If you’re looking for the best gloss paint available in the UK, you’ve come to the right place.
Gloss paint has lots of sheen and with that comes lots of durability. It’s for this reason that gloss paint is the perfect choice when it comes to choosing the best paint for high touch surfaces as well as anything outside the house.
Examples of high touch surfaces include:
- Doors
- Door frames
- Skirting boards
- Window casing
- Most woodworks
- Outdoor objects
We’ve seen a couple of blog posts suggesting that gloss paint works well on ceilings but in our opinion this is a little bit daft. Gloss paint has a high sheen and you don’t want your ceilings reflecting too much light. If you’re looking to paint your ceilings, use a flat or matt paint.
If you’ve got this far and have decided that gloss is the right paint for your job, feel free to browse through our favourites. We’ve compiled the best gloss paint based on personal testing along with thousands of real customer reviews.
Best Gloss Paint Overall: Leyland Trade High Gloss, Brilliant White
Our pick for the best gloss paint goes to Leyland Trade and their High Gloss Brilliant White paint. Leyland Trade are a reliable and reputable paint supplier and they don’t disappoint with this particular gloss.
It has a nice colour, excellent thickness and we found that it spreads really nicely. What really gave the edge to Leyland on this occasion was its all-around effectiveness and durability.
We’ve used this paint for projects in the past and it certainly stands the test of time. It’s not just us who feel this way either – it gets a 5/5 from customer reviews for durability which is almost unheard of from reviewers!
Features
- Incredible durability means it needs very little care and attention
- While some paints can leave a strong odour for a lengthy period of time, you won’t get that problem with Brilliant White
- Outstanding flow and levelling properties allow easy application
- Comes in either 2.5L or 5L
Pros
- You don’t have to be an experienced painter to get a high quality finish
- Has a 4.6/5 rating from customers
- Doesn’t go yellow unlike other brands
- Can be used on interior surfaces or exterior
Cons
- None
Final Verdict
The Leyland Trade Brilliant White literally covers all bases when it comes to finding the best gloss paint. With options to purchase in 2.5L or 5L, it will cover any painting projects you’ve got lined up.
Best for Doors: Dulux Quick Dry Gloss
Dulux Quick Dry Gloss provides the best coverage with a longer lasting bright white gloss finish thanks to extensive research and development in their world class innovation facility.
It’s a water based paint made from a PU Alkyd Emulsion containing a polymer effective at giving water-borne paints high scratch resistance and film toughness.
This paint is touch-dry within an hour and re-coatable in around 4 to 6 hours making it a convenient option for surfaces such as doors and windows.
Features
- Incredibly quick drying means it’s dry to the touch within an hour
- Unlike cheaper brands, this paint barely leaves a trace of odour
- Perfect for doors and windows
- Has a long lasting white colour that doesn’t turn yellow
Pros
- Easy to use
- High durability
- Easy to clean
- Has low VOC (volatile organic compounds)
- Has over 27,000 5* ratings (the customer is always right and all that…)
Cons
- None
Final Verdict
We’ve used this paint in the past and found it’s a particularly good choice when we’re painting in commercial environments due to its speedy dry time. We always get a high quality finish from it and would definitely recommend it.
Best One Coat Gloss Paint: Dulux Once Gloss
The Dulux Once Gloss gets our vote when it comes to one coat perfection! It’s easy to apply, has high durability and is easy to wash.
Having used other one coat glosses in the past, we found that the Dulux Once Gloss covers much better and flows over woodwork especially. The benefit of this is that with one coat, you don’t want to be leaving any brush marks which is precisely what this paint achieves.
We recently had a friend ask what would be the best paint for a black and white kitchen and we suggested this. It’s been a few weeks and we’ve not received any complaints yet!
Features
- Only needs one coat
- Long lasting white colour
- Highly resistant to scratching and scuffing
Pros
- Fast drying and mess free
- Doesn’t drip
- One of the whitest paints on the market
Cons
- The smell isn’t great and might take some time to fully disappear
Final Verdict
If you’re not an experienced painter and are looking for something that’s not going to leave you with brush marks, this is the paint for you!
Best Exterior Gloss Paint: Johnstone’s
Johnstone’s Exterior Wood & Metal gloss paint is our pick for exteriors. With a 6 year life, this should stand the test of time, ensuring you won’t need another paint job for a good few years.
Johnstone’s get a rating of 5/5 for durability whilst scoring highly when it comes to ease of use and how easy it is to clean which is essential with British weather!
This particular gloss comes in a variety of colours including cream, white, barolo, victory red and vine green.
