Bedec Aqua Advanced Satin Review

I’ve been using Bedec’s Aqua Advanced primer/undercoat and satin recently, having read good things about the gloss.  My review will focus mainly on the Aqua Advanced Satin, but because it is marketed as a system, I will also refer to the primer/undercoat.

Bedec describe this product as an acrylic satin finish polyurethane enamel, suitable for both interior and exterior use. They claim it is quick drying, non-yellowing, long lasting, and has excellent flow.  Like many other professional decorators, over the last few years I’ve been gradually transitioning from oil-based to water-based paints for wood and metal work, and as Bedec specialise in water-based products, I was keen to try their Aqua Advanced Satin.

Bedec Aqua Advanced Satin – Where to Buy

Bedec Aqua Advanced Satin is available in 1L, 2.5L, and 5L sizes, and either in brilliant white (off the shelf) or tinted to a wide range of colours. You can buy it from Brewers, or Dulux Decorator Centres, but unless you’re entitled to a trade discount, it’s probably cheaper to buy this product online. Click here to see online prices. 2.5L of brilliant white is going to cost you around £50, so it’s slightly dearer than Johnstone’s Aqua Guard, but cheaper than Benjamin Moore Scuff-X.

Bedec Aqua Advanced Primer Undercoat Review

Let’s just get the primer/undercoat question out of the way first.  The satin goes on really nicely over the top of Bedec’s Aqua Advanced Primer/Undercoat, and they do sell it as a system (click here), the recommended process being one coat of the primer/undercoat followed by two coats of the satin.  Most of my work is redecorating domestic properties, so a lot of the time I’m painting over old oil-based gloss, and I need an adhesion primer I can trust to stick.

Bedec don’t market theirs as an adhesion primer per se, but I’ve tested it at home on both oil-based gloss and melamine, and as long as the surface is prepped properly it stuck pretty well.

I’m not sure I have the confidence in it yet that I do in something like Benjamin Moore Stix, Whitsons, Haftprimer or Crown PX4, but it’s good enough that I’m going to persevere with it and see how it does over time.

My Bedec Aqua Advanced Satin Review

The first time I used Bedec satin, I must admit I wasn’t overly keen. Although it had decent opacity, and was very white, I found it a bit thick and sticky, not that easy to work with. HOWEVER, that was a couple of months ago during a cold snap, and I used it again this week, having forgotten my earlier bad experience, and it was great.  At a decent temperature, it has a really nice consistency to work with, flows nicely for a water-based product but isn’t so thin that you get drips everywhere.  On large flat surfaces I used either a Two Fussy Blokes or a Pioneer Velvet Poly Flock Mini-Roller, laying off with a 1½” Nour Smooth Finish brush, on mouldings I just used the brush.

If you don’t overload your brush, it’s an easy product to work with, flows nicely and for a water-based product it levels out well. If I compare it to Benjamin Moore Scuff-X (which is twice the price), my impression is that the sheen level of the Bedec product is very slightly higher, and it’s a slightly purer white (vs BM “Super White”); to the naked eye the finish is similar, but the Benjamin Moore feels smoother to the touch.  But that’s in no way to criticise either product – it’s purely to try to give you as full a picture as possible of what it’s like. Click here to see online prices.

Review Summary

Final Thoughts

This is for me one of the best water-based satins I’ve tried, light years ahead of something like Dulux Diamond Satinwood for example, and it’s suitable for interior and exterior use. It works well with its partner primer, but also goes really nicely over other adhesion primers. The finish is great, opacity and whiteness very good, your brushes wash up easily, and it’s touch dry in 30-60 minutes.  What’s not to like? Bedec say 4 hours recoat time, so you can get two coats on in a day.

Bedec do say not to use it in really high wear-and-tear areas such a handrails, just as a heads-up. I suppose you could use it on a handrail if you give it a coat of Polyvine Decorators Varnish after.  My two top tips for using this product are to make sure it’s warm (unless you like painting with tar), and don’t overload your brush, but if you keep those things in mind, it’s hard to go wrong with this stuff.  Huge thumbs up from me! Click here to see online prices.