Natural Paints Put to the Test

Recently, I bought a new home, and the first things that had to go were the lime green walls in my office and the grandmotherly floral wallpaper everywhere else. Fearing the headaches I get from stronger smelling, conventional paints, I tried out several brands of low-odor paints with reduced volatile organic compounds (VOCs), to see which would go best in my new home.

First up: the solvent-free and the clay paints made by BioShield, which claims theirs are the "purest" paints on the market, using naturally derived raw materials, such as tree resins and inert mineral fillers.

Although I expected the clay paint to look like adobe, the end product was less textured than I'd imagined and gave my study a subtle, warm and natural look (for an even more textured style, choose the clay plaster). The main ingredients are water, clay, chalk, alcohol ester, cellulose, and a preservative, creating a paint that is incredibly easy to clean up, not to mention easy on the lungs. Color mixing is simple, though not essential: One gallon of white combined with one gallon Casa Adobe gave an odor-free coat to my previously dull office. As for problems, it took two coats to mask the old lime green, and touch up was required after removing protective tape, which peeled away some of the color leading me to believe the paint isn't quite as durable as conventional latex. However, one gallon was more than enough to cover an 11- by 12-foot room.

BioShield's Solvent Free paint also won stars in my book, having virtually no odor, attractive colors and easy application and clean up. The only down side? While BioShield offers many pleasing colors, they are still limited to less than 50 varieties, unless you order 25 gallons or more, which opens up a custom tinting option (Clay: $40/gal; Solvent Free: $34/gal for matte, $42/gal satin finish paints; www.bioshieldpaint.com)