Wow, this is a truly non-toxic paint, and it’s going to be sold exclusively at Home Depot. It’s called Freshaire Choice, and it’s a zero VOC paint. According to the EPA, the air inside a home is, on average, two-to-five-times more polluted than the air outside. Paint is a large contributing factor to poor indoor air quality and can emit harmful chemicals, such as VOCs, for years after application.
Another innovative feature of this line of paint is that the tints are also zero VOC. It’s the first paint that can make this claim — on average, up to 150 grams of VOCs are added back into paint once the color is mixed. That means that even if you buy a boutique, all natural paint, as soon as you tint it to the color you desire, you just defeated all the work you put into locating and purchasing the paint (except for naturally pigmented paints, like clay paints).
The Freshaire tinting system uses pre-measured packets of dry tint that color the paint without adding any VOCs to the paint. This zero VOC system is an industry first. No other tint system for paint can make this claim. Another innovation is that the tint comes in a packet that dissolves into the paint completely. By using pre measured, standardized packets, Freshaire ensures consistent colors no matter when you buy more paint. The only drawback to the system is that you can only use the 65 colors that are currently available — so no custom matching.
Freshaire Choice has a GreenGuard certification (one of the most stringent independent test laboratories in the United States).
Freshaire uses 100% recycled materials for the can, the can is recyclable when you are done, 75% recycled fiber material is used for the can’s label, the label is printed with soy ink. Another innovation is that the paint chips are also completely recyclable as well being made from recycled materials. As far as I know, only Freshaire allows you to recycle actual sample paint chips.
The Freshaire Choice Paint will be exclusively available at The Home Depot nationwide beginning April 1, 2008. The one-gallon containers will be sold at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $35 – 38. The Freshaire Choice Paint product assortment consists of flat, eggshell and semi-gloss finishes, as well as drywall interior primer and ceiling paint. For more information or to request a free sample, visit www.thefreshairechoice.com or call 1-866-880-0304.
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Can I mask out VOCs on a recently painted wall, by painting over it with a non-VOC paint? Will the new coat shield against the VOCs ‘gassing’ through?
Or do I need to strip the VOC paints before painting over?
I used freshair to paint my whole house using a total of 7 different colors and the primer and I love everyone. It’s been a years since completing and I couldn’t be happier. The paint has held up well and I have a dog and a two year old. Not sure why other had problems, I didn’t experience it. True you have to use two coats, but that has been my experience with many other brands I’ve used too. The two dark colors i used required 3 coats, but my aunt just painted her kitchen a dark color also with a different brand and it took her 5 coats to get good coverage and true color. The odor was minimal, but not completly absent. I will defently be using freshair for all my future indoor painting projects.
After researching to find the safest and healthiest paint, we painted our bedroom with Freshaire Choice Paint over TWO MONTHS AGO and it is still uninhabitable. The odor was/is so horrible and strong that we had to seal the room off. We received a bad batch of paint and no one with Glidden cares– not even people at the top. The rep said that he would test the paint that we returned, but he never picked it up and nearly a month later it was destroyed. The Home Depot has done everything in their power to help us. They offered us Kilz, oil-based primer and Behr, primer/paint to apply over the smelly Freshaire paint, at no charge. It didn’t help –nothing helps…the odor damage is permanent. Experts advise that the walls and ceiling will have to be removed and replaced! What a nightmare!!
Would love to hear from anyone who also had a bad experience with Freshaire Choice Paint.
I have had the same problem with using paint that was suppose to be for hospitals. You know..non toxic..It was a nightmare!
I AM EXPERIENCING THE SAME WITH BENJAMIN MOORE ZERO VOC NATURA PAINT. FIRST COUPLE MONTHS SMELLED OF ROTTING FISH, NOW AFTER ALMOST A YEAR IT IS BETTER, BUT STILL IS OUT GASSING. I AIR OUT WITH FANS AND OPEN WINDOWS DAILY. I’M SUSPECTING THAT THE ZERO VOC PAINT IS MORE “FRAGILE.” POSSIBLY THOSE OF US WHO HAVE HAD THE OUT GASSING PROBLEM GOT SPOILED PAINT.
