To think that washable paint should be ok to get wet.

[SleepingWithGhosts]

So bloody angry at stupid Wickes at the minute :(

Decided to decorate the bathroom so went and bought some paint from them. The one we chose was silk paint that wasn't cheap and was advertised as washable.

It says on the front of the can it's washable and on the back it says 'hardwearing paint fully waterproof and washable'.

Bathroom has all been finished now, looks amazing but LO has just had a bath and like children do was splashing a bit in the bath.

Went to wipe down the walls and not only has the water 'stained' the paint leaving lighter coloured drip marks but when I tried to dry it the paint just rubbed straight off the walls!

Surely this isn't right for paint advertised as washable, surely it's expected to get wet?

So angry but what can I do now i've used the paint?

There was no reason to test it as have used silk paints many times and wiped them clean so assumed it would be fine.

Can't even take it back now and will have to re-do the bathroom which is all I need. It cost me a fortune getting a painter to do it the first time round (i'm too heavily pregnant to paint at the minute)

We have a bathroom paint. Yes, you notice the drip marks on the wall when it gets wet, but just leave it. Once it dries out naturally, its fine and you wouldnt know.

I would take photos of it, and write to the makers of the paint, with the photos and see what they say.

How long did you leave it before they had a bath? Some paints say you need to leave 7 days before wiping down, as the wiping motion would remove some of the paint. The water splashes would probably have dried off on their own.

Could it have been something to do with the surface on which you put the paint - old paint maybe? Were there any instructions on the tin about which surfaces are suitable? if not, take photos of the drip marks and the wiped off areas and show them to Wickes and make a fuss on the grounds that the item was "not fit for purpose" and "not as described". At the very least you should get your paint money back.

It's not the surface, the walls have been replastered, left to dry out for a full month and then painted with a watered down coat of white emulsion, then normal white emulsion and then this silk paint.

We had a professional decorator do the lot.

The instructions only say about cleaning greasy surfaces etc. but like I say these were fresh new walls so no issues there.

It was left to dry 4 days before the bath was used, only because the floor wasn't down yet but again nothing on the tin about leaving it 7 days etc. I might try repainting that part of the wall and leaving it 7 days to see how it copes then.

The water splashes have not yet dried out, only been 2 hours though so maybe they will do yet. I stopped wiping once I realised the paint was coming off but it is bubbling in places and has faded to a lighter colour in drip marks in others.

It's not labeled as 'bathroom paint' just silk but the guy told us you only need bathroom paint if you have a mould problem which we don't and it is advertised as washable paint.

Do you really think I have any chance at a refund now the paint has been used? Surely I can't just take back the empty tin and the quarter tin left in the second tin with photo's?

Like HintofBream, I'd wonder about the original surface of the walls, what preparation was required before applying the paint, and what kind of coverage would have been necessary. Also ChitChatFlyingby's question about how long the new paint surface should have been left before wiping down is relevant - but your decorator should have advised you on that.

The problem with this situation is that unless you do some research, it's difficult to know whether it's the fault of the paint or the decorator.

Oh, x-posted, sorry.

This is the paint, the website says the same as the tin 'fully washable' surely that means it is able to get wet and/or be wiped?

www.wickes.co.uk/vinyl-silk-paint-pewter/invt/214010/

www.wickes.co.uk/vinyl-silk-paint-pewter/invt/214010/

Whoops this should work.

I would have thought that 'washable' paint suggests that you can wipe occasional marks off the finished surface - I wouldn't have taken that to mean that it is suitable for use next to a bath where it is inevitably going to get wet on a regular basis. I would imagine that if you complain to Wickes they will say you should have used bathroom paint - in which case you will have to blame your decorator for giving you bad advice.

It's not a bathroom paint. There's a difference between a paint where dirty marks can be wiped away with a damp cloth and paint getting splashed with water. Tbh I wouldn't expect any paint to withstand being splashed repeatedly, bathroom or not.

I think bubbling paint is a problem with the surface of the wall, not the paint.

