Oil Paint on Walls

[jonwestuk]

Hi,

I have two rooms (Utility Room and Hallway) where I am considering using an oil based satin on the walls. Essentially I want a hardwearing white paint for the rooms that will stand up to wiping down with a cloth and will put up with mud etc marks from shoes and general wear and tear from children. In addition, in my hallway I have built a custom unit with pull-out draws and this is painted in satin white oil already, so I figure it will make the whole wall more uniform.

Before I do this I want to get your advice on the downsides. I figure on the following:
1. Yellowing - all white oil based paints yellow in areas without a lot of light.
2. Repainting - will be a pain in the rear as I will need to either sand it right back or more likely put a decent undercoat there.
3. Cost - more expensive than emulsion.

Advantages
1. Hardwearing - especially against water based marks
2. Nice finish - I use Sikkens Sutura. It also will compliment my cupboard unit

Any thoughts, am I missing something obvious?

Thanks,

Jon

 

[footprints]

Oil paint on walls will created heavy fumes, I remember a customer insisting I painted a ceiling two coats with it despite my warnings about fumes, after the first coat they decided to leave it at that because of the fumes overnight
Oil based will yellow more so if it is a room without much sunlight, water based alternatives have a long way to go till they match oil finishes for durability.
I would suggest an eggshell paint, a kind of halfway between the two for durability, I have found it pretty good on stairways for normal abrasion and wear.
I would suggest Dulux quick drying eggshell myself https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/products/quick-dry-eggshell

(seems very similar to their Diamond range paint to me which is another alternative you might consider although I am not sure it is quite as wipeable as eggshell )

 

[jonwestuk]

Thanks for that, the smell will indeed be an issue. I will give the eggshell a go.

 

[opps]

Years ago, I painted my kitchen walls with oil based Dulux trade eggshell (over lining paper that I primed with acrylic eggshell and sanded flat).

I absolutely loved the finish. After a few weeks it could be scrubbed with a green scouring pads. Cooking fat splatters could be washed off with meths.

I was so happy with the finish that, shortly after, I painted the walls in my hall/stairs/landing in OB as well.

The smell didn't bother me too much but yes the paint did yellow in time.

After priming, the material costs weren't that different, the OB costs more but goes much further, labour time however was inexcess of 100% longer.

Personally, I wouldn't have used the OB were it not for the fact that I had lined the walls and didn't need to worry about any existing "orange peel".