Can You Use Wood Paint on Walls?

So you have some wood paint lying around in a colour that you think would look good on your walls and you wonder why not? Can I use wood paint on walls? Let’s have a look and find out!

No, I would not recommend using wood paint on walls. Especially if the paint is for exterior use, this is because it can contain herbicides which you should not be breathing in. There are also tonnes of other potential issues.

Let me explain a little bit more. Paints designed for exterior use often have lots of extra chemicals added. These chemicals do things like preventing moss and algae from growing on them.

This is obviously very useful for exterior wood paint. No one wants to paint something only to find it covered in green slime after a year.

Now when they are used outside these chemicals are not a problem for humans as there is obviously a lot of ventilation.

Now contrast that with use on an interior wall. The same chemicals are still in the paint, but now they are confined inside your home. meaning you are breathing them in daily.

These chemicals may not be tool dangerous and who knows, might not be that bad for you. But who wants to take the risk when you can just buy some emulsion purpose made for the task, and probably cheaper to boot.

Painting Over

Another big problem will come when it is time to paint over the wood paint. Let’s say you’ve decided you no longer like the colour and it is time for a change.

One big problem, emulsion paints won’t like to stick to the glossy wood paint. You could end up with cracking, flaking or even the paint just straight up peeling off the wood paint.

So you will have to sand it back, not so much of a problem on wood furniture. but a whole wall or even room? Now that’s a lot of effort.

So after spending hours and hours sanding the entire wall you will be able to paint. But this is the same position you would start in if you had just painted with emulsion to begin with.

Cost

Another factor is just simple cost. Emulsion will be cheaper than wood paint. So you are using a more expensive paint to do a job it doesn’t need to.

You are wasting money for no gain, in fact, you are wasting money for a lot of potential headaches down the line, who knows maybe not just theoretical headaches either!

Conclusion

So in conclusion, while wood paint will go onto walls just fine you should not use it. To start with it could contain dangerous chemicals that should not be used inside a home.

Then it will be really hard to paint over once you’ve decided you no longer like the colour. This will mean you have to spend lots and lots of time repairing your walls before you can even think about painting them, again.

Then finally it doesn’t make any sense from a cost standpoint. Wood paint is more expensive than emulsion and you don’t gain anything from using it on interior walls.