I’ve been wanting to write a product spotlight on PPG Ultralast for some time now.  We’ve been using this product for a little over a year now and I can’t think of really anything bad to say about it.  Ultralast is PPG’s new ultra premium (I know, how many superlatives can we think of!) paint that is supposed to specialize is scuff resistance and cleanable.  The literature tells us they’ve incorporated technology from the automotive paint industry.  While I am sure this is true, PPG stops short of telling you what that technology is or exactly how it works (at least, not that I could find.)

So let’s dig in.  First, the price point.  Our contractor pricing is a bit below the ultra premium paints from Sherwin Williams, Behr, and Benjamin Moore, so it ticks that box.  When lined up against Emerald, Aura, and Dynasty, this paint prices out well below most of those.  If price is your main concern, we would go with PPG Ultralast every day of the week.  If price isn’t that important, we think it’s a toss up between Scuff-X and Ultralast.

What about scuff resistance?  The only paints we trust with being truly scuff resistant are Benjamin Moore Scuff-X and Ultralast.  To be fair, we have not used must Behr Scuff Defense to have an opinion, but, in our experience, both Sherwin and Behr have yet to come up with a product that can be honestly compared to these two.

Being able to clean the walls in your business or home has been a major priority for many of our customers.  Being scuff resistant is key to being cleanable, so it should be no surprise that we recommend this product to all of our clients for whom cleanable is a concern.  Maybe this is a good place to insert a short tutorial on how to clean your interior paint.  First, never use hot water.  Water is a great solvent (chemically speaking) and hot water is an even better solvent.  Your paint is most likely water based and will soften when exposed to water which will make it more susceptible to scuffing.  Use room temperature water and a very mild detergent that is not alcohol based.  Denatured or isopropyl alcohol will immediately soften and degrade latex paint!  You will need to get a microfiber rag (new, not used before is best) and use the soft side to clean the wall.  This will give you the best chance of not damaging your paint.  NEVER use a cotton rag!  Cotton is very coarse and will scratch your paint.  We have has a great experience with most PPG paints.  For years we used SpeedHide at our office and you could clean it with little to no burnishing!  PPG Ultralast is even better.

Finally, what about the look of the finished product?  Some clients have said it has a slight “plasticky” look.  I agree, but I don’t find it necessarily off-putting.  If you want a paint that looks phenomenal, try Ben Moore Regal Select Eggshell – I’m not sure it gets any better than that look!  All in all, PPG Ultralast is a solid performer at a great prices. And given the choice between a scuff-able great looking finish and a durable scuff-resistant finish that has a slight plastic look – I’ll take the latter any day of the week!  

Ranking – 4.8 stars out of 5!  Highly Recommended!