Crown Trade Covermatt Obliterating Emulsion Review

Covermatt is a contract matt emulsion made by Crown Trade.  It’s available “off the shelf” in white, magnolia and a couple of other colours, and can also be tinted. Like most contract matts, you can buy it in 10L tubs, but it’s also available in 5L tins, and 500ml “touch-up” pots.

You can buy this paint from any Crown Decorating Centre, but unless you’re entitled to a trade discount, it will almost certainly be cheaper to buy it online. Click here to see online prices.

Like all contract matts it has its uses and its limitations, which I won’t go into in detail, but there’s a thorough blog on the uses of contract matts here.  The top line though is that contract matts contain less polymer binders than vinyl matts or scrubbable matts, meaning they’re not at all durable and in fact, not really wipeable. So, they’re not ideal as a finish coat on walls, especially in high traffic areas.

Why Use Crown Covermatt?

I guess there are four situations where I would consider using Crown Trade Covermatt:

1. For a mist coat
2. On new builds
3. On ceilings
4. To help hide strong colours when making a dramatic colour change

Mist Coats

In the past, many of us were taught that contract matt products were great for use as mist coats on new plaster.  However, the thinking on this has changed in recent years, and the consensus now seems to be to use a diluted coat of whatever the topcoat will be.

If I was going to use a contract matt for a mist coat, Covermatt would be a good choice because in Crown’s own words, it’s a “high opacity emulsion allowing surfaces to ‘breathe’ and dry naturally – suitable for use on new plaster surfaces”…

New Builds

…which brings us nicely to the second possible use for a good contract matt, which is in new build properties.  Because contract matt emulsions can be applied to plaster when it’s not fully dry, work can proceed without delays, and the plaster can breathe and continue drying out.

The mist coat and top coat can be painted using the same paint which keeps life simple, and relative to vinyl or scrubbable matts, contracts are generally quite a bit cheaper. However, the finished surface is not really wipeable and marks very easily, and so often needs repainting very soon.

Great for the builder who got the job done quickly and cheaply, not so great for the new homeowner.  Personally, I don’t do a lot of new build work, but I can see why Crown Trade Covermatt would be a great paint for that situation.

Ceilings

Crown Trade Covermatt (like many contract matts, including Macpherson’s Eclipse which is a popular choice for ceilings among a lot of decorators) dries to a very nice flat matt finish. The combination of this fact, and its high opacity compared to many similar paints, means that it’s a great product for hiding imperfections. This means you can achieve an apparently flawless finish on ceilings relatively easily.

I’ve used Crown Trade Covermatt myself on ceilings a lot in the past and found it excellent in this respect. The downside still remains though that because it isn’t really wipeable.

I wouldn’t use it in a room where there was any chance of the ceiling needing to be cleaned, e.g. kitchens, bathrooms, rooms where there are open fires, gas fires, etc. But for low maintenance ceilings, I can say it’s a good product if you want a nice flat finish.

Hiding Strong Colours

Just to be clear, this product is NOT a stain block. It won’t hide stains such as nicotine, water marks etc. But if you have a wall or ceiling that is painted a very strong dark colour and needs to go much lighter, Covermatt is a great product for taking the first couple of steps of the process.

For example, a couple of weeks ago I was painting a kitchen. The customer wanted the whole room white, and I was using Crown Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt as the finish products.  Most of the existing walls were white already, but one feature wall was rich red.  After all my usual prep, I applied two coats of Covermatt, followed by two coats of the Clean Extreme, and job done!  The Covermatt did a great job in hiding the dark red, and then the two Clean Extreme coats just matched the finish to the other walls.

How to Use Crown Trade Covermatt

This is a really easy product to use – just apply it like any regular emulsion. You can use brush, roller or spray (there is advice on tip size and pressure etc on the pack), and if you’re using it for a mist coat there are clear instructions on the pack that you should thin with 40% water.

Summary

This is a good quality product (in my opinion better than most other contract matts, but then it’s more expensive than many of them too!). It gives a nice flat matt finish and has really great opacity meaning it hides a multitude of sins. It’s great on ceilings, great at hiding dark colours, and if you’re using it for new builds or mist coats, it will do a good job for you. Definitely one to have in your armoury for when you need it. Click here to see online prices.

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