Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt Review

Updated Oct 27, 2024 | Posted Feb 22, 2020 | Paints | 5 comments

I had to come back and re-write this Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt review. The product was horrendous until 2024, but they reformulated it, and now it’s a different animal. I’ll break the review down into sections, starting with the paint’s uses, then my opinions, followed by a summary.

I’m also going to touch on another couple of products. Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is made to a higher standard than the retail products that Dulux makes. However, there is a slightly cheaper trade alternative you can use in Armstead, and a premium version you can use in Dulux Velvet Matt. Each paint is made for a slightly different market, so it just depends on your budget and what you need from the product.

 

What is Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt?

 

Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is a water-based emulsion used for interior walls and ceilings. You can buy it in White, Brilliant White, or any one of about ten thousand colours from the Dulux range. This paint is touch dry after around 2 hours, and the recoat time is 4 hours, but this depends on conditions.

You can apply Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt with a brush, roller, or airless sprayer. When you buy it, the paint is thick. Don’t worry, you don’t need to apply it to your walls and ceilings like this. Just dilute with a little bit of water to loosen it before you start.

This paint is fine for use on bare plaster. Some Decorators like to prime with contract matt first, but there’s no need. Simply dilute your first coat of Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt, remove dust from the plaster, and then apply the material. I like to roll first and then cut in second when applying the first coat to new plaster. This just helps reduce dragging.

 

My Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt Review

 

As already mentioned, the old version of this paint wasn’t very good, and I was always brutally honest about it. Most vinyl matt paints use polyvinyl polymers as their binder (usually as part of a copolymer). Dulux seem to use more acrylic than polyvinyl, and the polymer in the old formula caused issues with flashing and picture framing.

However, Dulux took feedback onboard and came up with something new. Now, Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is a masterpiece. There is no flashing or picture framing, so it’s now easy to achieve a lovely finish when using it.

Opacity (covering power) is great too, except from in a handful of very pale colours. Bare plaster is covered with two diluted coats of Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt, which is testament to the quality of the paint.

Ease-of-use is also great. It seems to flow very well from your brush or roller. I think this is down to the much-improved polymer. Acrylic doesn’t drag like polyvinyl can.

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So, is Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt Any Good?

 

It’s quite an expensive paint, but I genuinely believe it’s now up there as one of the best trade vinyl matt emulsion paints on the market. You can pay more for a designer paint, that may be even better, but Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is spot on really.

As a Professional Decorator, I find my clients trust Dulux over most other brands, so Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is a product I get to use on a regular basis. I have no complaints at all. It’s a great product, and the results I achieve with it are bob on.

Review Summary

Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt Review - Decorator's forum UK

A water-based vinyl matt emulsion used to coat interior walls and ceilings.

Product Brand: Dulux Trade

Editor's Rating:
4.7

Pros

  • Available in thousands of colours.
  • Great opacity most of the time.
  • Easy to use.
  • Can be diluted, so it goes further.
  • A brand you can trust.
  • Leaves a good finish.
  • One of the best trade matt emulsion paints available.
  • Wipeable.

Cons

  • Fairly expensive.
  • Poor opacity in very pale colours.
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A Cheaper Alternative to Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt

 

Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is a premium paint. I think most other Decorators would agree with me on that. But I couldn’t write a Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt review without mentioning Armstead.

Armstead and Dulux are both manufactured by AkzoNobel, often in the same factory, and usually sold side-by-side. Dulux Trade is AkzoNobel’s premium trade range, and Armstead is meant to be their value trade brand (much better than retail, but not quite as good at their Dulux Trade or Dulux Heritage paints).

Don’t let the lower price lead you to believe you’re not buying quality if you opt for Armstead over Dulux. The opacity isn’t quite as good, and you need to work slightly harder to avoid flashing on light-critical walls, but the overall quality is good.

The finish is usually bob on, it flows well, and it’s a product you can rely on. If you want to save a few quid, but you still want to buy quality paint, the Armstead Vinyl Matt is the way to go. And if you order it from The Decorating Centre Online, you can even buy it in Dulux Colours.

A Premium Alternative to Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt

 

If you want to go the other way and you’re looking for a paint that out-performs Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt, then Dulux Heritage Velvet Matt is the way to go. I still maintain Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt is a premium product, but Velvet Matt is a different level.

