The great “Is Farrow & Ball paint worth it?” debate – RESULTS OF EXPERIMENT!

[EscapeToTheShithole]

Redecorating… and got sucked into the See how it changes colour with the light! F&B marketing, even though I know perfectly well you could easily say that about magnolia.

Read some of the MN threads about how decorators loathe F&B paint and it’s all just Emperor’s new clothes. Felt worse than gullible, because even though I didn’t even believe the hype, I still went and bought it! And it is not cheap!!! 😫

An hour into painting, realised I’d underestimated how much was needed. It wasn’t bare plaster, but might as well have been as the walls are new and the builder must have used a crappy mist coat. Very absorbent.

Had the flash of genius that, as suggested on MN threads, I could nip out to B&Q and get 5L of ordinary paint mixed to match the colour.

This worked really well! Side by side, I couldn’t actually tell the difference from the wall I’d just done in F&B. They looked identical. So I used up the entire 5L tin (mist coat, then a second coat) kicking myself that I had forked out good money for the F&B, which I began thinking of as “that bullshit paint.” I am a cheapskate by nature, and it really irked me that I’d been foolish, but just in case it made a difference, I saved the F&B paint for the final coat.

By the time I'd finished the B&Q 5L pot, it was time to clean up for the day. To add insult to injury, I was looking around me slightly aghast at the colour I’d chosen: Why had I thought it was a good idea to paint the whole room in what looked like a bright orangey cream?! 😬

Next day, I braced myself and applied the final coat of the F&B “bullshit paint” … which, of course, looked exactly the same colour when applied. 🤦🏻‍♀️

And yet! – the effect in the room, especially as the walls dried, was quite different. No more orangey hue, more the subtle cooler/sandy effect I’d liked so much when using the tester pot. Hurraaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

So here are my thoughts:

A lot might depend on the shade you pick. I went for Farrow’s Cream – a sort of golden cream with a cool/sandy hue that’s hard to explain, and there’s no point me posting photos as none of them look anything like the actual colour! Despite being a perfect match, the B&Q dupe had a hotter orange feel to it although it was objectively the same colour.

I suspect F&B put something different in theirs to achieve the muted tones (lamp soot? incinerated roadkill? vintage Chanel mascara?).

Whatever it is, it does make a difference, but the paint needs to be thoroughly and regularly mixed to disperse it evenly (might explain decorators’ reluctance to use it?).

FWIW, I didn’t find the paint at all thin or translucent, quite the opposite – very pigment rich (maybe depends on colour and finish).

So there we go. Sharing in the interests of scientific research.

Sorry, should have included research conclusion:

Use colour-matched ordinary paint for the first coat(s), and F&B for the final finish.

That's interesting, thanks op. I still don't think it's worth the money though. I did a test example myself and preferred Dunelm for the sage green I used

Interesting post. I love the dulux hertiage paints. Th off white I have in my bed room changes colour subtly throughout the day.

I'm sure it depends on the colour! The thing is, I painted an entire (large!) room - twice with B&Q, once with F&B - and honestly, if just comparing patches of colour side by side on the wall, would not have been able to tell any difference. It's just the overall effect, in the completed room, was very different. Odd!

I wonder what their secret ingredient is!!!!!!!!

Its the reflection index - I quite often see people saying its exactly the same. But side by side it often isn't due to the reflection and sometimes I compliment people of the colour dupe knowing it's not and they are so pleased to have 'cheated' . little green is similar but by far the best paint we have ever used is mylands. Great service too. We have a unopended tin from almost 3 years ago and when we asked them they said it'd be fine. (5l did a huge Edwardian drawing room from plaster didn't expect that - everyone else was 2x 5l)
Top tip - diluted PVA with a cloth onto bare plaster is quicker, less messy and more effective than watered base coat.

Interesting!! I had a Dulux dupe of Pink Ground and I love it. I did want F&B but the whole house was painted and it would have been too much money!

NOT all the house was painted in Pink Ground, btw! Just one room!!😄

Little Green has Farrow and Ball colours/pigments and Dulux coverage I don’t know why more people don’t use it.

