Clearly I don’t know what to call it! The samples of “paint” you get at a paint store but it is purely for color choosing does not have the chemicals in it to have the properties of regular paint you would want to use.
I have three quarts I bought this weekend for a project to determine color. I’ve used only 1/4 cup or so of each. Feels so wasteful but the $8 quart was a much better price than the $20ish a quart for the actual paint I’ll purchase.
I asked and the paint store and didn’t get much response. They said I could perhaps donate to Habitat for Humanity.
Just wondering if there IS any use for this paint - the colors are nice - just not what I wanted (mid-dark blue family of colors).
^ Yes, contact your local elementary school (the art teachers rarely have enough supplies). Also, the high school theater group may be able to use it for their sets.
This is what I am going to do with the samples I got at SW! I mixed them all together, and the color turned out very nice. The guy at the store told me that they use their lower grade, regular indoor house paint as the base for sample colors.
Never heard this is fake. At the Benjamin Moore store, they suggested I mix all the leftover and use it to paint a closet interior. (My samples are all light.)
This is so interesting that some of you have heard feedback to use it for perhaps not the most important areas as paint. This paint is rather dark - but seems to look good on the wall where I am trialing it. It is SW paint.
I would never drop off a donation without asking ahead of time if the place wanted it. To me doing that is like when your mom insists you take stuff from her house - that you don’t want!
Two of these quarts (incidentally the screw on/off tops make so much more sense than the ones you have to pry open!) would make a really pretty bright navy when mixed together!
My concern was using this “paint” for something that would produce a good finished product. I was under the impression from the store employee that the composition of this stuff could not be considered “paint” - people here have led me to believe otherwise. We actually have TONS of old furniture that could be sanded and painted with this color to give it a whirl. I’m saving it!
Maybe they refer to pre-made samples? I think I’d call your store and ask if you can use it in some other permanent way. Next time I’m at BM, I’m going to ask more questions.
Well I did ask the store and his response was “the samples are not chemically the same as regular paint”. It wasn’t a very confident answer!
And as the article indicates, it was a bit frustrating that the smallest “sample” was a quart. I mean, I used so little to trial. Which is why I didn’t want to waste it if there were other options. Price wise it was worth it - $8 to ensure a correct or a not correct color.
What does the label say?
It seems you have a smaller volume of ‘paint’, at a quart size; sample sizes I have obtained have been in the 3-4 ounce range.
I have used SW paint samples to paint rooms and the rooms have turned out fine. The paint goes on nice and is in satin sheen. Dining room was painted for $16. And the bathroom for $8
I mixed them all together, and the color turned out very nice. The guy at the store told me that they use their lower grade, regular indoor house paint as the base for sample colors.