It feels absolutely lovely to apply! It glides from your brush, and the way roller and brush marks settle and blend into each other is like poetry.

You won’t experience any defects with this paint. My 10-year-old daughter could use Dulux Heritage Velvet Matt and get a perfect finish. The overall appearance and depth of colour is second to none.

This is an expensive choice (there’s no point in trying to soften the blow). Sometimes with paint, you get what you pay for. Other times, you pay a premium for a designer brand and the product doesn’t live up to expectations. Dulux Heritage Velvet Matt is about as good a quality as you will ever experience.

I know I’m a bit of a decorating geek, but I genuinely get excited when I know I’m going to be using Dulux Heritage Velvet Matt the next day. I’d recommend it to anyone.

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Final Thoughts

 

I know I deviated from my Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt review to cover a couple of alternatives; nut I think I’ve touched on all the talking points. I may have gone some-way to redeeming myself in the eyes of Dulux too: I’ve been very hard on Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt in the past. But credit where it’s due.

The old formula damaged Dulux as a brand. Even Professional Decorators had issues with defects like flashing. Then when we contacted Dulux Technical Department, we just got condescending advice about keeping a wet edge or always rolling in the same direction.

Everyone knew the issue was with the product, so the Dulux Tec guys just seemed to anger people, rather than help them.

However, I’m happy to report that all this is in the past. Dulux seem to have gotten their act together, and now we have a choice of three different vinyl matt emulsion paints, all of which are great quality.

Updated Oct 27, 2024 | Posted Feb 22, 2020 | 5 comments

About the Author

About the Author

Mike Cupit has been in the decorating industry since 2002 and has mostly worked as a Trade Decorator in the domestic sector (peoples’ homes). Self-proclaimed “product geek”, Mike has a passion for paint and decorating tools. Mike now spends most of his time testing paint products and tools, comparing them to similar products on the market, and blogging about the industry in general.

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5 Comments

  1. Richard

    In deep colours dulux Matt seems bad for banding.
    I prefer the Tikkurlia colour vinyl Matt matched to dulux in deep colours especially. Touches up great , A lot cheaper too.
    Some issues coverage with the paler colours but Tikkurlia in process’s of bring new improved version.
    Separate note the Tikkurlia durable 5% Matt is suberb. Knocks spots off the dulux shiny diamond Matt.

    Reply
    • Jason maguire

      Hey mike just alittle joke love the stirring stick in that dulux can.

      Reply
    • Paul S

      Does Tikkurlia colour match to Dulux colours accurately?
      And can Armstead be mixed accurately to Dulux colours?

      Reply
  2. Noel

    Last two tins I had mixed were really terrible. They were so sticky/gluey. Cutting in and rolling one wall at a time. Paint would lift off if went back over with brush and horrific roller texture (Hamilton medium microfibre) over the brushed on cutting in. Must have put 1 litre of water into 5 litres of paint in the end just to make it useable (but then you get probs with opacity)….. What is going on with ‘trade’ paint?! Genuinely get better results with off the shelf retail Dulux or Crown colours from B&Q etc

    Reply
  3. Vince Robinson

    For some years now, I’ve been a Tikkurila fan, and choose to use it whenever possible. That said, I do normally like Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt. You can thin it s bit for cutting in, and it’s nice to roll. It’s just too expensive to use on a regular basis – and not as good as Tikki.

    I have a customer who has Natural Calico all through her home, and for her, I use Dulux Trade. It’s available ready mixed at Wickes, and with my discount and a few pennies back via Quidco, it’s way cheaper than at DDC, and it’s nice gear.

    With that in mind, I bought a few 7.5ltr tubs of BW from Wickes, as it was on offer there,and elsewhere, and as I was decorating my sons stairs (for free) I thought it would fit the bill on price and quality.

    How wrong could I be? It was awful. This was the first redec since his house was built, so I expected the first coat to soak quickly into the existing contract mush, but the finish coat was just as bad, and dried to a very course finish.

    Opacity was decent, but everything else pointed to it being a contract emulsion. It was nothing like any Dulux Trade VM I have used in the past. Didn’t have the old Dulux smell or the body.

    Very disappointing.

    Reply

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