TO READ MORE ABOUT THE NATURA PAINT, GO TO http://www.dld123.com/q&a/index.php?cid=13746
I find this very strange that there are 52 comments on a paint product yet more popular topics arent getting near that kind of attention/comments. There are alot of brand names getting tossed around here and blatent company reps. For anyone reading this becareful, I smell something fishy and its not the paint. I have used FAC and it was fine for me, of course I am not a Mythic rep so maybe that makes using it worse lol
i used natura paint & my family got very sick from it. we can’t sleep on entire 2nd floor that was painted. this is real people. benj moore gave no response at all after many attempts. i have to re sheetrock the whole thing. we got extreme headaches & nausous. 4 months later still there. don’t comment on something you haven’t experienced first hand.
tc,
Thank you for the support. I just heard from a couple in PA who have been living in a hotel room to escape the Natura paint the used in their home about over 3 months ago. At this point I would just like Benjamin Moore to come clean and tell us what we are dealing with. We have no idea how much of a health hazard this might be. Also, of course, they should stop selling it. It makes me sick to read about people who have just painted within the last few months having the same problem. I called and emailed with the problem a year ago, and many others have too.
Same problem with Natura. Terrible smell almost 6 weeks after painting. The Natura paint I was using was recalled about 2 week after I painted and days after I complained. Very discouraging that these complaints have been ongoing for at least a year. Very irresponsible of company. We are attempting to primer and paint over our walls. Not sure yet if it will work.
I loved the soft, deep color tints of Fresh Aire paints and used a flat finish – what a mistake! The flooring guys put a lot of small marks on the wall and when I washed them off – there are obvious large areas on the wall where I used piain water! What a mistake – the flat paint is NOT washable at all, now I have to repaint everything and will use another brand.
that’s true of EVERY flat paint! duh. flat paint looks good, but you cannot wash marks off it. i can’t stand comments like this. it’s not relative to the brand.
Yes! Flat paint is ridiculous to clean. Even just water will most often take only the paint and leave whatever mark for me. We moved into a house with all rooms painted with flat paint! It also sucks in the first two coats of paint when we repaint with either satin or semi-gloss; used four coats on the living room alone. Still in the process of repainting, but having to use so many coats gets expensive. So do the research before you paint to figure out what is best for your home.
I thought I would like the using this paint…and it has no odor issues whatsoever..so someone is just basically trying to steer customers to other vendors. My issue is I primed with a the no VOC primer and when it came to putting on the color…it was quick to get tacky..so for example: I’m rolling on color then I come up and roll next to i, now I do spread the paint out farther with each roll and at times going over the first roll. The paint was lifting OFF! I’ve never seen anything like it! In all my years of painting…I couldn’t get the color to stay on from the first roll. I’ve had 2 cans of this product and I’m thinking its a bad batch and something is missing? I did add just a 1/4 C. of water from the beginning and I found the paint better to spread but not in the drying process. So whatever is used to make it capable of doing another coat in 2-4 hrs..must have included more ingredient that it was suppose to. Needless to say, I made sure I used a lower nap on the semi smooth texture and just put it on in one direction…2-3 coats was required to get the expected result. Color is great ..and NO NO NO>..smell..I didn’t have to open a window but ..of course I did anyway. I would like to try the product again…but I’ll wait for the bad batch? to pass.
Painted my daughters room a very pretty blue, never had any problems with odor or coverage, I will within the next week be more paint for my back room. Some of these claims made are pretty serious, don’t understand why ther aren’t lawsuits if these claims are true. Like I said never had a problem.
I can’t sue for paint ..that I didn’t pay full price for..other than the pigment being added..it was a new can. I can understand the coverage issues another buyer experienced…I’ve had to go back several times ..and repaint where I thought I covered the 1st 2x. Oh well, I’m not sure I want to try with this company again..I don’t like painting multiple coats for a light to medium shade of color. I think buyers need to be aware and whatever the manufacturer says ..regarding warranty is such a pain in the arse. It’s not like the paint is widely used at home depot. I think I will try a more reputable brand..someone who has been around much longer and certainly can give more color options. I still love the color of the gray shade I chose. So far …no cracks or lifting…have to see how it holds up to the warmer months.
Freshaire is manufactured by Akzo-Nobel Paints- hardly a non-reputable company (manufacturer of Glidden, Ralph Lauren, Devoe, Fuller-OBrien). The warranty is the same as the warranty other companies offer- refund or replacement of the product. The color selection may be expanded in the near future. The characteristic of this product, as it is with many low-VOC products, is that it sets up very fast (no solvents or glycols) to extend drying.
I’ve painted my living room with Freshaire and when my daughter came to visit the same day she did not believe me that the room was painted only hours ago. The house did not smell and the paint covered perfectly. Matter of fact when my daughter moved into her new home, guess which paint she bought?