It says "ideal for general living areas" - I wouldnt have used it in a bathroom.

Unfortunately, the paint guide here says that vinyl silk is suitable for "general living areas". Only bathroom paint specifically mentions bathrooms - I don't think you'd have much success trying to complain TBH.

Well it does say "perfect choice for general living areas". A bathroom is not, IMO, a general living area, but a room with high moisture content. Wickes also do a special bathroom paint.

Sorry, we were bitten like this with some Homebase paint in a previous flat. Now only Dulux bathroom paint in bathrooms.

Mmm, well, people do usually tile around baths. There is a reason for this.

Still, it's a shame you were badly advised and are having extra stress late in pregnancy.

anonymumous It was the person serving me in Wickes who told me you only need bathroom paint if you have a mould problem, not the decorator.

The sales person actually took me to the paint aisle and told me to make sure I go for silk so it's washable, which I then did.

I do have washable paint in the kitchen (not from Wickes) and have in the past soaked and scrubbed it with a scourer after the dog splashed mud all up it and yet it did not come off at all.

This was a splash of water, not completely soaked. The paint is not next to the bath at all. There are 3 walls that are tiled in the bathroom and it's such a big room that the paint isn't that close to the bath, it was a splash that hit the opposite wall. Surely it should withstand this?

What surface problems would cause bubbling then? It only bubbled once wet and the surface has been professionally prepared as mentioned up thread.

hettykett The walls are tiled floor to ceiling all the way around the bath, this is the wall opposite to the bath.

Ahhh. Well unless you can prove to Wickes that you were going on their advice, or unless they are feeling very charitable, I suspect you will get short shrift anyway. It might be worth trying to speak to the manager to see what they say, but...

We have bathroom paint and it has been soaked frequently, with no problems. I'm surprised the sales person recommended the silk finish - surely the bathroom paint would be more expensive, so they should have been encouraging you to buy that?!

The bathroom paint was more expensive yes but didn't have the colour I wanted so I asked the guy if you MUST use bathroom paint and he said bathroom paint is designed to prevent mould so unless you have a mould problem you don't need it and silk will be fine.

He took me over to the silk paints and pointed out the range labeled as washable saying these are all fine for bathrooms because you can wash them.

Clearly no way of proving that though :(

What would everyone expect from paint that is advertised as washable then? I know it isn't designed for bathrooms but again it hasn't been wet excessively, just one splash of water.

Would you expect it to be able to get wet, to be wiped?

I have just tried wiping an unseen section of the wall with a damp cloth and it has wiped the paint straight off the wall.

My kitchen paint is normal silk emulsion from Focus as has been soaked and scrubbed with no problems at all.

How about painting a piece of spare wood with the paint, taking it into Wickes and wiping it down with a wet sponge in front of the manager? If the paint comes off, despite being described as washable, I'd say you have a case - you don't even have to tell them that it was used in a bathroom, do you?

That's an idea but then again the paint isn't designed for wood so doubt that would work actually.

I see I have messed up using it in a bathroom thanks to bad advice but even so it should be washable like they say it is.

I would understand if it had been soaked wet through but it was just a splash, my kitchen walls get more wet when I do the dishes!

I can see that if the paint was very close to the bath and got soaked, Wickes could legitimately point out that it is not a bathroom paint. But if it is a case of a splash at a distance, washable paint surely should cope. After all you might spill a glass of water in a bedroom but you would not expect "washable" paint to come off because of it. Take photos showing the position of the splashed wall to Wickes.

My gut feeling is that this is not a problem with the paint. Call your decorator back in.

I'm surprised your decorator didn't mention it not being bathroom paint, I agree that splashes can happen around the house and not just the bathroom but normally its advisable to use bathroom paint in a bathroom. Hope the manager manages to sort something for you.

The decorator thought it would be fine and is shocked to hear what has happened.

This link from homebase says that silk emulsions are ideal for 'rooms suject to a lot of moisture' www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomebaseStaticPageSecondLevel?langId=110&storeId=10151&includeName=HBCreateTheLook/how_to_paint_walls.html