Which eco paint is best? NaturePaint or Earthborn (or other?)?

[CurrerBell]

We need to paint our whole house (interior) and are going to go for white. I'd like to use an eco paint and think I've narrowed it down to two - NaturePaint which comes as a powder, or Earthborn. Has anyone tried these, or have any other suggestions? I need something durable and ideally washable, as we don't intend to redecorate for a long time.

For the woodwork, I am thinking of using Earthborn Eggshell. I want to use something water-based that will stay white and won't yellow over time.

We also have some skirting with old (probably lead-based) paint on it. We have to replace some skirting anyway as we have moved some walls, so I'm wondering if it's best just to rip the whole lot off - or sand it down to paint, and try to match in some similar new skirting?

Hey CurrerBell, we've been using paint from a company called Ecos. We've used their wood primer and undercoat so far and plan to use their Feng Shui Multi Surface Paint (which is like an eggshell) on the woodwork in our house. We haven't used any emulsion type paint on the walls because we're using limewash. They do loads of colours and finishes and you can order loads of different sample pots too. All of their paints are no VOC (not just low VOC) and are completely odourless. I'm not sure how washable the paints are, but I've spoken to them about lots of different things and they've been really helpful on the phone. Here's their website: www.ecosorganicpaints.com. They're quick to send stuff out too and send their tins of paint in minimal yet safe packaging. We've been really impressed so far.

If you need to remove old paint, we used an eco paint stripper, which is called biostrip www.biostrip.co.uk/. This was great for getting old paint off and turns it into a jelly like substance, so you're not left with any dust - which could potentially be harmful to your health. My tips for using the biostrip would be to do a test patch, leave for about 20 minutes, have a go with a scraper and see how you get on and if it's stubborn leave for another 5 minutes and repeat. It needs to go on quite thick but not really dripping. I also put a load of old news paper to scrape the old paint onto and then these can be picked up and dumped straight into the bin (I didn't think I should recycle the old paint!)

BTW, we started out stripping / sanding and in the end, ripped everything off the walls (old lime plaster and skirting boards) and have started again! Apart from the stairs and the floor boards up in the bedrooms, which we've scraped, restored and started to paint / stain. It's taken a long time and a lot of patience but has been well worth it.

Good luck!

We use Ecos too. Lovely finish on walls. I have painted over stubborn marks with no signs of patchiness. You can gently wipe some stains away.