Who has the best scuff paint on the market? If you haven’t heard about scuff paints, you are not alone. They are relatively new.
Behr Scuff Defense was the first stuff-resistant paint to enter the market in July 2020. After doing a Google search, I could find only two others: Benjamin Moore Scuff X and Sherwin Williams Scuff Tuff.
Costs, Cure, and Commanality
The similarities between these scuff paints are as follows:
- They are all water clean-up
- They can be recoated in about 2 hours.
- They are NOT meant for floors.
- They can be applied on many surfaces including:
- drywall
- wood,
- aluminum
- metals
- brick and masonry
What is different about these three scuff paints?
- Behr Scuff Defense is self-priming and a stain blocker. The other two are not.
- SW Scuff Tuff is a waterbased enamel, and the other two are acrylics.
- Scuff Defense takes an hour to dry to the touch but the cure process take 4 weeks.
- Scuff X also dries to the touch quickly but takes 2 weeks for a full cure.
Is Scuff-resistant paint expensive?
Behr Scuff Defense – $48.00
Ben Moore Scuff Tuff – $111.00
SW Scuff X – $60.00
As you can see the prices vary – a lot. Contractors will pay much less at Sherwin-Williams, and often, if you are nice to the person behind the counter at SW, they will sell it to you wholesale, which drops the price in the 80’s.
The Best Scuff Paint For Coverage
I tested the coverage by applying multiple coats of paint over a wall with dark blue paint patches. After the first coat of paint paint my impression was as follows:
Scuff Defense was the most likely to drip and splatter.
Scuff Tuff was the thickest and had the nicest finish.
During the second coat application, I compared the coverage of the paints. It was evident that Ben Moore Scuff X provided the best coverage, while the other two were quite similar in their performance.
However, none of the three was covered 100% in two coats, and all three were covered by the third coat.
After 2 coats BM Scuff X Covers the best.
Best Coverage was Ben Moore Scuff X. The other two were too close to call.
Who Has the Best Scuff Paint can be determined by which paint scuffs the least. Price is important, but if it isn't scuff-resistant, who cares about the cost?
I tested the scuff-resistant paints by sliding different objects across the surface with even pressure. Those objects included:
- 3 wood golf club
- plastic white pitcher
- Wood handle
- Penny, nickel, and quarter
- Black rubber mallet
- Metal black pole
- Tennis shoes with black soles
About 48 hrs of time between the paint applied to be tested. I certainly could have given more time to allow the paint to cure and will be repeating these tests in 4 days.
When determining who has the best scuff paint, only one thing matters first. That is, is it scuff resistant? The price point and coverage are irrelevant.
If the scuff resistance is the same, then price and coverage become important in determining who has the best scuff paint.
I tested the scalability just two days after it was applied, which may have been too soon. Also, I cleaned the scuff marks after I made some scuff marks to see how well the paint cleaned up. This was not a good idea because the Simple Green probably softened the surface.
The test that made the biggest difference was gently rubbing a metal tube from a musical tripod on each surface. This scratched the paint.
I waited a couple of days later, and I could gently rub the tube and it marred the surface but the paint did not peel off except a minor amount on Behr Scuff Defense.
Black Rubber Mallot Test
Golf Club Test
Overall, the Sherwin-Williams and Ben Moore scuff paints performed the best.
Behr Scuff Defense was no defense at all against scuffing. It was the cheapest in cost, but had no defense against scuffing.
Stay tuned because, shortly, I will be testing a precatalyst epoxy paint, PPG Ultralast, and one other surprise paint to see if they have better scuff resistance than the three I tested.
Further, I will be retesting the three above after they have fully cured to see if that makes a difference. Until then, the search goes on to find the best scuff paint on the market!