The Best Satinwood Paints For Interior Wood And Metal

Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood is a premium water-based trim paint that's touch dry in an hour. Dulux recommends two coats with a brush and at least 6 hours between them, so you can finish a room's woodwork in a single day with an early start. The tin in our photo is Natural Calico, which shows it's not just a white paint.

It's self-undercoating, low in odour and goes onto both wood and metal, so the same tin covers doors, frames and radiator pipes. The non-drip formula stays where you put it on vertical surfaces, and Dulux says it stays white with a non-yellowing finish. Coverage is up to 16 square metres per litre, better than most satinwoods here, which takes some of the sting out of it being the most expensive per litre in this roundup.

Johnstone's Quick Dry Satin is the closest rival to Dulux and costs less. It's an affordable water-based paint in ten colours, which makes it a good option if you'd like painted doors or frames in something other than white.

Johnstone's recommends applying it liberally by brush or roller and leaving 3 to 4 hours before the second coat. It's touch dry in 1 to 2 hours, self-undercoating and low in odour, with a non-yellowing finish. Coverage is 12 square metres per litre, and tins come in 0.75, 1.25 and 2.5 litres, so you can buy exactly what the job needs. On our woodwork it needed two coats for the best finish.

As the name says, Dulux Once is designed to finish in a single coat. Dulux recommends laying it on thickly and evenly, and that's what we did on skirting during our renovation. The result was excellent, as the Short in our testing section shows.

It needs no undercoat and Dulux says it won't yellow. Against Dulux Quick Dry, it costs less and saves a coat, but it takes up to 16 hours to dry fully and covers 12 square metres per litre instead of 16. That makes it a good overnight job. Paint in the evening, close the door, and the woodwork's ready the next day. Being thicker, it can sag on vertical surfaces if overloaded, so brush it out evenly on door frames.

Crown's Quick Dry Non Drip Satin is a water-based paint made specifically for interior wood and metal. The tin in our photo is Cream White, which is handy if brilliant white looks too stark against your walls. It's touch dry in an hour and Crown says it stays white.

The finish is hard-wearing and wipeable, so it suits hallway doors, banisters and children's bedrooms where woodwork gets handled and needs regular cleaning. UK retailer listings put coverage at up to 14 square metres per litre, and the paint goes on easily by brush or roller without dripping. You'll need two coats for the best finish, which is easy to fit into a day given the quick drying time.

Ronseal's 2-in-1 primes and paints at once, so it's aimed at bare or worn interior wood where you'd otherwise need a separate primer. Ronseal says two coats are all you need, and it's the paint to look at if you're painting new pine doors or freshly fitted skirting boards.

The big selling point is the 10 year stay white guarantee, the strongest whiteness promise in this list. It's water based, low in VOCs and non-drip, and it's touch dry in 30 minutes. Coverage is the trade-off, at up to 6.5 square metres per litre, which is roughly half as much as most of the others here, so you'll need more tins on a large job. Bare knots should still be sealed first.

Leyland's satinwood is the cheapest per litre in this roundup and the oil-based option here. It's self-undercoating, suits interior wood and metal, and leaves a hard-wearing, knock-resistant satin finish. Coverage is up to 20 square metres per litre, the best in this list.

Being oil based, it flows out smoothly and hides brush marks well, though it's slow, at touch dry in 4 hours and 16 to 24 hours before recoating. It comes in 2.5 or 5 litre tins and goes on by brush or roller. When we used it on skirting, the smell was strong, so keep windows open. Like other oil-based paints, its whites will go creamy over time, more so than water-based satinwoods.