Dulux Aquanamel (page 3 of 5)

Im a high end painter of 13 years. Done ten years in the States and can tell you for me it causes trouble. It self levels too much and drips if it isnt super thin coating. It also dries to quickly causing balling on the finish stroke. I would be horrified to use it if i was a diyer. In my opinion the chemistry of the paint needs to be tweeked. For an ultra premium product it is really average. Sorry dulux up your game.

Recently decided on new carpets. Thought while the old ones are out, I'll paint the skirting boards and doors.
Followed the instructions to a tee - Wash, Sand, wash, and wipe.
Whilst the paint flows ok, and is easy to wash up, a month later, paint is peeling/scraping off with ease.
temperature was 14 degrees C which is only 4 above the minimum temp.

Really wish I had stuck with oil enamel. A known thing, rather then try a new paint type.

It is the worst paint I've ever used.

Can achieve a beautiful finish but it’s definitely different than using oil enamel. You need a good quality brush, a light touch and avoid overworking the paint.
If you can get that right then you can enjoy the benefits of a beautiful finish, non yellowing, quick drying, far less toxic for painter, customer and environment!

Poor finish. Paint drys to quickly leaving brush marks even in perfect painting conditions. Difficult to use when cutting in. Will go back to using enamel paints even with the clean up hassles. Very expensive and a waste of money. With the years of experience I have I regret listening to advise from bunnings staff on this occasion.

I wondered why it had such bad reviews. I thought it was a great product, especially being water based. Within a couple of months the waterproof one stained, cracked and looked awful. That's when I used enamel for the first time and realised how different the products were. Use oil based enamel where appropriate like doors and sills and trims

I did all the preparation correctly but this paint was a pain to use. The coverage was awful and drying left me with roller marks - even when thinned and laying off correctly. Now I am left with a 'patchy' door which requires sanding. Warning to others! stay clear of this product. " Can only recommend for painting a Dog House."

I'm a professional house painter with lots of experience using this product. In general, I'm happy with it, know what it can and can't do.
The big issue for me is the exceptionally poor opacity of the untinted vivid white.

Granted, it's a very bright white, but Dulux need to do something to make it cover better.
Going over varnished, fully sealed cedar, using a coat of Smart Prime, a coat of acrylic One Step and 2 coats of Aquanamel vivid white results in very poor coverage. Even a 3rd top coat may not be sufficient by the looks of it.

Tinted whites work OK, in my experience.

Some of the poor reviews are hard to believe. I’m painting my own 5 bedroom house using only Dulux paints and including Aquaenamel on doors, window frames and skirting boards. Results are outstanding and I am very particular in all that I do. So much better than using a messy enamel paint.

It does just work on skirting boards if you move quickly but totally useless on anything larger. 5 coats on a door - the last as bad as the first. Wouldn't brush out without brush marks and had flat spots all over. Contacted the DULUX help desk - their recommendations try thinner. I wasted money on their Hot Weather Thinner even though the weather wasn't hot - It didn't help. I'll never use DULUX paint again! EVER!!

In answer to a lot of comments, I think people should leave this sort of job to the professionals. If I pick up a welder and get dags everywhere it's not the fault of the welder but the fault of the applicator, same goes for painting.I am very happy with the product..

I am normally a big fan of Dulux but unfortunately this product is rubbish compare to the Haymes water based gloss. Painted several doors and frames with the aquanamel and decided to buy the Haymes product as I was running out of the aquanamel. Its like night and day, the application is much easier with Haymes gloss and the end result is amazing!! Not sure how Dulux could get it so wrong as their other paints are great. Wish I would of got the Haymes gloss at the start as there is now a notable difference between the two. trust me dont waste your time or money with this one.

I was a bit skeptical using this as a few reviews said it was dry and hard to work with but I actually found it really easy to work with and I live in a really hot dry climate. I actually painted over oiled based window sills and skirts as it was going yellow and this paint is a lovely bright white. I will definitely do all my doors with this paint too!

Dries too quick on hot days, brush gets gluggy.
Runs if too thick.
I also found second coat began to dissolve the first coat.
Brushing was pulling off the first coat causing lumps.
The worst paint I've ever used in 35 years.
I think it has a short shelf life, and hardwares don't discard paint.

Terrible vivid white semi gloss paint. Double undercoating on trims, doors, windows etc doesn't help as this rubbish paint does not cover. Paint brush marks are terribly visible and the final work doesn't look attractive at all. It is still shady and the base color comes through. Applied thicker runs down immediately, beyond control. Applied with a small fiber roller looks the best but it can't be applied by the roller everywhere and this is a huge problem with it. Disappointed to the limits!

