Best Satinwood Paint in the UK

Whether you’re looking to paint your internal doors or something else such as skirting boards, choosing the best satinwood paint can make all the difference.

If you get the choice right, you’ll have a paint that’s durable, easy to apply and more importantly looks fantastic.

Choose the wrong paint however and you could end up with something that scratches off, dries in patches and has the opposite effect on the look of your home that you were hoping to achieve.

Fortunately, we’ve been lucky enough to try a variety of satin paints over the years and have used our experience and knowledge (combined with thousands of user reviews) to come up with the definitive guide as to which satinwood paint is best.

Best Water-Based Satinwood Paint: Johnstone’s Aqua Satin

The best water-based satinwood paint is Johnstone’s Aqua Satin hands down. I’ve personally been using this paint for the last 2 years and I wouldn’t use anything else.

It’s suitable for use on any interior/exterior woods and metals which makes it an incredibly useful all-rounder. Skirting boards? Check. Exterior window frames? Check. Banisters? Check.

Application of this paint is very simple and you can expect to get a professional finish if used in conjuncture with the Aqua undercoat but you’ll still get a great finish without the matching undercoat. The water based satin is so convenient that you can apply it using brush, roller and paint sprayer.

Top tip: apply using a short pile roller sleeve on bigger surfaces such as doors and windowsills and you’ll be rewarded with an almost spray-like finish (see below).

In terms of durability it’s very hardwearing and only gets tougher over time as it cures. If you can avoid coming into contact with it for around a couple of weeks it’s going to be tough as old boots.

In the painting and decorating profession it’s widely regarded that Benjamin Moore’s Scuff-X (which is over £30 a litre by the way) is one of the absolute best satinwoods you can get but I would say there’s very little to distinguish the two and for the price difference, that makes Johnstone’s the best.

Pros

• Is durable and can be cleaned
• One of the quickest drying satins on the market
• The best low-odour satin paint out there
• It doesn’t yellow over time
• Suitable for use on any interior or exterior woods and metals

Cons

• None

Best Oil Based Satinwood Paint: Dulux Trade Satinwood

If you’re looking for the best oil based satinwood paint you’ll want something that is durable, easy to clean and better yet, stain resistant. In this instant, we’d go with Dulux Trade Satinwood and more specifically, the Pure Brilliant White option.

The Dulux Trade Satinwood is suitable for application across a variety of surfaces including wood, MDF and even metals. This makes it the perfect choice for anything from internal doors to kitchen cabinets.

The oil-based formula means the consistency of the paint is nice and thick and this makes application a breeze – especially if you’re going to be using a good quality synthetic brush. You can also get good results when using a short pile mohair roller.

The spreading capabilities is exceptional and will cover around 17m²/L. Being oil-based, the paint will take quite a long time to dry and we’d recommend a re-coat time of around 16 – 24 hours.

The advanced oil-based formula ensures the finished product is protected from scratches, scuffs, stains and grease. This means that cleaning your surfaces will not only be easy but will avoid any damage during the cleaning process too.

Of course, the colour is white but it’s important to note here that unlike other solvent based paints, this one doesn’t yellow over time.

Pros

• Is durable and can be cleaned without causing any damage
• Has excellent covering capabilities
• It doesn’t yellow over time
• Is suitable for a variety of surfaces

Cons

• You’ll need to apply a second coat the next day

Best White Satin Paint: Crown Quick Dry Satin

Our choice for the best white satin paint is Crown and many professionals in the industry will agree. We enjoy using this paint so much that we recently used it to paint all the doors at an entire student accommodation complex.

One of the most impressive aspects of this paint is quite obviously the fact that it’s incredibly white. Whilst amateurs might scoff at the idea that you can have a paint be more white than another, there’s actually a wide variety of different ‘whites’ that you can get.

This paint is water based and has been formulated for use on interior woods and metals only so things like doors, skirting boards and hand rails would be perfectly fine but it’s not going to hold up well at all if used on exterior surfaces (we know some people like to chance it).

Crown’s quick dry satin certainly earns its name too – the paint is touch dry within an hour. As it dries so quickly you do have to be slightly wary when it comes to speed of application. Once fully cured (a day or two) you can expect it to be hardwearing and resist scratches and stains.

Pros

• Is durable and can be cleaned
• One of the quickest drying paints on the market
• Low odour and low VOC making it more eco-friendly
• It doesn’t yellow over time

Cons

• Only suitable for interior woods and metals

Best Satin Paint for Skirting Boards: Dulux Diamond Satinwood

When choosing a paint for skirting boards, you can opt for something in the satinwood – gloss region and get great results. If you’re looking for satinwood, you might want to try Dulux Trade’s Diamond Satinwood.

Much like it’s oil-based counterpart, Dulux Trade Satinwood, this is the water-based advanced formula version and it has a number of advantages.

