When thinking of renovating your bathroom, you may ask yourself, “Do I need special paint for bathroom walls?” If so, then read this article to find out more about paint options available to you and how they can help to transform your bathroom into your dream bathroom. In most cases, the answer is yes. So, what types of paints are there and what do they do? Well, this article will take a look at some bathroom ideas that may spark your imagination and give you an idea as to what you need to do to make your bathroom come alive.
Bathroom walls receive a lot of wear and tear from using your sink, toilet, and shower repeatedly. Therefore, you will want to protect them against cracking, peeling, chipping, discoloring and fading. Special wallpaint has been developed to resist moisture and provide a high degree of resistance to staining. As a result, you will have walls in your bathroom that look new and which stay looking that way for years.
Acrylic is one of the most popular paint types used today for this purpose. It is easy to apply, easy to maintain, and it looks like the paint has been sprayed on the walls. Acrylic paint resists mildew, which is often associated with bathroom walls where food is often consumed. Moreover, acrylics do not have “dyes” and they do not react with each other or with any other paints. This means that when you clean your wall with water, the acrylic will not peel off!
Other choices of paint include enamel, acrylics, and latex. Some of these work well with some surfaces while some work better with others. Acrylics are a great choice for low-porosity materials such as PVC pipes or fiberglass. Since they do not peel off, you can wipe them down regularly without fear of the paint leaching out onto other areas.
On the other hand, latex will work very well on very wet surfaces. Thus, they are a good choice for bathroom walls where soap scum might be common. They do not have “dyes”, though, so they may be prone to color fading. Nevertheless, a wide range of colors is available and they do not need much maintenance.
If you have decided on latex paint, you should take care to let it dry completely before applying wallpaper. Wallpaper will only stick to latex paint. However, if you leave it on longer, it will likely cause the paint to peel off. This would be unfortunate, because the walls in your bathroom will look great if the paint is just on the surface. If you must leave it on, do so for an hour or so first, then move it to a piece of cardboard and leave it overnight.
Wallpaper works best with natural-colored walls. But there are latex paints that look great on brightly colored walls. It is not a bad idea to dab some paint on the wall before applying it with a brush. If you do not feel comfortable with this procedure, try to go with the clear variety that does not stain easily. Another option is to use a special latex primer before applying the paint. This will make it easier to apply the paint without having to wait on a long, hot painting process.
The answer to the question, “Do I need special paint for bathroom walls?” is: No. You can use any kind of paint that comes to mind – even Acrylic. Acrylic is a polymer comprised of thousands of tiny triangles. The paint can be thinned out by adding water or acrylic acid (such as Acetone) and/or it can be thickened with a variety of solvents, among other things. One advantage to acrylic paints over natural-colored ones is that they are less prone to staining and are more resistant to fading.