Should you choose oil or waterbased paint?

When it comes to painting woodwork there are many finish options available: high gloss, gloss, satin, eggshell and matt. While this is an easy decision to make based on the levels of sheen you prefer the big question is, should you choose water based or oil based?

Below you will find out why in my opinion water based products are massively increasing in popularity in our industry and why they are now far more superior to oil based products in most instances, as well as why I believe that all professional decorators should now be mostly using water based products (the right ones) in your home.

Benefits of water based products

There are so many benefits to water based products there is no wonder why they are massively increasing in popularity, here are some of the reasons why I believe water based products are now far superior to oil based products:

• Water based products do not smell. They emit fewer VOCs (volatile organic compounds) these are what makes the paint smell so strong, which can be highly toxic, harmful to your health and the environment.

• Water based products dry around 8x faster than oil based products, which is perfect for any projects that have high traffic areas and can also benefit the client by speeding up the job process which essentially can save them money in the long run.

• Water based systems do not go yellow! This is a huge benefit in my opinion as unlike with oil your project can remain a high quality appearance for its lifetime compared to oil based products.

• Water based paints are also ideal for where oil based paints are not recommended for example: oil based paint is considered flammable which could potentially be a hazard on certain projects.

Disadvantages of water based paints and my solutions to these problems

if you can't tell already, water based is definitely the best option on most projects there are however a few disadvantages to water based products but in my experience I can provide a solution to each one of these problems below:

• Certain water based products cannot go over surfaces that have previously been painted with an oil based product. Solution: there are many water based primers and undercoats on the market which will stick to almost anything some even block stains and rusting!

• Lower sheen levels, while water based products can have lower sheen levels compared to oil based products they remain the same throughout its lifetime whereas over time oil based products not loose their sheen but go yellow very quickly.

• Some water based products leave an absolutely shocking finish, especially when applied by a brush. Solution: whenever you are choosing to use a water based finish you need to make sure you are using the right quality of product, Benjamin Moore scuff x and Johnstones Aqua guard are the most superior when it comes to water based finishes.

• They may require more coats compared to oil based paints. While this may be true the drying times massively outweigh using oil based, typically water based products are recoat able after 3-4 hours meaning you can apply 2-3 coats in one day as opposed to one coat per day with oil based products.

Why oil based could be a better decision for your project

While water based paints have many advantages there are often times where me as a professional would still decide to use an oil based product as opposed to water based, here I will give a few instances where oil based products are my go to product:

Are you suffering from a smoke/fire damaged home?

Oil based paints have great stain blocking and sealing properties essentially not allowing the damage of the fire and soot to bleed back through the finishing coat. This also seals in and masks the odors of the fire with the smell of the oil based paint (believe it or not you can actually get paint perfume which can make the paints smell much more bareable).

Oil based products are also far easier to use compared to waterbased products. One of the main reasons for this is because of the extended working time of oil based products along with the ease of the application process, waterbased products are quick drying meaning if you are inexperienced in using waterbased products the finish of them can be terrible. In my opinion oil based paints are for DIYers and what i call "the dinosaurs of our trade" who are stuck in their ways and are not willing to move forward with the times.

After describing differences of using oil or water based products you should have a great understanding of which of these is the best option for you and your project and why in my opinion water based products massively outweigh the benefits of using oil based products.

Based on the information I have given to you today do you think that I have helped you with making your decision on which products you should use?

If you require any further information or you feel that you have made your decision and would potentially like to go schedule an initail call where I can help you with any queries or book you in for a free quotation.

Thank you for reading,

Chris - CIR Painting Services.