Johnstone’s Trade is a favourite amongst Professional Decorators in the UK. They have a wide range of emulsion paints that have been developed to perform well for different tasks.
In this blog, I’m going to give you my honest Johnstone’s Perfect Matt review based on my own experience as a Decorator. I’ll also discuss where Perfect Matt fits in the market.
Key Facts & Figures
Suitable for Interior Use Only.
Designed to create “a flawless finish on even the most challenging projects”. “Ideal for use in critical lighting”.
Pack sizes: 2.5L, 5L, 10L.
Finishes: Flat matt.
Colours: Brilliant white plus any of the thousands of colours in the Johnstone’s tinting system.
Coverage: up to 13m² per litre.
Recoatable – 2-4 hours.
Can be sprayed, or applied by brush and roller.
Class 1 Scrub Tested (so it’s hard wearing).
Brush Cleaner – clean water
Available from: Any Johnstone’s Decorating Centre, or online by clicking here.
What is Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt
Believe it or not, paint is developed backwards. The manufacturer decides how much a product needs to cost to fit a certain place in the market, and then makes the best product they can to fit that budget.
Cheap retail paints from DIY shops are made from low-quality materials and don’t perform very well. Trade paints are made from higher quality materials that perform better. Then luxury paints, which are more expensive again, perform even better.
Perfect Matt is Johnstone’s ‘hero paint’. They made the best performing paint they possibly could and worried about the price afterwards. So, it is expensive, but it’s an absolute masterpiece to use! This is the paint they developed to out-perform the designer brands.
My Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt Review
Johnstone’s Trade Covaplus is one of the best standard trade vinyl matt emulsions on the UK market. It performs well and leaves a nice finish; so, is it worth the upgrade? Perfect Matt is twice the price of Covaplus, so what do you get for your money?
The first thing to say is that there are no defects when you use Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt! I bet you could put it on with a sweeping brush and still get a nice finish. This is a lifesaver when working in large open-plan rooms with loads of natural light. Standard emulsion can show flashing and picture framing at certain times of the day, but Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt looks, well perfect, at any time.
The opacity of Perfect Matt is ok in white and great in colours. It flows well, and you can dilute it with clean water to increase flow further. It doesn’t pull on itself either; so, your roller doesn’t remove the paint you applied via brush.
But the main reason you’d choose Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt is the upgrade in overall appearance. It has a very chalky look to it and a fantastic depth of colour. You will genuinely notice the difference if your walls and ceilings are painted with a premium product like this one.
It may not be the cheapest option, but it certainly delivers a lovely matt finish. It’s available in a huge choice of colours, and it’s even hard-wearing. When I say “hard-wearing”, I don’t think it’s as scrubbable as some of those emulsions specifically designed for high traffic areas, but it will certainly take some wear and tear and regular wiping down.
Conclusion
Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt is a quality paint with a lot of expensive materials in it, which is why it doesn’t come cheap. If you’re looking for a flawless “flat matt” finish on either your walls or ceilings, this gives you a harder-wearing alternative to some of the designer brands who have until recently seen that corner of the market as their own.
The finish is lovely, the range of colours available is amazing (especially when you consider that Johnstone’s colour matching is normally among the best), and it’s nice to use too.
Because of the price, it’s maybe one for my more “high end” customers rather than council flats. Overall, this is a top-quality paint that offers a big step up from regular vinyl matt emulsions, for example.
Review Summary
Johnstone’s Perfect Matt Review - Decorator's forum UK
A high-end emulsion paint used to coat interior walls and ceilings.
Product Brand: Johnstone's Trade
4.8
Pros
- Fantastic flat matt finish.
- Ideal for flawless ceilings in critical lighting, but can be used for so much more!
- Available in a huge range of colours.
- Harder-wearing than many other options.
Cons
- Not cheap.
- Opacity in white could be improved.
The Best Tools to Use to Apply Johnstone’s Perfect Matt
If you’re going to spend good money on a premium emulsion, then it makes sense to choose the best tools to apply it. That way, achieving a good finish is made easier. You should treat Johnstone’s Perfect Matt like any other durable matt emulsion. A good-quality medium-pile roller is perfect for this type of paint. You can use a soft brush when working with Perfect Matt, but it still needs to hold its shape, and strike sharp lines.
You won’t find a better brush than ProDec Ice Fusion. You’ll find it glides when using Johnstone’s Perfect Matt. Easy to use, holds plenty of paint, and it’s easy to manipulate the material. Click here to see online prices.
As for the roller, I like using Hamilton Perfection (Green). One of the best things about this roller is its even distribution of paint and the overall finish. There’s no flashing or picture framing. Click here to see online prices.