I used Dulax Acratex outdoor paint, not a problem in the world after 3-4 years looks great.

We paint interior of house Wife pick a dulux colour, i think its only interior paint how bad can it be?
Ceiling paint is ok
Wall paint is ok
Didnt want oil paint for smell/fumes/voc's thought about getting the VOC free paints, ended up with this paint.

I spent a week sanding trim hoping it would come out as good as last paint job i did.
Got professionals in to do major part of house i do bedrooms.

It doesn’t smell as bad as enamel which for me was a plus. As the smell of enamel hangs around for weeks. I found it ok on trims but doors the brush marks are too pronounced Leaving me wondering if I’d been better off putting up with the smell for the look.

A great finish to our newly made bedheads, skirtings, wardrobes, kitchen dressers, shelving and other projects since 2013. Today it took just a few minutes to wash out the roller and cleanup the brushes. The bed head looks and feels great. As an Artist for over 40 yrs with extensive experience using a variety brushes, rollers and paints, commercial and artistic, I find dululx aquanamel has brilliantly exceeded my expectations The end result is only as good as the preparation and using quality brushes and rollers and skill in applying the paint.

Impossible to brush onto window sills/ frames. Leaves rough patches everywhere and cannot brush out. Dries on the brush. In 50+ years of painting I have never found such a disappointing product! would never buy again. Don't listen to Bunning's advice. I might have to go to Mitre 10 or Resene.

I've used this paint on all of our trim and doors in our 130 year old house all big fancy archs and skirting boards the gloss level is brilliant and it brushes on quite easily Ihave painted houses for a living and would easily choose this over oil based paint I wont use anything else

Have used nearly 20 lts of this paint on new internal doors,skirts,door and window frames. Without any probs. Applied mostly with short nap roller but some brushing all ok. Did paint 2 coats of 3in1 dulux primer sealer undercoat. I didn't sand between top coats as product says not to. It does dry fast and did pick up on one door but once dry is very hard. Very happy with results.

DO NOT buy this product as a brush-on substitute for oil-based enamel. It will disappoint you.
No matter how fast, thick, thin, or otherwise modified with additives when you apply it, it WILL leave ropy brush marks. Greenies and government environmental interests are PUSHING for low VOC (volatile organic compound) paints to become the new standard. That is why this product is being pushed by the manufacturers and suppliers.

I've successfully used oil-based paints for over 35 years, and if you want a proper enamel finish, then USE PROPER OIL

Bunnings sold us this paint as the didn’t have the White Knight paint we wanted. So disappointed. We are painting the inside of an old caravan and the finish is awful. Wish I’d read the reviews first! Don’t buy this paint. I feel like we were led astray by Bunnings staff.

Really poor paint not worthy to be sold
Would have been easier to paint my doors and trim with wall paint
Dulux you can do better
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I've used almost 8 litres of Dulux Aquanamel painting skirting boards, window frames and internal doors....in a warm Qld climate. It does dry SUPER fast, so you have no time to play with it. You just have to do it and walk away. I was given a tip to use some latex extender (Dyna Flo) in it and it gives a smoother finish and slightly longer drying time....more time to play with it. I learnt to just do small sections at a time and come back later to do an adjoining section. eg front of window frame, and then later do the inside part. I got

This product like many others from dulux do not live up to expectations myself and many professional painters are moving away from Duluth as their products are no longer top quality problems have occurred with many of their premium products such as aqua enamel and wash and wear better products can be purchased from taubmans or resene

This product is crap super hard to use brush strokes still visible after four coats had bubbling I've just wasted a whole day using this on my door frames and not getting any closer to the result I'm looking for. I thought I just sucked at glossing now I don't know what to do keep coating and sand back and use oil based I could cry I've wasted so much time on this stuff and now in gonna have to send it back and do it all again save yourself the pain people.

Stay away from this product cause you will never achieve the finishing quality claimed by the manufacturer. The thing is the paint gets dry so fast that it doesn't let itself to spread the surface resulted in leaving brush traces all over the painted area even though the most fine and expensive sort of brush is used. Moreover, the more layers you lay the poor results you get cause every next layer would add some more roughness to what previous layers have left. Also this paint is unreasonably soft that makes it very easy to get accidentally scr

This product is very very difficult to use and has been most disappointing. The coverage was fine but the paint drys almost instantly and creates a dragging effect leaving rough patches and brush strokes that can't be fixed during that coat. I used a quality brush and prepped properly but still produced a poorer than expected top coat result on a solid timber external feature door. Did not have issues when using a roller for other timber but this stuff and brushes don't seem compatible! Cost plenty, I'm thinking I'll have to re do in oil based enamel. Not much I complain about but aquanamel just doesn't produce the quality finish expected when using a brush. Sorry.

