Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt Review

As a professional decorator, I’ve lost count how many times I’ve explained to customers the difference between a standard vinyl matt and a more hard-wearing, “scrubbable” matt emulsion. For “high traffic” areas like hallways and kitchens, where the walls are more likely to get marked, you need a paint which can be repeatedly cleaned, and while vinyl matts look great in living rooms and bedrooms, and will be OK with an occasional wipe with a damp cloth, they won’t stand up to frequent cleaning.

I was having the same conversation only yesterday with a customer, and we opted to use Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt on the walls going up her stairs. It reminded me what a good paint this is, so I thought I’d take the time to write a quick review to share my thoughts on it.

Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt – Key Facts & Figures

• Suitable for interior use only
• Designed “for busy areas which require frequent cleaning, it helps to prevent stains seeping into the paint and makes removing contaminants and marks easier”.
• Pack sizes: 1L, 2.5L, 5L, 10L
• Finish: Matt
• Colours: Brilliant white (not available in 1L size), plus any of the thousands of colours in the Johnstone’s tinting system
• Coverage: up to 15m² per litre
• Recoatable – 2-4 hours
• Can be sprayed, or applied by brush and roller
• Water-based – clean tools with water and mild detergent
• Available from: Click here to see online prices

Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt in use

This is a premium paint, and you can feel the quality. Opacity is great in the colours I’ve tried, and it has a lot of “body” to it, however the opacity in White isn’t great. It flows nicely and goes a long way. It’s not a true “flat matt”, but it has less sheen to it than some other durable matts I can think of – I would guess it’s about a 5–6% sheen, but that’s just my guess. But it’s a nice matt finish.

Added bonus – there was a small section on my most recent job that I wasn’t happy with, and I just touched it up the next day with no issues (I might have been lucky though!). And the other good thing about this paint is that as well as walls and ceilings, you can apply it to properly prepped and primed woodwork too, so it’s ideal for things like media walls, panelling, colour drenching and so on. As decorators we have to take it on faith that products are as durable as manufacturers say they are; we can’t start attacking customers’ walls with scrubbing brushes, especially when the paint has only just dried. If it’s any help, this stuff was a nightmare to clean off my hands afterwards!

What’s the Difference Between Johnstone’s Trade Acrylic Durable Matt and Cleanable Matt?

Johnstone’s have brought out a number of new emulsions in recent years at the more “premium” end of their range; Cleanable Matt is one of them. On the face of it, there are overlaps between Acrylic Durable Matt, Cleanable Matt and UltraLast Matt in terms of benefits. This is my take on what the differences are (just my opinion!):

• Acrylic Durable Matt has been around for years. I don’t mean any of this disrespectfully, as I know it’s a product that thousands of decorators love, and I’ve used it myself many times. But it’s an older technology, and things have moved on. While it’s more “robust” than vinyl matt, and will stand up to everyday knocks and bumps, one big downside is that when you scrub marks off with a damp cloth, the paint stays intact (which is good!), but the matt finish becomes shinier.

• Cleanable Matt is a more premium, more expensive and more technologically advanced product. It seems to have been designed to overcome the problems which Acrylic Durable Matt had – as well as being extremely durable and resistant to stains, it stays matt after cleaning; they even state it clearly on the front of the tin. Yes, it’s more expensive, but in my opinion it’s a better product.

• UltraLast Matt is the next step up again. It’s virtually bomb-proof, and probably a bit of overkill for most domestic settings (but it is a lovely drop of paint).

A Recent Job

I thought I’d share a couple of snaps of a job I completed using the Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt that the customer requested. It’s the perfect paint for a hall, stairs, and landing because it’s durable enough to withstand knocks and scuffs.

There was no picture framing, flashing, or other defects like you can experience with some of the other durable matt emulsion paints on the market.

Final Thoughts

Johnstone’s have another really good product here. It’s nice to use, super hard-wearing, and can be repeatedly cleaned without going shiny, so, for me, this is a significant upgrade on their acrylic durable matt. Obviously it’s available in all their hundreds of PPG colours, as well as Johnstone’s excellent colour-matching service, so it’s the perfect product for those customers who want a “designer” colour but with a much more durable finish. And you can use it for colour drenching, media walls and panelling too – I’ll definitely be using this again!

Review Summary