Extra Matt Ceiling Paints. Which manufacturer offers the best value for money?

The market for extra matt ceiling paints has exploded in recent years. If you've used them yourself you will know why. The products live upto the hype allowing for easy application with fantastic results. Especially good for beginner DIY or professionals alike. The results speak for themselves. Now every manufacturer has a specific ceiling paint, we're here to look through the most popular and see which is our top pick of ceiling paints.

Why use a specific ceiling paint?

For anyone who has painted a ceiling, especially where there is more than one window, or where there could be imperfections, using a standard emulsion paint can leave you with roller marks, shadows and a whole world of painting and re-painting, sometimes chasing your tails in the pursuit of a flat white ceiling. Some emulsion paint seems impossible to remove roller marks and due to this, there has been an explosion of specific matt ceiling paints, sometimes known as anti-reflex paints, which allow for easy application, fantastic results and also allows for easy and unnoticeable touch ups. With all these combined it's no wonder the paints are taking the market by storm.

Which ceiling paints are there to choose from?

Here is a list of ceiling paints along with prices for 10L tubs as a comparison.

• Tikkurila, Anti-Reflex 2 - £54.45

• Albany (Brewers) AF1 - £35.99

• Crown ExtraMatt - £36.99

• Dulux Ultra Matt - £79.49

Using each type of ceiling paint

Being decorators ourselves, we have used all the types of ceiling paints over the years. Using the right ceiling paint can make your life easy and take significant time out of your decorating.

Tikkurila Anti Reflex 2 was one of the original ceilings paints. It's very easy to work with and relatively good value. The finish is superb. The one and only problem we encounter with "AR2" is the opacity (coverage). Although the opacity is by no means bad. We find that we sometimes need 3 coats if painting after a mist coat and 2 coats on a previously painted white ceiling. You could say this is standard, however other paints do a slightly better job.

Albany AF1. This is Brewers own brand paint and is similar to Tikkurila, just what you would expect with an own brand paint. Not quite as good. It's by no means bad, you just get what you pay for and just feels like a watered down version of Tikkurila.

Crown ExtraMatt is a lesser know paint. It's a good price for 10 liters and in some ways is better than Tikkurila and other ways not so much. The finish and application of crown is excellent. It's main drawback is the opacity when it comes to discoloured or damaged ceilings. If the ceiling is in good condition you will only need one coat, however if there is discolouration you will need a second coat.

Dulux Ultra Matt. This is a relatively new paint to the market. When you come to use the Dulux Ultra Matt you will notice how thick it is. Like the other paints we recommend you to water them down by around 5-10% to help them flow. The opacity of the Ultra Matt paint is excellent. It covers discolouration very well and leaves an excellent finish regardless how you apply it. It's very rare we need more than one coat for a perfect finish which also saves time. The downside is it's almost double the prices as some of the other paints. This however doesn't put us off as it's now our own go to paint. With it only needing one coat, it saves us time and works out a similar cost as the other paints.

Conclusion

Regardless of whichever ceiling paint you decide to use you will not be dissapointed. All the paints will leave an excellent finish. Only some paints are more excellent than others!