Alkyd vs Latex for cabinets, which is better?
Alkyd paints have been around for decades. In the good old days they were oil based paints. It is rare to find an actual oil (linseed) based paint these days. Today Alkyd paints are usually synthetic resins not oil but they still share many of the qualities of the linseed based products.
The good side of Alkyds is that they bond well, dry very hard and block many stains. They are a durable finish for any project.
The bad side of Alkyds is that they become brittle and crack with time. They also tend to yellow. They dry very slow and have a strong odor.
Latex or water based products have been around for many years. The performance characteristics of latex paints increases yearly. When they first came out they weren’t so great. A lot of research goes into improving water based products every year. Latex paint passed up Alkyd paints in many benchmarks years ago.
The good side of Latex paints is that they bond very well. Dry to a flexible finish and have good durability. They don’t smell like solvent or oil based paints do and they dry fast. Easy water clean up.
The bad side of Latex paints is they can’t block stains like a oil or solvent based product. They tend to not be as durable as their oil based cousins and the finish is much softer then an oil.
Just as a lot of research is going into improving latex paints, there is much more research going into hybrid products. These paints combine the good qualities from both Latex and Alkyd products and this boosts their performance ten fold.
These are the water borne not water based products. Water borne products still contain solvents and synthetic resins. Examples of this are Benjamin Moore Advance which is a water borne Alkyd. Behr Urethane Alkyd which is also water borne. The technology going into this line of paints is increasing rapidly and the products are changing almost yearly.
Alkyd vs latex for cabinets ? The correct question may be Alkyd/Latex/or a hybrid coating for cabinets. We actually use a hybrid and are happy with the all the positive characteristics and the results speak for themselves.
