Top 5 eco-paints

Eco-paints in every colour, by Kym Mcleod

Paints, varnishes and staining products release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in to the air you breathe.

These compounds affect your chest and lungs; allergies and asthma. They  pollute the space around you.

But don’t despair! There are plenty of healthy alternatives that don’t cost the earth and still perform to quality. Paints need colour pigments, resins and binders to carry the colour, solvents to help application and a drier, but these ingredients need not be synthetic – they can be plant based.

According to Ethical Consumer, “synthetic ingredients like vinyl and acrylic in most emulsion paints, tend to be by-products of the petrochemical industry. Plant based ingredients come from processes which are less damaging.”

What to look for & why

• Check the tin for VOC content because many manufacturers now make a low VOC paints
• Choose matt, eggshell or satin finish over gloss because it contains higher VOCs than emulsions AND is high in solvents
• Avoid paint containing titanium dioxide as its mining processes are not environmentally friendly
• Buy paints with plant based rather than synthetic ingredients as they are by-products of the petrochemical industry.

What are natural paint ingredients?

• Linseed oil – binder in lino, paint and varnish products
• Lime – forerunner of modern cement, used in traditional walls, renders and mortar
• Turpentine – natural paint solvent and better than white spirit as it comes from a bio-degradable source
• D-limonene – natural solvent derived from citrus fruits
• Natural earth and mineral pigments – colours paints, lime washes and renders
• Chalk -natural calcium carbonate found in wall paints and lime renders as a filler
• Casein – derived form and is a natural paint binder
• Borax – a benign substance used as a fungicide to prevent the paint from going off

Who to Buy?
According to tests and trials by Ethical Consumer, the following paints are best:

• Emulsion: - Nutshell, Auro, ECOS, Green Paints, Earthborn Clayprint – while B&Qs water based ‘minimal’ solvent range is top of mainstream brands.
• For a full breakdown of eco- emulsions click here

• Gloss  – Auro, ECOS, Green Paints, – while Impra Profilan is top of mainstream with its water based low solvent paint.
• For a full breakdown of eco-gloss click here

For more information on eco-friendly decoratign products, download a BPEC info sheet
Happy decorating!