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6 months of testing south-facing colors in Phoenix taught me one thing
I painted 4 test patches on my south wall last July and tracked which one faded the least. The Sherwin Williams color that had the most UV stabilizer held up way better than the others. I was shocked that a $15 sample difference could save me a full repaint in just 6 months. Has anyone else run side by side tests like this?
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jade6184mo ago
Tested the same thing on my east facing kitchen wall last year and it's wild how much of a difference the UV stabilizers make. The cheaper paints looked alright for the first few months but they turned chalky and washed out fast. I started paying attention to the technical specs on the can after that, not just the color name. Now I ask the paint store staff directly which lines have the most UV protection before I buy anything. It's a little extra effort but beats having to repaint in a year.
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mark_fisher484mo ago
Ain't that the truth though? That's a solid point about asking the paint store guys directly, but like terry said some of them are just guessing. I've been burned too, bought a paint from a big box store that the guy swore would hold up, looked great for like 4 months then faded to a weird pale version of itself. It's a pain to read the fine print on the can but it beats wasting a whole weekend repainting.
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the_terry4mo ago
Wait, does your kitchen get direct east sun all morning? East facing walls usually get a pretty gentle dose compared to south or west facing ones... UV stabilizers matter way more on a wall that bakes in afternoon light, but you're definitely right that cheap paint goes bad fast no matter what. I've had luck with the mid-tier paints from Sherwin-Williams for east facing rooms, they held up fine without going chalky. Be careful though, some of the paint store guys don't actually know the real UV ratings on their own products, they just guess based on the price... I've been burned trusting them before.
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