What Johnstone’s Say
Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt has been designed for use mostly on large areas where critical lighting is an issue – we understand it’s a high value product, so wanted to provide a bit more background as to why we’ve introduced it to the market. In a survey we recently carried out, 73% of decorators told us that visible application marks are a problem in the industry – Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt has been designed to eliminate the risk of visible application marks, particularly on those larger jobs or where the light in a room makes these issues more visible. We’re really pleased that Daniel had chance to test the scrub resistance because this is a key point of difference for us as the product has been designed for walls as well as ceilings.
Additionally, where professional painters and decorators are called back to a job to spot repair where other trades have unintentionally damaged fresh paintwork, we know that labour and time on site will often outweigh the cost of product, and it’s this unexpected cost that can damage an overall project. The idea behind Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt is that it allows you to retouch an area without having to paint the whole wall. With all this in mind, even though Johnstone’s Trade Perfect Matt costs more than a standard matt emulsion, choosing Perfect Matt up front can reduce the overall cost of the project.
Great finish that does not flash but would like to see a less durable cheaper version for ceilings that dont need a scrubable finish.
Well who writes these reviews ? I’ve got to repaint my entire hallway tomorrow as perfect Matt has got roller marks all over it , I let the first coat dry until the next day when I recoated , it looks terrible , if you touch the dry paint with your hand it leaves marks , well I will paint again tomorrow with farrow and ball , I wish I hadn’t wasted all that money on 10 ltres I’m a decorator by trade, I’ll never use perfect Matt again
I will back Michael’s comments.
Bought this tinted to black for a home theatre room (Ceiling & feature wall). 2nd coat completed this morning and 7 hours later, low and behold, streaks/flashing galore.
Horrendous paint for the price. I previously had the feature wall painted with Crown trade soft sheen dark grey. The crown paint offered a flawless finish in 2 coats.
I have to say, I’m very disappointed with The Decorators Forum as I specifically went for the Perfect Matt due to this site. 12.5lts purchased and this stuff ain’t cheap.
An update on my previous comment.
I’ve now used Perfect Matt in 3 different colours.
Overall I’m unimpressed by this product considering the premium price. As stated before, I’m painting a small home theatre and wanted a high quality flat matt which is at least wipeable.
I bought it in Black, Dark Grey and a really nice Red ( Little Greene Theatre Red colour match)
Positives – It leaves a stunning flat matt finish with fantastic colour depth
Negatives (quite a few) :
Streaks and picture framing apparent even after 3 coats which are supposed to be non existent with this paint.
3 coats minimum needed to get a decent finish
Not durable from my experience and definitely not wipeable. The black in particular is really fragile. Touch it in the slightest and it’s marked.
I only cut in one section at a time before rolling and still got lots of picture framing. I painted the red last and with this I used a mini roller in conjunction with the brush to try and avoid the picture framing as much as possible. The end result was better but you can still see slight picture framing at the very edge and slightly around sockets.
I also purchased Tikkurila Optiva 3 in the same black colour for the doors. This is a great paint and much better than the Perfect Matt imo. 2 coats left me with a near factory finish. Really stunning flat matt and while it’s early days, I think it’s much more durable than Perfect Matt also. The doors are 6 panel and I can see absolutely no difference between the rolled and brushed areas so I think Tikkurila really have solved picture framing with this.
Honestly, I wish I’d painted the whole room in Optiva 3 now.
These comments are extremely surprising.
I used Perfect Matt (dark grey tint) in my living room as a feature wall.
The finish was absolutely flawless after 2 coats. Zero framing/roller marks/streaks. The finish appeared to be sprayed on.
I think this paint is excellent and will happily use again.
Hi,
I purchased 10 litres tinted light grey, The first coat went on thick and needed diluting, I added 500ml of water and found that was about right, It’s a nice paint but I’m not sure about durability?
I’m currently painting the kitchen in Little Green Intelligent Matt and it’s a quality paint, expensive so i think I’ll give Tikkurila Optiva 3 a try. Searching for the flattest most durable paint is an expensive business, Good luck 👍
Very good paint zero framing and no streaks wood recommend.
Also just done a 65sqm ceiling in white superb .
Farrow and ball dead flat is very good with same sort of finish as well.
So many mixed reviews! It’s so confusing. I don’t know which paint to pick anymore
One of the worst paints I’ve ever used to apply,it’s a battle to get it on the wall.the finish isn’t too bad
That’s an interesting view. How much did you dilute the paint by Stephen? And what was wrong with the finish on the wall?