Paint Test! Valspar vs Benjamin Moore

Are You READY!??! For the Main Event!

 In this corner weighting in at 1 quart, eggshell finish, Valspar!!  And in this corner weighting in at 1 quart, eggshell finish, Benjamin Moore!! Who will be the Win? LET’S GET IT ON!

SO I recently had a coat closet built in my townhouse because the house didn’t come with one and the only closet was in the master bedroom on the 3^rd floor.  Who wants to walk up there for a jacket?  I needed a White Eggshell finish so I could paint the interior and exterior.  I bought 1 quart of Valspar Signature Paint + Primer.  I felt I only needed a small amount because it’s a small closet.   I know I had written that post  about the awful Valspar spray paint but I really wanted to believe the can paint would be better.  The Valspar was runny.  I didn’t even load the brush with a lot and it still dripped off the brush.  It spread horribly, too thin and way too many applications.  While you’re painstakingly spreading the paint if you happen to lightly touch a place that’s about 60% dry it will come off onto your brush requiring you to have to paint it over again.  I used the whole quart for the smallest closet in the world.  The like ray of hope I remembered I had half a gallon of Benjamin Moore White Eggshell Paint + Primer in my garage.  Benjamin Moore to the rescue!  I painted over all the Valspar with the Benjamin Moore.  It spread great and gave a nice coat to the interior of the closet, the exterior and even the closet door.  I probably used less than 1 quart to redo the mess Valspar left behind.  I now have a great base coat and I am looking forward to going to Benjamin Moore and picking out a great color for the exterior of the closet.  Hmm Maybe something in Dark Blue.

Lesson Learned: DON’T BUY VALSPAR! Unless you feel like wasting your money.  You may think “But I’m here at my hardware store and it’s so convenient.”  You tell yourself No.  Buy Benjamin Moore!  It will make you smile :)

Spray Paint Test! RustOleum vs. Valspar Review

To Spray or Not to Spray...Either way I am not buying Valspar

I LOVE Spray Paint! It's easy to use and can take any item from drab to FAB in no time.  I recently had 3 wood dinning room chairs I was making over and needed them quickly done on time for the Lucketts Spring Market this past weekend.  Out of convenience I went to my closest hardware store to pick up some fun colors.  The brand they sold was Valspar.  I have never used this brand before but I though "Hey paint is paint, right"  I was SO wrong! First it had a rounded top that prevented me from using my spray paint attachment that turns it into a handy dandy spray gun.  I found the spray nozzle producing less over time and required me to use 2 thumbs inorder to get the paint out.  The twist and lock feature of the top created problems by paint hitting the sides of the outer cap creating splatters of paint that globbed up on my smooth surface I was trying to achieve.  The paint coverage was weak and required many layers upon layers and when a few minutes of drying time is needed in between applications your project goes from quick and easy to long and frustrating.  Luckily I had a can of RustOleum in my arsenal and felt a sense of joy and relief come over me.  RustOleum has a normal spray paint nozzle that allowed me to use my handy dandy attachment.  There is a more steady stream of paint produced and had a wonderful solid coverage that hid gaps and cracks like magic.  One thing that amazed me was the difference in what is considered a Glossy finish.  Once again RustOleum wins! Valspar left a rough texture and I had to double check I actually bought Glossy.  I was painting each chair white with different colored rungs.  I sprayed the rungs their chosen color and when it dried I wrapped them in paper and painters tape and sprayed the rest of the chair white.  I allowed the white to dry over night before peeling off the paper.  Oh no! The Paper stuck to the chairs where I used Valspar.  Needless to say this was a major disappointment and made a note to no longer buy Valspar spray paint. In the future I will go out of my way to visit the orange apron hardware store (you know who you are ;)) and buy RustOleum. Plus they have better colors anyway.  I hope my Spray Paint experience will help you in deciding the right paint.