One of the biggest advantages of using a high-quality Flat Paint for your interior painting projects is easier touch-ups.
Flat or matte finishes tend to touch up better: The flatter the finish, the easier to touch up; the glossier the finish, the more challenging. The better quality your paint is, the easier your touch-up is going to be.
Flat is not scrubbable. The rule is you touch up flat and you wash eggshell. Unless it is a washable flat, you are better off touching up than washing. Try to use a roller and if you can't, then try to simulate the texture of the stipple made by the roller with your brush by dabbing the paint on.
However, flat finishes are not very durable and need to be carefully cleaned. Scrubbing flat paint could wear down the finish and cause sheen to appear in patchy spots. Best places to use flat paint: Ceilings (which tend to have flaws), accent walls, and low-traffic rooms that don't need frequent cleaning.
Flat will scuff and dirty far easier, and is much more difficult to clean. Even walls are typically not painted with flat; usually satin so it's not too glossy but still reasonable to wipe down.
This type of paint is particularly effective at concealing small nicks, cracks, and other surface blemishes, making it ideal for older walls or less-than-perfect surfaces. However, it's important to note that flat paint is the least durable option and doesn't usually stand up well to scrubbing or frequent cleaning.
Try one of the versions of melamine-foam-based white sponges (“Magic Eraser” is one brand) –these are least likely to mar flat-painted surfaces, but due to their ablative action (they wear away) may leave a white residue on darker colors. Just follow them with an absorbent WHITE towel, using a gentle blotting action.
Therefore, builders use low-grade flat paint we painters refer to as builder-grade flat. If you live in a home painted this was by a builder, a seller, or a low-cost painter, you know that this flat finish wears badly, scuffs easily, is chalky, and you cannot clean it, or it comes off.
Flat paint is the most forgiving finish with the best color payout. If you need to cover imperfections, patching or joints, flat paint can absorb light, making your dings and flaws less noticeable. Note that this kind of paint finish has no sheen to it. The drawback to a flat finish is the lack of durability.
You shouldn't use flat paint on high-traffic areas, like bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms because it's the hardest to clean. But, if you're using a high quality flat paint, you'll be able to scrub away any imperfections on the wall after 30 days of painting the surface.
In reality, flat paint is the best choice for most areas of your home. This is because it is affordable and will do a great job of hiding any imperfections in the walls all over your house. However, it is perhaps better to opt for satin paint in high-traffic areas.
Wall patch tends to soak up a LOT of paint, much more so than the existing paint on the wall. Because of this, a small area of patching can stand out like a sore thumb. You can minimize this by priming in the patched area with a primer so it comes closer to matching the rest of the wall.
Flat / Matte Paint
The good news is that flat paint is easy to touch up. Matte paint is not recommended for bathrooms and kitchens, but it is ideal for living room walls, ceilings, bedrooms, and walls which have many imperfections.
Professional painters frequently utilize premium paints, such as Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams, for their work. Sherwin-Williams is widely regarded as one of the top paint brands, providing a broad range of premium quality paints, including environmentally friendly options.
A Brush is used for slightly bigger scratches than the Pen as they release a more generous amount of paint. If your car's coat has a rock chip or a pencil eraser sized scratch, use a car paint pen. If your car has chips or scratches that are the size of a quarter, use a Brush.
Eggshell is always an interior designer's preferred paint finish, which is why we chose this as our ultimate finish for walls. The name eggshell stems from the fact the finish appears mostly flat with just a touch of luster... similar to a chicken egg!
Flat paint is a term for a finish that does not reflect light, resulting in no sheen at all. This lack of reflection allows more paint pigment to come through, is more forgiving of flaws and allows for excellent hide, creating a uniform surface.
Flat paint has a low-sheen finish that helps reduce glare in high-glare areas. This makes it great for ceilings or rooms with lots of light reflectors, like bathrooms or living rooms. However, the lower level of gloss can make flat paint vulnerable to staining and marks from spills and fingerprints.
Eggshell is the most common paint sheen and the one I recommend for most painting projects. Think of the shine on an egg – that's the luster you can expect from an eggshell finish! It has a bit of shine to it, but not much. Eggshell is easy to clean and durable, which is why I think it's such a popular finish choice.
Flat finishes often require fewer coats than semi-gloss and gloss paints. They are also easier to touch up; there is less contrast between the touch-up paint and the rest of the painted surface. On interior walls, flat finishes are ideal for low-traffic areas such as formal dining rooms and master bedrooms.
Flat and Matte finish paints are ideal for covering walls that have flaws or blemishes. Even larger imperfections, such as extensive scuffs and nail pops can get covered and camouflaged since Flat Paints are effective at absorbing light, in essence, “hiding” the bumps and lines that exist on every wall.
Flat or matte paint finish: This is a low-sheen finish that is non-reflective and good for concealing patches and cracks. It is best for low traffic areas like bedrooms and ceilings. Eggshell finish: This is a washable, non-glossy finish with a subdued velvety appearance.
There is a spectrum of paint sheens, from flat to glossy. Typically, a higher sheen creates a more durable and cleanable finish. Because flat paint is porous and has the lowest sheen, it is less able to hold up to frequent scrubbing.
The foam is made of super-fine fibers that lift and trap dirt and rub out marks. These thin, glass-like fibers are abrasive, so Magic Erasers® can be thought of as a cross between a sponge and fine sandpaper.
Eggshell paint has a longer life span than flat paint since it is easier to clean and less likely to show scuffs and stains over time; however, durability mostly comes down to paint quality, and you can expect high-grade flat paints to last longer than low-grade eggshell paints.