Do I need special paint for a kitchen or bathroom?

Bathroom and kitchen paints are sold on mould resistance and most people assume that means the paint kills mould. It does not. A fungicide in the film makes the surface a poorer place for spores to establish, and a tighter, less absorbent film means less water is held at the surface for them to use. Both help. Neither wins against a room that produces more moisture than it can get rid of.

Safety

Step by step

1. Deal with the moisture before the paint.Check the extractor actually moves air — hold a sheet of paper against it — that it runs long enough after the shower, and that it vents outside rather than into a loft. Check window trickle vents are open. Look for the cold spots where condensation actually forms. Paint chosen after this works; paint chosen instead of this fails.
2. Use a bathroom emulsion on bathroom walls and ceilings.The formulation is genuinely different: more binder for a tighter film, a fungicide, and better tolerance of repeated wetting and drying. On a ceiling above a shower this is worth doing properly, because that is where surfaces get coldest and wettest.
3. Choose kitchen paint for grease rather than moisture.The main difference in a kitchen is a film you can degrease repeatedly without burnishing or removing colour. A good durable matt or soft sheen does the same job. A dedicated kitchen paint adds better resistance to grease and cooking condensation.
4. Do not put it over an unsound or contaminated surface.Wash off every trace of mould with an appropriate fungicidal wash and let it dry, remove any flaking, and seal any water stains with a stain block. A mould-resistant paint over live mould simply gets pushed off from behind.
5. Use the right finish on the ceiling.Bathroom ceilings should get a moisture-tolerant matt or soft sheen, not standard contract matt and not high-sheen silk. Contract matt has no film strength to speak of; heavy sheen shows every defect on the plane you look at most from below.
6. Consider an anti-condensation paint only for the specific case it suits.These contain an insulating additive that lifts the surface temperature a little, which can push a marginal surface above dew point. That is a narrow, real benefit on a cold ceiling or a chimney breast — it is not a substitute for insulation or ventilation.
7. Ventilate while it cures, not just while you paint.A bathroom that goes straight back into service before the film has hardened puts a soft coating under immediate condensation, which is how a good product ends up flaking anyway.

Tips

• Behind a toilet cistern, above a shower and on the ceiling directly over a bath are the three coldest, wettest spots in most bathrooms. If you are economising, spend there.
• A mould inhibitor in a paint film has a working life. A bathroom repainted every five or six years stays ahead of it; one repainted every fifteen does not.
• In a kitchen, the wall above and beside the hob is a grease problem, not a moisture problem — a wipeable finish matters more than a mould inhibitor there.

Common mistakes

• Painting over mould after wiping it with bleach — Household bleach removes the colour but often leaves the root structure and the surface contamination. Use a proper fungicidal wash, allow the recommended dwell time, and let the surface dry fully.
• Using bathroom paint to fix flaking on a bathroom ceiling — Flaking is usually loss of adhesion from moisture behind the film or painting over a contaminated surface. A better topcoat on the same failed base fails in the same way.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask