Paint That Cleans Itself
This exterior acrylic paint promotes water-beading to let dirt roll off without having to manually wash surfaces.
Sherwin-Williams has introduced an exterior acrylic paint designed to shed dirt on contact with water. Emerald Rain Refresh is self-priming and comes with a limited lifetime warranty against blistering and peeling. Rick Watson, the company’s director of product information and technical services, said he could not discuss the proprietary formulation in detail, but that it includes a “precision-engineered, cross-linking polymer chain that promotes water-beading at the surface.” Dirt should wash away in the rain or with a garden hose, and because the additive is integral to the paint, it won’t wear off or become less effective over time, Watson says.
Rain Refresh grew out of another self-cleaning Sherwin-Williams product called Loxon, an acrylic for masonry surfaces that was introduced three or four years ago. Customers said they liked it, but wished it could be used on other surfaces. So, Watson says, Sherwin-Williams applied the same technology to an acrylic paint that could be used on a variety of substrates, including wood and vinyl.
The paint can be applied in temperatures as low as 35°F and contains less than 50 grams of VOCs per liter. It is CARB and LEED v4 compliant, according to specs listed at the company’s website. It’s available in 1-gal. and 5-gal. containers and in three sheens—flat, satin, and gloss. It costs around $75 for 1 gal.
—Scott Gibson, contributing writer
From Fine Homebuilding #293
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I read a review of this product on the SW website saying painters tape, or almost any other type of tape wouldn't stick to this paint after they applied the first coat. See "Taping nightmare: nothing sticks to this paint! August 26, 2020 by Jim" Jim says the manufacture said to try 3M 3960 duct tape. They were spray painting and needed to mask off large area. The 3M tape stayed on well enough but the job was much longer than expected.
This reminded me of an experience 12 years ago. My parents put oil based Sikkens paint on some exterior stairs some years earlier. When the trim needed painting we asked the paint store where the Sikkens was purchased, what comments they had heard during the last 5 years. The store no longer carried Sikkens paints because so many people complained that other brands of paint wouldn't stick to the Sikkens paint, only Sikkens paint would stick to surfaces painted with Sikkens paint. Sanding the heck out of the coat of Sikkens paint or stripping off were the only ways other brands of paint would stick.
This experience made me wonder if all of these new dirt and water shedding paints will have the same problems down the line as the Sikkens paint did. Will I be forced to use same brand of dirt shedding paint in the future, if it's still sold; or will nothing stick to it without extensive sanding? Has anyone heard anything about repainting these water and dirt shedding paints?