Johnstone’s Trade UltraFlat Matt Review

Over the last few years there has been a proliferation of emulsion paints developed specifically for ceilings.  Previously, our choice was usually between the following:

• Contract matt – Starts out looking great but doesn’t stand up to any kind of wear and tear.
• Vinyl matt – Harder wearing, fine in many situations, if the lighting is critical this will show up any imperfections, can be problematic if you need to touch up.

The new generation of ceiling paints have managed to get the best of both worlds by developing a really low sheen emulsion (less reflectivity means that imperfections in the finish are less visible), that in most cases can withstand a little wear and tear, and can be touched up easily and nearly invisibly.

In my role as a professional decorator, I’ve painted hundreds (if not thousands) of ceilings – you can read my tips on how to paint a ceiling here.  I’ve tried most of these new products over the last couple of years and recently have been testing Johnstone’s Trade UltraFlat Matt to see how it compares to the others.  Here’s my honest review of the product.

Johnstone’s Trade UltraFlat Matt – Key Facts & Figures

• Suitable for Interior Use Only
• Designed to create “a uniform matt finish, irrespective of lighting conditions, making it ideal for ceilings”.
• Pack sizes: 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
• Water based – clean tools with water and mild detergent (such as Pretty Boy Brush Cleaner)
• Available from: Any Johnstone’s Decorating Centre and various independent trade paint shops

The Product In Use

Johnstone’s Trade UltraFlat Matt is nice to use and gives a great result. They’ve got the consistency of it just right in my opinion; it glides on effortlessly without splattering paint everywhere.  The finish is flat, and it’s a nice “crisp” white…. but it doesn’t have to be!

Unlike many of the other “new generation” of ceiling paints, Johnstone’s UltraFlat Matt can be tinted to thousands of colours.  So, if you have a customer with a large or light-critical ceiling, and they want it a subtle shade of sky blue, that’s no problem at all.  It doesn’t flash, and you can touch it up afterwards if you need to.

A couple of other advantages of using this over its competitors: the coverage is greater (“up to 13m²/L”, compared to many others which are around 10m²/L), and the recoat time is less (most competitors stipulate 4 hours, whereas this is “2-4 hours”).  So, in theory you get more coverage for your money, and can get more coats done in a day. Even the opacity is ok, at a time when many manufacturers seem to be struggling to achieve good opacity in white emulsions.

Conclusion

Johnstone’s have got this one just right in my opinion.  Lovely smooth matt finish, nice product to use, it eliminates flashing and makes touching up really easy, so it’s the ideal paint for large and/or light-critical ceilings.  And the added bonuses are that it can be tinted, and it has a faster recoat time and greater coverage than many of its direct competitors. Big thumbs up from me!

Review Summary

What’s the Difference Between Johnstone’s Trade UltraFlat Matt and Perfect Matt?

As Johnstone’s expand their product range (particularly the more “premium” end of their range now), we sometimes need to take a moment to remind ourselves what the differences are between the various products.

Both Perfect Matt and UltraFlat Matt will give you that “dead flat” finish, which is so en vogue at the moment, so both will be great at reducing flashing and making touching up easier.

Perfect Matt has been Class 1 Scrub tested, meaning it is harder-wearing, whereas UltraFlat Matt hasn’t.  Not an issue – UltraFlat Matt is designed to go on ceilings, where wear-and-tear is less of an issue.

Perfect Matt is meant for walls but could also be used on ceilings if you really wanted to (I reckon you could probably use it on MDF panelling as well, with the right primer).  Both are premium quality paints, so not suitable for every job for budget reasons.

The biggest difference between them is probably in how hard-wearing they are; Perfect Matt is designed to take a bit of wear-and-tear (so fine for walls and high traffic areas), whereas UltraFlat is less hard-wearing, and therefore ideal for ceilings.