Fleetwood Paints Advanced Quick Dry Satin Review

I’ve had a quick go with Fleetwood Paints’ Advanced Quick Dry Satinwood, and thought I’d post a brief review to let you all know how I got on with it.  Fleetwood are a relatively new name to me; they’re an Irish family-run company who make both paints and decorating tools (brushes, rollers etc).

They have a massive range of products which are obviously widely available in Ireland and Northern Ireland, but less so right now in Great Britain.  However, if they can sort out the distribution, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing Fleetwood paints on our shelves, so here’s your chance for a sneak preview.

Fleetwood Quick Dry Satinwood is part of a small range of quick-drying products for interior and exterior wood and metal; Quick Dry Undercoat, Quick Dry Eggshell, Quick Dry Satinwood and Quick Dry High Gloss.  It’s available off the shelf in white and a selected range of pre-mixed colours, or is tintable under their “Colour Perfect” banner. It comes in 500ml, 750ml, 1L, 2.5L and 5L sizes.

Fleetwood describe their Advanced Quick Dry as, “a premium quality paint range featuring the latest water-based technology”; they go on to say that their resin system offers application and performance qualities that you would usually expect from an oil-based paint, but in quick-drying, low VOC formulations.

Fleetwood Paints Advanced Quick Dry – First Impressions

Although the primary focus of this review is the satinwood product, I am going to touch on the Fleetwood Quick Dry undercoat as well, because they are marketed as a system. If I have read the instructions correctly, the primer-undercoat is suitable for use on both bare and previously painted woodwork, after the necessary prep has been carried out.

My first impression on opening both products is that they appear very white in the tin, and unusually thick for water-based paints. Not unworkably thick, just that they seem to have more “body” than many water-based products.

Fleetwood Quick Dry Undercoat and Satinwood – The Good Points

That initial impression carries through into the in-use experience:

1. Panel door previously painted in oil-based gloss. One panel painted with one coat of primer-undercoat
2. Skirting board previously painted an interesting shade of brown; far left is the original colour, far right is one coat of primer-undercoat, and centre is one coat of primer-undercoat plus one coat of satinwood (and yes, I know I didn’t prep the skirting properly – I just wanted to get some paint on quickly to see how it would perform!).

The other result of the paint feeling like it has plenty of “body” is that it’s not as “drippy” as many water-based competitors; no runs, no drips, very little sagging unless you really go out of your way to apply too much paint

• The finish is great – it has a really lovely smooth feel to it. On day one I felt it was a bit shinier than my usual brand of satin, but it seemed to “dull down” after a couple of days.
• It’s easy to work with (as long as you don’t overload your brush), and my brushes cleaned up easily in water.

Fleetwood QD Undercoat and Satinwood – The Bad Points

The only real downside with these products (apart from not knowing quite where to buy them from yet in deepest darkest Berkshire) is the smell; for water-based paints they have an unusually strong (and not pleasant) smell.  It says “low odour” on the front of the tin – I have to disagree (and so did my customer).

Final Thoughts

This is a really decent product (as long as you don’t have a sensitive nose!). The finish is great, it’s nice to work with, the opacity and whiteness are very good, and your brushes wash up easily.  It’s suitable for both interior and exterior use, and is touch dry in about an hour.  Fleetwood recommend waiting 4 hours between coats, but that’s not an issue if you’re aware of it and plan your work accordingly.  All in all, not a bad drop, and I certainly wouldn’t be averse to using it as and when it becomes widely available.

Summary