Bob

So anyone got any recommendations for decent brands, that won't cost the earth? Bonus if they aren't oil based.

Looking for something that's latex free and it seems most of the water soluble stuff is latex acrylic...much like what our new apartment is painted in.

Not that great, having a latex allergy

And non latex paints, paint them straight on top, or the hassle of stripping the old paint needed?

Poppy girl

Curious what's your symtoms for the latex allergy!!

Bill_S

Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert, Sherwin-Williams are among the top brands. Don't buy cheap paint, the good stuff lasts longer.

Michael

Oil based is terrible to work with, hard to clean up, smells, and looks bad after being applied and latex based paint is about the only alternative. Is it just that you can't work with latex based paint or is it that you suffer allergies once it is applied?

Kelly Moore is a pretty good paint and the price isn't too bad in the 5 gallon cans. Home Depot Behr paint is pretty good and you can get about $5 off per gallon if you catch it on sale.

But if you can't use latex based paint, you are going to have major problems.

bevinva

Benjamin Moore.

Brat1

My favorite paint has to be suede paint - luv it, luv it!! Don't know if it's got latex in it though, but I'll be using it in our new home when we get one. Not cheap at $40 a tin, but I think you get what you pay for with paint, and I've found the cheap stuff needs more coats to get a streak free finish. Good luck with the decorating

Btw, my friend at work had a latex allergy, he had to use cotton gloves inside his latex gloves, that all funeral directors have to wear daily, and he was fine. If he didn't wear them, he would break out in really bad sores and his skin would all crack, looked really painful.

Anian

My wife's family swears by Sherwin-Williams so that is what we have always bought. Water-based, worked so much better than than Homebase stuff I used in Britain. I made sure I got the extra hard wearing type, lives up to it's name in the well-travelled parts of the house. There are usually coupons on the internet to get 30% off.

Jerseygirl

Try acrylic paint...Ben Moore and Muralo make acrylic paint.

Michael

Latex paint is a general term which covers all paints that use synthetic polymers such as acrylic, vinyl acrylic (PVA), styrene acrylic, etc. as binders. The term "latex" is applied to most water-based paints, regardless whether the can says they are 100% acrylic, latex or vinyl styrene. It is only because natural latex and synthetic polymers share the property of looking milky when wet, and clear and flexible when dry, that they call this whole family of polymers "latex" in the paint US industry.

100% acrylic resins cost twice as much as vinyl, and paint companies try to balance them to keep costs down. For example 20% acrylic and 80% vinyl ingredients make up a typical common interior house paint, while paints that have more acrylic in the mixture are better quality and cost more. PVA (polyvinyl acetate) is even cheaper and it is the main ingredient for white glues and most cheap paints.

http://dundean.com/tips_what_is_latex_paint.shtml

I suspect 100% acrylic paint would cost $50 or more per gallon due to the high cost of the resin and the low demand.

Bob

Hives...and they're itchy...horrid things...

We're renting, not going to be living here for ever, so don't really care if it lasts longer

Bob

I'm okay for small amounts of latex, it would seem, so it wouldn't have to be entirely latex free, but I looked at the cans in the basement for the stuff that's up in our bedroom and it was quite a high latex base, it was also that cheap Valspor (sp?) crap paint, that's flaking.

And the allergies are once it's applied that get me.

I did a quick google on some "organic" hippy dippy stuff...but that was getting a little crazy, $50-80 a tub for not very large tubs of paint

scrubbedexpat097

I can no longer wear Latex gloves. That was a lifetime of wearing them when I was nursing, they would make my hands break out and itch terribly so I used non-latex and it cleared up. I have never had a problem with using Latex paint though but I guess it depends on how bad your allergies are. Some people cannot tolerate it at all.

Sally Redux

Yes, my husband's hands aren't very nice due to latex gloves.

Michael

Then I would probably try latex enamel paint in a small room and see if it affects you. Enamel is harder so it may not powder and get into the air like latex paint without enamel. Currently most brands carry latex enamel at the same price as latex and you can't tell the difference after it is applied.

Look for paints that have a large amount of enamel.

Bob

Excellent, thanks!

I double checked the paints and the living room/kids room were painted in "Quality Paint" and the kitchen was in Behr, whilst the our bedroom is the nasty Valspor stuff and I'm worst in the mornings after sleep or spending time on the computer which is in the bedroom.

So on a very non scientific look, it would seem that the cheap crap paint is the one that is doing me in. It's also the ugly turquoise blue, which probably isn't helping