The two most commonly used paints in the world of house painting are Oil (actually "Alkyd" and pronounced "Al - kid" ) and Latex. There are other types of specialty paints used - the most common being shellac primer and lacquer, but the majority of interior and exterior finish paints used in residential painting are oil and latex paint.
Which paint is better?
Neither paint is "best" for all situations. The strengths of each paint and the weaknesses of each are addressed below.
Oil Based Paint
Strengths
- Good leveling: Oil based enamels have a smoothness that is not achievable with standard latex paints ( an exception to this would be with the newer generation "waterborne" enamels which have very good leveling ), and are the choice of many painters for high end enameling work.
- Working time: Well known to anyone who has used oil based paints is that they take longer to dry and thus allow for longer working application time. Why and when is that useful? If you have a large ceiling or high wall and you don't want the paint to set up too quickly which would introduce "lap" marks, oil would be an excellent choice for the ceiling. Oil paints and glazes are the choice for many "negative" faux finishes because they afford longer working time before the paint/glaze sets up.
- Hardness and Washability: Oil enamels are hard and easy to wash. They are more chemically resistant than latex paints and stand up to washing well. The general rule that applies to this is: the higher the sheen level - the better the washability.
- Adhesion: Oil based paints have the ability to wet the surface they are applied to much better than latex paint. They have better adhesion to glossy surfaces and dirty surfaces than latex paint. While you should always de-gloss and clean the substrate before painting - oil paint is going to be more forgiving than latex if surface preparation is less than perfect.
Weaknesses
- Yellowing: Oil based paints and varnishes will yellow with age, particularly where they are not exposed to sunlight. Some oil paints will yellow more than others depending on a few factors such as: what oil resin is used in the paint formula and other factors. Yellowing is not a huge concern where colors are used but with "whites" it is a real problem. Often oil enameling is done in an "antique white" shade of off-white to camouflage this yellowing tendency. Antique white, as the name implies, is a gold - yellow white color, such as an white oil paint looks when it has aged a bit (antique), so you are essentially applying a "pre- yellowed" white so that the yellowing which occurs with age will not be so noticeable.
- Non-breathable: This is a property that is important to exterior paints. Much of the peeling that occurs on exterior surfaces is from moisture from inside the house trying to escape to the exterior through the wall. Oil paints form a tighter film which doesn't allow moisture vapor to pass through it very well, and the result is pressure build up behind the film which ultimately results in the paint bond breaking free and delamination of the paint.
- Solvent odor and solvent clean up: Probably the most common reason that the DIY'er doesn't use oil paints is the solvent clean up and the mess involved with such clean up. The other reason would be the solvent smell that is a part of the oil paint application which can be quite strong until the drying process is complete.
Latex Paint
Strengths
- Colorfastness: Latex paints retain their color much better than oil paints. Also exterior latex paints do not chalk as badly as oil paints - this chalking will lead to a bleaching out and fading of the paint color.
- Flexibility: Important for exterior paints. Latex paints will flex better with temperature changes and movement of the underlying substrate. On some surfaces where oil would be "shaken off" by substrate movement, latex can be used successfully.
- User friendly: Soap and water clean up and no strong odors. Spatter and overspray can often be cleaned off a hard non-porous surface with just water before the paint has had a chance to fully cure. Hands and personal clean up is done with water - no solvents required.
Weaknesses
- Softer films: As a rule latex paints will have softer films than oil paints. Latex paints take a long time to cure after drying during which time they are easily scarred.
- Surfactant Leaching: If you expose latex paint to moisture early in the paint film's curing - a soap like product used in latex paint to improve spread and application characteristics known as "surfactant" will leach out and mark the surface of the film. This surfactant issue needs to be kept in mind when painting areas with high humidity such as bathrooms. If the ventilation is poor in such rooms, oil paints are often better suited for these areas as they will not leach out surfactant.
These are a few of the differences between the two types of paint and knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each should help in choosing which finish works best for the job.
Oil or Latex Paint - Which Paint Should I Use?
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