Tester pots are just ridiculous…

[TheEverdelightfulsamantha]

I bought a bunch of tester pots - read of lot of threads here and decided on Dulux Egyptian Cotton- bought a second tester so I could do a larger patch in a different place and it’s a totally different colour! ? Could it be mislabelled? What shall I do now? 1 on my picture is the colour I want, 2 is the second tester…

Oh wow it does look totally different!

Sorry, I have no clever advice, other than to try another tester . . . very frustrating for you!

Go back, get 2 more pots, paint above and below the two you highlighted. Let it dry overnight. See which is which.

@RedPandaFluff I don’t know what advice I need but I do appreciate the sympathy- it’s not a task I enjoy anyway but this hasn’t made it easier!

Tester pots are indeed ridiculous. What I would do is go and buy the Egyptian Cotton and slap it on the wall (but then I'm old and the shade difference wouldn't bother me at all now, when it would have done in my youth... ) I have Egyptian Cotton in the sitting room and each wall looks different depending where the light falls anyway.

Why two more pots @ThatFraggle ? It’s definitely the right name for both samples (both Egyptian cotton on the label) - one more pot might help though…

That is weird OP. Egyptian cotton is a really good "greige" colour though, I have it in my hallway.

You're right. Just one more.

@TheEverdelightfulsamantha Do you still have both tester pots? Take them back to where you bought them from. If B&Q then the paint desk is very helpful. So either they can confirm that tester pot 2 is EC or if it is another paint they should be able to match it. I would get the tester pot if it is a "match" just in case but they should be giving you that one for free seeing as though the only reason you are getting another one is to make sure the colour is right.

I had a Valspar paint tester pot mixed up and it was a completely different tone to the colour card but they had opened it at the desk and both myself and the B&Q lady were very confused.

Also an interior design tip, when you do paint tester samples use printer paper, paint at least 4 sheets and label them. When they are dry blu tack them to the wall especially near corners as each wall will get different light so you can see the colour for morning light, afternoon and artificial when you turn the lights on. It also means you don't have to try to cover a darker sample if you choose to go for a lighter colour.

How were they both applied?

Both Matt?

@Knittedfairies i am over thinking - that is what I will do! Will the world end if my hall is more grey than griege? Nope!

@ChiaraRimini i say you have good taste I will follow your lead!

@CorruptAppleYard - I did that first but all the shades look totally different of white paper - even the elephants breath looked cream

@GottaGirlcrush - both the same finish (and not easy care or anything fancy!) and applied with the roller on the tester pot

I think they look exactly the same colour. It's just that you have them painted next to very different colours and it's tricking your eyes. Paint the two pots side by side and see if I am right?

I can't see the difference between them

Neither of those samples look like the Egyptian cotton i have in my home, its more likely a beige colour in my living room! Weird 🤷‍♀️

Number 2 looks more like Dulux Goose Down. Very strange, but having said that I also see Egyptian Cotton described as greige all the time and it looks lovely in peoples photos, yet when I did my hallway in it, it came out very beige, like cookie dough colour. So maybe there is some variation, maybe different batches?

Oh just buy it and chuck it on. Life is too short for this level of colour scrutiny.

I no longer bother with testers at all.

I have Egyptian Cotton and it looks like the colour second from the right on the top, next to the dark green. Looks totally grey for you!

Don't paint the sample on the wall. Paint it on a very large piece of the lining paper you will use to line the walls. Cut it into 2 or 3 pieces and put them up on various walls in the rooms you intend to paint.

This way you will know that it is all the same paint, and you will see how the same paint looks different under different lights and in different surroundings.

Get two pieces of white A4 card and paint the whole thing with the two tester pots, then put them side-by-side. It may be that they aren't that different but the other colours are throwing your perception.

This is a good way to test colours anyway as you can move the card around the room to see how the shade looks in different areas.

Did you stir them both?

In our house, we use up tester pot paint by painting the biggest squares possible on a couple of different wall so you can see the way the light might affect it. I think your sample squares are too small to get a true sense of a colour. It was fun when I painted a huge patch of a really dark moss green that I hated. Took a million coats to cover. It's a cautionary tale op.

Am I looking at the wrong thing? 1 and 2 look identical to me.

Instead of painting the wall, paint a piece of A4 then hang it up in different parts of the room ie the darkest corner and the lightest bit to get an idea of colour.

I have used Egyptian Cotton in several of my rooms before and I painted DDs room In it. Like many paints it can look different in different lighting and room sizes. Also the trade paint from the Dulux Decorator Centre differed from the off the shelf stuff from Wilko. I much prefer the trade.

I would just go for it, I’ve never disliked it in any setting. Make sure you buy Matt. I doubt you will be disappointed.