Perhaps the biggest advantage it has over the oil-based version is the fact that it’s incredibly quick to dry. This makes it perfect for use on skirting boards in particular. When it comes to painting skirting boards there’s a lot of intricate prep work involved to ensure you’re not getting paint on anything other than the skirting board. To have to do this twice is a headache you don’t need. Having a quick drying paint means you can leave everything in place and come back for a second coat after just a few hours.

Despite being a water based formula, the consistency of the paint is nice and thick which makes application a breeze especially when using a good quality synthetic brush. You can also get good results when using a short pile mohair roller assuming it’s been manufactured for use with water based paints.

The paint is quick drying with a re-coat time of around 6 hours and can safely be applied indoors due to its low odour and VOC content.

Pros

• Is durable and can be cleaned without causing any damage
• Quick drying formula means you can finish up in under half a day
• Low odour and low VOC making it more eco-friendly
• It doesn’t yellow over time

Cons

• Somewhat expensive

Best Satinwood Paint for Internal Doors: Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood

Satinwood is our go to paint when it comes to painting internal doors and if you’re looking for a specific satin – we’d recommend Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood.

This satinwood is suited for application on interior woods and metals but is exceptional when used on interior doors due to its durability and long lasting protection for stains and scratches.

Despite being water-based, it has a nice consistency and shouldn’t give you too much difficulty applying. The consistency is particularly useful if you have hard-to-reach ridge patterns on your doors. It’s also self-priming which means you won’t need to apply an undercoat beforehand.

In terms of colour, you have a selection of many chic neutrals to choose from including polished pebble and white mist.

Pros

• It’s resistant to stains and scratches once cured
• Is touch dry in around 1 hour
• Low odour and low VOC making it more eco-friendly
• Lovely set of neutral colours to choose from

Cons

• Only available in 0.75l tins

Why Choose Satinwood?

Satinwood lies somewhere in between the eggshell and gloss range and because of this, it has certain characteristics that make it ideal for certain applications.

Being a mid-sheen paint, it is more durable than flatter finishes but is still able to complement the baulk of colours used in today’s modern interiors unlike high gloss paints for example.

Satinwood is also very easy to maintain. A satinwood finish will typically be hard-wearing once fully cured which means you should be able to wipe and clean it without worrying about damaging the paint. Some satinwood paints are so durable that you can even scrub off stubborn stains.

It’s also useful that many satinwoods (including some on our list) are self-priming. This essentially means you don’t need to spend extra buying an undercoat paint. Typically, two coats of satinwood will work on any surface.

Surfaces where satinwood paint would be a good choice:

• Skirting boards
• Internal doors
• Bannisters
• Kitchen cabinets
• Windows

Best Way to Apply Satinwood Paint

To make sure you’re getting the best satinwood finish possible, it’s essential that you prepare the surfaces you’re going to be painting on thoroughly.

Step One: Preparation

Preparing your surfaces means you should give them a good clean and sand down to ensure the paint has a good key to stick to. Remove any old flaking paint and use some sugar soap to remove any grease or stains from the surface.

Step Two: To Prime or Not to Prime

If you’re using a satinwood paint that is self-priming, then obviously you don’t need to follow this step. If your satinwood is not self-priming, then you’ll want to apply a suitable primer, especially on bare wood or metal.

Step Three: Painting

Give your tin of paint a very good stir. Top tip: make sure you scrub around the bottom and edges as satinwood has a tendency to thicken in these areas.

If you’ve chosen to use a satinwood paint, it’s very likely that the area you’re going to be painting is small or thin. It’s for this reason that you’ll want to use a good paint brush (you’ll get a better finish too).

I’d recommend a brush that has long bristles that are quite flexible. These Harris Essentials should do the job. You can use the 2″ brush if you want to but you’re likely to get a bit more precision from the 1.5″ brush.

In terms of painting technique, I like to work in small areas starting with vertical strokes and covering them with some horizontal strokes. The best way I could describe the pattern is to picture a game of tic tac toe.

Bear in mind that if you’re using a water-based satin, you’ll need to work quite quickly as it’s fast drying. The beauty of using a satin paint is that it doesn’t splash like water-based gloss does so working at speed isn’t going to give you too many issues.

Summary

We hope this guide has given you the knowledge you need to buy the best satinwood paint for the job. We’d highly recommend using the Johnstone’s Aqua as, in our opinion, it’s second to none in terms of quality. As always, if you need any specific advice, feel free to reach out to us and we’ll do our best to help. We’ll be doing a mailbag series soon where we’ll be answering a lot of questions so you’re more than welcome to get in touch.

Get Prices for a Professional Decorator Near You

Not keen on decorating yourself? You always have the option of hiring a professional to do the job for you. We have trusted contacts all over the UK who are ready to price your job.

Get free, no-obligation quotes in your local area and compare prices using the form below.

• Compare Multiple Quotes & Save Up to 40%
• Certified & Vetted Painters and Decorators
• Free & No Obligation
• Local Decorators Near You

If you want to learn more about different paints, take a look at our recent “best emulsion paint” article!