Bathroom paint

Bathrooms tend to be humid and the walls are often subject to regular splattering, both of which are not all that great for regular paints. Nevertheless, you can still paint your bathroom. Let's have a look at which paints are appropriate to use.

Which paint should you use for your bathroom?

Well, that depends mostly on how well your bathroom is ventilated. You can check to which extent your bathroom allows humidity to escape, by simply looking at your mirrors after showering. Do they have condensation on them? Then, we recommend only using wall paint especially suited for bathrooms, water-based lacquers or façade paint. A cleanable paint such as Sigma Pearl Clean Matt or an antifungal paint like Sigmaresist Fungi Matt are also great choices.

Is your bathroom well-ventilated or rather large? Then a regular wall paint will probably do just fine.

Beware for extra matte paints, though. Those tend to show striping through condensation. Satin gloss or velvety matte paints have a higher resistance against humidity.

Should you apply wallpaper first?

Whether you wish to have wallpaper in your bathroom or not, is entirely up to you. It is a good idea, however, to apply wallpaper when the plastering on your walls is a bit flawed. When you'll be painting your bathroom for the first time and your walls haven't been covered with wallpaper, it's best to apply primer first. Both wallpaper and primer prevent small cracks in in the wall, and therefore in the paint layer as well.

Which is the best paint for your bathroom ceiling?

Which paint should you use for your bathroom ceiling? There are three main types of paint we'd recommend if you want to paint your bathroom ceiling:

Cleanable, matte (wall and) ceiling paints: because of their cleanability, these paints can handle moisture better. Their matte finish is ideal for ceilings, as it tends to show less striping etc. - comes in handy on a rather difficult surface such as a bathroom ceiling!
Matte indoor lacquers: particularly interesting if your ceiling is made of wooden planchets, for example, but they can also be used instead of ceiling paint. Just consider that lacquers are a bit less fluid than 'regular' ceiling paint and might prove a bit trickier to apply, and are often a bit more expensive as well. The upside to this is that they have excellent resistance against moisture.
Special antifungal paint, i.e. Sigma Sigmaresist Fungi Matt: mould can be a real issue in humid environments such as the bathroom. In some cases, it's useful to use a specialised paint for that. If you've already had mould in the bathroom, it can also help cover up stains if there are any.

Related topics:

Bathroom paint

Which paint should you use for your bathroom?

Which is the best paint for your bathroom ceiling?

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