? This is the one for you, advertised as 10 times stronger. I can believe it when I use it. You really feel like you are painting on a vinyl layer. Credit to Dulux though, it’s going well and you certainly wouldn’t know it.

So here’s a scenario to highlight the differences: You’re doing a job, and it’s a hallway, stairs, and landing. The plasterers have just finished. The chippy has entered to hang all the doors, place skirting boards and architraves, etc.

First, all the bare plaster (ceiling and walls) is painted, in Supermatt, mixed to a proportion of water. This would be more than 30% but not more than 50% depending mainly on preference. I would say over 30% is pretty safe as it will soak into the plaster instead of creating a layer that will just peel off. Especially important to use the Supermatt where the plaster has not fully dried, due to the porous qualities mentioned above. We can use Supermatt or Vinyl Matt for the last two coats on the roof, some recommend a final coat of Vinyl.

Next, we paint all the walls with a coat of Matte Vinyl. This gives great opacity and covers very well. Then a second hand where we want to finish with this painting.

The client has specified that he has a dog and three children, wants the best for his new home and is looking for durability, does not want to call him back for touch ups in 6 months because all the walls in the immediate hallway are dirty and the paint is worn where it is. has cleaned so many times. So we applied Diamond Matt to both walls in the hallway and continued up the stairs.

This is just one example to outline the different qualities of paints. I hope this provides a basic understanding of the differences. The Dulux site has extensive information on these paints but no comparative data.