Why has my diy painting ruined my walls?

[Cadl]

Boring question but I am always impressed by the practicality and helpfulness of MNers.

Anyway, 6 months ago we had our walls painted Timeless White (dulux) and some marks have appeared over time. Nothing major just scuffs here and there plus the odd muddy splodge (dogs). Have been able to keep things at bay with magic erasers.

Anyway, I decided to spot paint using testers. Thought it was a complete success. But maybe cause today is first bright day in ages but you can totally tell what I have done and the areas I have pointed are noticeable!

what did I do wrong?

Testers probably aren’t the same finish, I think they just come in colours.

Painting it white in the 1st place.

I've found that some testers can be very thick compared to the paint, so it could be the texture ends up a bit different.

What happens if you sand those places with really fine grain sandpaper?

This. But even if you use fresh paint from your original tin, you are likely to see a colour difference due to colour fade/ slight dirt etc.
If I have a ver6 small spot, I use my finger to dab on the paint to cover it. Gives a better blurry finish. If it’s a bigger mark, I find I need to do the whole wall

Very annoying as I was very proud of my proactiveness! Gave me a boost.

Different batches of paint will vary ever so slightly. For touch ups, it's always advised to keep some of the paint you used, the same tin.

Paint lasts very long when stored correctly.

No two batches of paint are the same.

They may have been inadequately mixed.

Another layer of paint on the surface might catch the light in a different way and be more noticeable (more likely with gloss, but can occur to some extent with emulsion)

Your wall has acquired a slight even layer of grime over the last year, now being shown up by some "clean" paint. Do you have an open fire or even smoke inside, or is this in the kitchen?

Whichever it is, I'm sure it doesn't show that much, and your wall is far from ruined.

Did you use silk emulsion when the original was matt?

Paint fades & usually even if you use paint from the original tin it’s noticeable where the touch ups are especially after a few months, you haven’t done anything wrong.

Hang on, having seen your photo....how long is it since you did the touching up? Because that's what emulsion paint that hasn't quite dried looks like....🤔

The testers probably aren’t the same colour, do you not have the original tin?

I got through 3 testers in 2 rooms! So now that I am aware it’s very noticeable imo.

Im such a novice at diy that I didn’t trust myself to even get the proper paint and equipment. Thought the tester would be idiot proof.

That was probably done 3 days ago:

Did not know that or even think to question finishes.

I think you may have put the paint on too thickly OP

Ooh I don’t have any but I can go pick some up. Is this what you would recommend?

Even when touching up from the original tin I’ve often found you can visibly see the new patch

This is in a room with an open fire. It’s a good 18ft from the fire.

I’m gutted not to be dramatic. How can I fix it?

I was always taught to do touch ups using the same paint batch that was left over, first with watered down paint and then once dry with neat paint using the same roller as before (I use mini rollers for touch ups they look fluffy almost whereas the gloss ones are smoother). I was touching up the other day and it's turned out ok. Every batch can be different. A tester is a different ball game. I think they are thicker?

Not helpful now but I always use Johnstones durable paint, it's scrubbable and they mix it in loads of colour. Two kids, dog and cats I can just wash off the marks

You'll have to do a full coat over

Most testers come in Matt
Density will affect colour... 2 coats v 3 coats
Paint on the walls fades over time

If you used durable/1 coat/kitchen/bathroom.... all have different mix to your standard

I’ve never painted in my life. As I was doing it I did question how thick to apply the paint. But as I tend to overthink/procrastinate I pushed myself just to go for it.

Because some of the marks were almost black I did have to go a bit heavier handed to cover.

Is there a thickness rule? Now I think about it would it have been better to do thinner applications and more coats?

Paint the dog with the same paint as the wall, then it doesn't show the marks as it rubs against it.

Word of warning : when you repaint over the years the dogs coat can become matted but DO NOT use a blow lamp to remove previous coats. Also the weight of paint over time can, ultimately, slow down the said dog but this happened any way with age. (It has for me and I haven't even been painted!)