We've moved into a house which has F and B in the lounge. I hate it. It chips like fuck. It will be changed in autumn to Dulux 😀

So based on what you’ve said, get a F&B dupe mixed at B&Q. Paint it on your walls and save money. If you’re not happy with the final finish, buy F&B for the final coat. Sounds good to me, thank you.

It’s the pigments apparently. It’s a beautiful paint. I must try little green.

Can you explain reflection index?

I’ve been using Johnstones colour matched to whatever. I don’t redecorate often enough to have strong opinions on colour, and don’t want to do multiple testers to choose. I don’t have the mental energy these days.
That said I’m not quite satisfied with my most recent rooms, so may need to work a bit harder going forward!

I've used Little Green in my lounge and bedroom and it's good if a bit of a pain to apply. It's pricer than Dulux. I am sworn off F&B because you need so much and it's so expensive.

Totally agree OP.
Little Greene are fantastic to use and have amazing colours as well but they tend to be ‘cleaner’ if you know what I mean. F&B have a muted effect.

The ingredients are different and the slightly chalky texture and deep colour. I love F and B . It’s not better, just different from Dulux. But you have to use their undercoat to avoid problems putting it on.

Little and Greene id good. Benjamin Moore is hands down the world’s best paint available to retail customers.

Interesting.
I generally use colour match B&Q and am always happy. But last year we had an extension done and I thought I would splash out with F&B. I chose a turquoise I think called Lobster.
I did the cutting in then rollered the rest. The cutting in dried darker! I think it is a thing, something like top hatting? I tried to fix it but you can still see the darker cutting in. I found it difficult to use overall and so I would never buy it again. I’ve never had this issue with any other paint.

I love Farrow & Ball colours, but it chips and/or marks easily and the marks are sometimes not easy to remove.

IME, Little Greene is better than F&B. The coverage is better, the finish is better, it's easier to use, marks are easy to remove, it doesn't chip and the colours are beautiful.

Oh reading this has reminded me of the agony's of choosing paint for the dinning room, hall and living room.

Long story short i want to redo the hall a year later because i went for a wicks paint that looked exactly like a F&B one but I've not been happy ever since.

The dinning room is actual F&B Skylight and every day i walk in and love it. I loved painting it with its lovely chalky finish. I've been vague about the price of F&B to DH 🤣

I think colour matched Dulux Trade would have yielded a better comparison than B&Q paint.

I’ve had to bite my tongue often when people have told me I’m a mug for using F&B rather than colour matched. It’s the depth of pigmentation and, as pp says, the light refraction which makes all the difference. I colour matched a bunch at Johnston’s when I had a whole house to do, but the finish was so flat that the colours just looked dull. I could absolutely tell the difference. I ended up having to buy F&B anyway, so it was an expensive lesson.

That said, I’ve also liked Little Greene and Benjamin Moore, so there are other quality paints out there.

ETA though it’s a pain and expensive, if you use their base coats it finishes better. God, I should get commission!

Earthborn clay paint is the best paint I've ever used. Same price range as F+B, but I don't think I've ever needed more than one coat. So nice to apply, and the clean up is really easy. When dry it looks soft and deep, because there's absolutely zero sheen/light reflection.

The downside is that you can't really scrub at the walls.

Or be a cheapskate like me and use dupes for the first 2 coats! 🤑

My husband is a builder and has always said that Dulux is the best paint.
He reckons F&B is good stuff, but he tries to advise clients that Dulux is the superior paint.
The Heritage Range is lovely.

I agree it’s the pigment and it’s to do with reflection.

It doesn’t last well and I think it’s a bit of a bugger to apply which is why decorators don’t like it ( as well as the fact they resent money going from their client to the product rather than to them!)

BUT the effect is different imo. I have stood with decorators swearing black and blue the effect is the same but they have not yet been able to trick me ( one even applied a fake tin label, so convinced was he that I was influenced by the branding not the product.)

I’ve come to the conclusion some people are just more sensitive to colour than others, who think near enough is good enough.

It’s not even the colour exactly, it’s to do with the reflection and the way it interacts with light.