We painted 2 house skirtings and arcs. Couldn't be happier with the results. We found it best to apply the paint qickly and not doing many strokes doing so. The paint 'flattens' out and is smooth after drying. We did two coats. Gloss is great. After a week or two after paint cures, it is very tough eg. vacuum cleaner can bump the skirtings with no damage. We found a happy medium when applying the paint as is become tacky fast, but finish is smooth at end result.

I've been using Aquanamel on interior doors and skirting. It becomes tacky very quickly, so if I go over it with my brush a minute or 2 (sometimes less) after the first application, the paint does what I would describe as a “dragging” effect, leaving a bumpy, rough and ugly finish.

I will not buy aquanamel again.

October 11th 2017 Update: Frustration

My experience with this paint has been frustrating. At times it becomes tacky within about 60 seconds, despite thorough stirring and 27 degrees temp. So if you attempt to go over something you have just applied the finish can look like patchy gravel.

In response to Dulux suggestions:

Being water based the product, this paint is much easier to deal with than that of oil based paints. However, the finish is not as smooth and easily chips. I have used this product on 2 main rooms in my house but will finish the remaining rooms in oil based product. May even eventually sand back and re do 2 rooms with oil also.

I've not had a problem with this paint. A professional painter asked who we engaged to paint the entire house. Was surprised to find out it was us saying the results were better than a lot of professional results do all I can say is I'm very happy with the product. We used Dulux throughout and the Aquanamel on skirts and double sash windows. No issues.

I have new Windows and arcs. I was recommended this product from bunnings as a easy on and great gloss result. I was a bit hesitant as I always have used enamel gloss! Prep was excellent, two coats of undercoat, sand between coats, as usual then for the new gloss. I was looking forward to.Easy clean up, quick drying. Yes, easy clean up and quick.drying10/10. The finish, extremely poor, after two coats, sanding in between course, for a good even finish I was completely 100% disappointed. I have stripped all that work, 2 new sets of doors and 5 Windows, back and will.now complete project.with enamel gloss. I have 3.5 unused litres of paint that cannot be returned.and $85 and many hours out of pocket. Not impressed at all

Had this recommended by Bunnings staff but halfway through a full house repaint I've been very disappointed in the coverage and finish - I'm not wasting my time continuing with this poorly performing product. Coverage is like milk with several coats required. Finish tends to be flat and rough (overworked?) or when I try a thicker application to get Semi-gloss finish it's drippy. Now I'm looking for a recommendation to top coat all the work I've done and recover from this disappointment.

I used this paint in the kitchen after being told it would have the same finish as an oil-based paint and also because it is easier to clean up with a water-based paint. While it has lived up to its promise of non-yellowing it is easily scratched and requires constant touch ups.

Definitely Unhappy with the gloss level after six coats . Unhappy with Dulux technical advice which failed on every occasion. Took the paint back to Bunnings who confirmed that it was tinted with the correct base. Bunnings paint counter brought up a weak semi gloss by finger painting it thickly on a piece of cardboard and drying it quickly with a hair dryer. Is this now the proposed method? I give up.

I couldn't find too much wrong with the product or any difficulty with application, but the coverage is poor, have to put 4 coats on my internal trims and still doesn't have the desired boldness. I used pre coated trims then filled all nail holes as required then reundercoated twice

I cannot recommend this product.
The paint is so prone to bubbling, dripping and running that it requires meticulous attention to have the exact amount on your brush or roller, in order to achieve a smooth and even finish. In the end, I was virtually dry-brushing it on to avoid bubbles or runs. Even after using 3 different types of roller, and following the suggestion from Dulux online customer service of warming up the paint, it was still problematic (final coat was applied on a warm, sunny day 18 degree temperature, with minimum 24 hours d

I don't expect a mirror finish but quite smooth is expected. Even after calling Dulux help call centre, they could only go "it shouldn't do that" - but it does. I've been painting trim for years and know what to expect. I tried different roller sleeves and different brushes without different results. This product finish is similar to a ploughed field - it is HORRIBLE. Will now strip back to wood and use different paint brand.

Too soft and not durable, have to touch up all the time. If I was to paint trims, doors and kitchen cabinets again I would use a different paint. The only reason I painted all is because I bought too much of this paint. Even after a few months the paint seems to be too soft and scratches easily