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Painting & Decorating

If the paint says it is wipeable does that mean it can be wiped with a wet cloth to remove marks?

Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 2.33 PM

Bit upset. Just paid a decorator to paint the hallway a week ago. I said we needed to be able to wipe off marks. He provided the paint for the woodwork (for the banisters, picture rail, skirting, back of front door, door frames, etc) and he used Dulux Eggshell but it is looking threadbare in places already and when I tried to wipe an area with a slightly damp cloth the paint came off too. Previously the wood had Satinwood on it. Is Eggshell normally wipeable or should something have been done to the wood before putting the Eggshell on over the old Satinwood paint? Also for the walls we used Craig & Rose Chalky Emulsion paint and the tin says this is wipeable. Tried to remove the first scuff marks and the paint came off too! What are we doing wrong? Does wipeable only mean you can lightly wipe dust off but not actually use a damp cloth to remove marks? Is the Craig and Rose tin misleading when it says wipeable or have we done something wrong? Thank you!

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3 Answers

Anonymous user

Hi,scuff marks cannot be wiped of paint as it as already gotten into the paint when you wipe scuff marks it will leave a spot that you have wiped.wipeable means wipe as soon as ordinary mark is made.chalky emulsion is not wipeable if it is a scuff mark.It also seems that your painter used water based paint on your woodwork as solvent based is easy to wipe.best bet call him back find out what paint used. then agree some kind of middle of the road agreement to put job right.remember any paint you wipe will show a feint mark if it is not dust.good luck and hope this helps

Answered28 November 2016

Islandmagee Painting & Decorating

Rating: 5 out of 5

Larne

Hi there, hope this helps. I'd have thought that the eggshell would certainly have been wipeable, although the fact you've said it is threadbare in places makes me think the preparation was not the best, or perhaps it was only "one coated". Normally, you lightly sand it to give a grip, either use undercoat (sometimes more than one coat of undercoat depending on the surfaces), and then a min of two satin/eggshell etc. Re the walls : Wipeable normally means just that - that you can lightly wipe it, but not a hard "scrub" - although from your comments, I'd say a wipe with a cloth shouldn't remove paint - how many coats were applied? Normally a min of two is needed. I'd normally recommend a soft/mid sheen paint for those customers that want to be able to give the walls more than a light "wipe". Hope this helps, give the painter a call, I'm sure he will be pleased to help put things right.

Answered12 August 2015

Anonymous user

sounds to me like your decorator used trade / contract emulsion on your walls and trade / contract eggshell on your woodwork. if i'm correct, your decorator has provided the paint in the price? and done it on the cheap. Therein lies the problem. There are hardwearing paints available that are not only wipeable but SCRUBBABLE ! A good example would be B&Q's VALSPAR. There are several various blends available depending on the situation / area to be painted. The hardest wearing and most durable of these is VALSPAR V700 BLEND which can be mixed in any colour / finish you desire. retailing at around £50 per 5 litres. and requires a MINIMUM 2 coats. not cheap but I assure you, you can SCRUB the paint when dry.

Answered18 May 2023