Features
- The paint is very thick and you could apply just the single coat although we’d recommend two coats to ensure durability
- It spreads very easily and efficiently giving you better coverage than other brands
- Highly durable means it should last you up to 6 years before you need to repaint
- Perfect for exterior wood, metal and plastic
Pros
- Excellent value for money
- Easy to apply
- Easy to wash
- Nice range of colours to choose from
Cons
- It does have a tendency to run so will need a good stir before it’s ready to be applied
Final Verdict
Johnstone’s have produced a magnificent drop of paint at a great entry-level price which is perfect for exteriors.
Best for Durability: Dulux Weather Shield
Much like the Johnstone’s version, this thick Weather Shield gloss offers 6 years of life but is slightly more durable than Johnstone’s. The Dulux Weather Shield offers protection against rain (again, very handy in the UK) as well as mould.
Whilst the practicality of the paint is its strong point, it actually looks really good too. Unlike cheaper brands, you’ll find that once it’s dried, it won’t less any of its sheen.
To really reinforce and extend its lifespan, we’d recommend applying two coats.
Features
- Perfect for woods and metals and is ideal for front doors and garage doors
- 6 years of durability
- Touch dry in two hours
- Flexible paint film
Pros
- Very waterproof
- Thick but covers well
- You can get away with just one coat if you’re refreshing
- Doesn’t drip
Cons
- Pricier than competitors
Final Verdict
Whilst the Dulux Weather Shield is pricier than almost all other brands, it’s worth the price if you can afford it in our opinion. We’ve used this gloss many times and it’s the undisputed best when it comes to longevity.
Best for Radiators: Ronseal One Coat
We’ve included this category because we’ve had many customers in the past ask us if it was even possible to paint your radiator. The short answer – yes it is.
If you’ve painted your radiator in the past and have found that the paint is flaking or showing signs of rust, it’s probably a good idea to give it a new paint job.
Ronseal One Coat is the best for this as it’s literally been created for all radiators.
The best things about Ronseal One Coat is that it’s scratch and scuff resistant, heat resistant and most importantly stays white!
Features
- Scratch and scuff resistant
- Heat resistant
- Stays white
- Touch dry within around 30 minutes
Pros
- Doesn’t leave behind a strong smell
- Easy to apply
- Doesn’t turn yellow over time
Cons
- It will need at least 2 coats to achieve a smooth finish with no drips left behind
Final Verdict
We’re big fans of the Ronseal One Coat and would recommend it over any other when it comes to gloss for radiators. If you really want a nice finish with this, we’d recommend giving your radiator a clean and sand down any rusty bits leftover from the old paint. Optionally, you can prime the radiator first with something like BIN Primer.
Advantages and disadvantages of gloss paint
When deciding which paint you need, you should look at the properties of each finish. Here’s a quick run down on the advantages and disadvantages of gloss paint.
Advantages
- High durability makes gloss the perfect paint for surfaces that get a lot of wear and tear
- Whilst we wouldn’t recommend SCRUBBING any paint surfaces, gloss paint is able to withstand a rub down with soap and water
- Can be used on interiors as well as exteriors
- Great at making surfaces stand out (think an exterior door)
- Suitable for application on surfaces including wood, metal, ceramics, masonry and plastic
Disadvantages
- Usually will need a primer before application as it’s not fantastic at hiding imperfections
- Is a bit of a long process from start of application to the finished article (although it’s definitely worth it when you get it right!)
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use a roller for gloss paint?
Whilst you can use a roller for gloss paint, you’ll almost always get the best finish with a paint brush.
If you do decide to use a roller, you’ll want to have a specific roller at hand that’s been designed for gloss application. A regular roller is likely to leave little fibres behind during application.
Even with a specific roller for gloss, you’ll want to lay it off with a good gloss brush once you’re done just to make sure you get that nice, smooth finish.
How do you get a smooth finish with gloss paint?
Gloss paint isn’t very good at hiding imperfections so the secret to get a nice smooth finish with gloss paint is to firstly prepare the surface beforehand. You can do this by sanding down any imperfections which takes us to the next step.
Secondly, you can use one or two coats of a good primer which will help to smooth over the surface before you’re ready to apply the gloss. If working with wood in particular, we tend to sand down the surface again before applying the second coat of primer.
You’ll then want to apply one or two coats of your gloss paint before finally laying it off.
Laying off isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do so keep this in mind:
- Paint with light strokes
- Don’t press too hard because you want the brush fibres to remain as close together as possible as this prevents brush marks
Summary
Gloss paint is one of our favourites to use and gives you a nice, shiny finish you wouldn’t get with other types of paint. If you’re looking for something to use in your interior or exterior, this has you covered!
We hope this best gloss paint guide has provided you with all the information you need to make the right choice for your job.
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