FRESHAIRE.
I’ve used Freshaire for newly applied trim and doors and found it to be quite acceptable. I found no trouble at all with odor, and I painted in the winter with the windows closed. I am not, however, overly sensitive to odors so use that as your guide. I have also used Mythic paint and I found it to be a bit more robust and less runny, but the coverage area was about equal. The Mythic was slightly more expensive, but I do like that you can match any color at all. However, if you are unsure at coordinating colors, the limited, grouped colors that FreshAire offers can help you put paints together that look nice in the same or adjoining rooms.
We just painted our living room with this paint. We’ve always used Behr paint but couldn’t find the color we wanted. This brand had the BEST colors. However since it’s a new line, I was really worried about going to all the work of painting our house, vaulted ceilings and all with a new line. Also, I had no idea what “no VOC’s” meant or if it would have an ill effect on the paint and it’s performance. I kept going back to these colors and eventually decided to try it. We LOVED it. We always wash our walls first to make sure the paint gets a good bond. It went on perfectly and we were shocked to have no paint smell at all. It did take two coats, but we went from a light color to a dark color and have always had to do two and even more coats when that is the case. Our walls are making us happy now and I believe we’ve found our new favorite brand of paint!
This product is disappointing. Caution to all potential customers. We chose a shade of red that resulted in a shade of nasty flesh pink. While at the Home Depot, I did ask the clerk after she processed the color (using the -instant color pack for the paint-) if the odd shade of pink would darken when applied to our home’s walls. She assured me it would-i.e.-be Rhythm Red. My husband spent a day applying the paint to our walls. It was awful. The color did not darken. It is a retching shade of flesh pink now. Do not trust this product!
I bought this paint because of the color. WHAT A MISTAKE! First the girl who mixed the paint did not blow it dry to make sure it matched the paint chip. I should have asked because the paint on the wall did NOT match the paint chip when it finally dried. Also, everywhere I “cut in” with a brush is darker than the rest of the room. I have been painting for years and this is the worst paint every. And it does smell. I will never recommend it to anyone nor will I ever buy it again.
Used this paint because my partner has birds – the room we had to paint was a 40′ x 15′. We chose two light colors and used a drywall primer first to make sure we wouldn’t have any issues with coverage. We did. This paint is a nightmare. While it has very little odor, it took 4 coats on the ceiling and the walls and this was AFTER they had been primed! Don’t try and wash anything off of it either, you will need to repaint. We have switched to the Harmony brand from Sherwin Williams and it has given us a much better coverage and durability.
I was just surfing the web looking for a place to put some awesome feedback on the paint and I’m really suprised to see all of the issues!! My husband and I LOVE this paint!! I recomend it to everyone I know and will never-ever buy a different brand. In my experience, the paint covers in ONE coat and we’ve not had to worry about priming a wall first. We are re-doing an older house going room by room as we save up money. So far we’ve purchased 7 different colors from Freshaire and are planning on another 3 to complete the house. (We even used the paint on our kitchen cabinets!)
I just painted our office this weekend and couldn’t be happier with the results! I hope that more will listen to my feedback and give the product a try. It really is a WONDERFUL product!
As the originator of the term Eco Paint, this is Great News! The painting industry getting better and better every year. JSYK, the acronym “Eco” back in 1993, when we originated the term Eco Paint, using this term in our corporate name not only meant Economical, but Environmental, as my wife was and still is an environmental geologist. One favorite TV show back then on Discovery, the Eco Challenge was aired every evening in our home, not to mention purchasing my first Eco Drive wrist watch.
My husband and I spent a ton to buy FreshAire Paint to repaint our entire home when we first moved in. He complained almost immediately that it began to peel off the walls easily. With just a scratch of a fingernail this paint begins to peel. If I try to wash a spot off the wall you can clearly see the paint coming off onto a paper towel and a faded spot left behind. Not only that but it takes many more coats. I bought a door already primed and it took 4 coats of white paint just to cover it well! I wish I had investigated further. We do not have the money to go out and buy more paint and now are stuck with an icky mess. I still have more to paint and feel as though we are “stuck” with it. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND this paint to anyone!
I would like to try a free sample of your paint
more great information here….painting leads
I painted child’s room with BM Natura a year ago. Still smels very badly. Any advise what to do? I am keeping the rest of the paint in original can.
My e-mail gegleyzer@yahoo.com
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