Flat is not scrubbable. The rule is you touch up flat and you wash eggshell. Unless it is a washable flat, you are better off touching up than washing. Try to use a roller and if you can't, then try to simulate the texture of the stipple made by the roller with your brush by dabbing the paint on.

hmmm... Interesting. What exactly did he use from ICI - like what is the exact name on the can? Did he tell you it was top of the line from ICI or was that info you got on your own? I know lots of brands like to use the word scrubbable, but it's not a realistic expectation to put out there IMO. It's more like you can wipe off stuff if it gets on the walls. The word "scrub" to me means really goin' at it to clean something off the wall. Taking "scrubbable" literally, IMO, means burnish marks no matter what grade or brand. And some scuffs and other wall boo boos just aren't going to come off no matter how hard they are scrubbed any way.

I live with ICI on my walls. Have had all different grades over the years. I like to use a damp mini 3M sponge roller and cut the paint with a few drops of water for touch ups. The flats touch up the best for me. I get the mini 3M sponge rollers at Wal-Mart. They wash and reuse nicely for touch ups.

flat walls and "cheap" flat walls are the best to touch up . Liked funcolors explanation, but things like a possible shoe scuff, or something brushed by the wall will leave a mark that is a little more harder to deal with as oppossed to something like food that splashed on it. You can try wiping a harder scuff but it will only come off to a point , food splatters should come off.

Touching up if it was a flat and as mentioned don't know what specific paint name of the brand was used, you can take a small nap roller (fibered roller as in the same appearance your wall was originally painted with) and the flat paint with just "very" little pressure and just ever so slightly roll over the scuff depending on how much or large it is. Just use very very little paint to roll over (depending on how large the area is; if the area is just a mark or scuff and not widespread see below.)

Another thing which is a great tool , if the scuff or mark is little you can take a bristle artist brush and lightly paint over the scuff or mark in the same direction. Again just takes very little almost a dry brush .

Cheap flats touch up really good.
Aura from BM touches up really good also.

Mr.Clean's Magic Eraser has worked well for me on a number of occasions.

It really worked like magic to remove scuff marks from my pale yellow bedroom walls. I have painted chairs in my kitchen (khaki) & linen white walls. A chair was bumped into the wall, leaving a 2" line of khaki paint. The magic eraser got it all off!

Good luck!

I agree! the magic eraser has saved many a flat wall in my house!

Flat paint is the best! Nothing touches up better and hides wall imperfections. Not to mention it is the easiest to re-paint over. I've used everything from a dry brush to q-tips to wadded up paper towels to touch-up. It's pretty hard to screw it up.

I LOVE the look of flat paint but I’m having trouble with it in a dark color. I recently (3 months ago) painted an accent wall with a dark navy flat paint. It shows very little mark made with a clean dry hand! Any advice on how to achieve the velvety look of matte paint w/o this issue???

What brand and grade of paint did you use. And what is the exact sheen - flat? matte? velvet?

New construction loves to use that cheap "builder's grade" paint precisely because it touches up so well. During construction, some trades person is always forgetting to put something in or someone damages a wall, and the painter is called back to touch it up the mess that was made. The irony is that that miserable paint has one redeeming quality - touching up well! And yes, the builder likes the cheap price too! You are fortunate if they at least put a real primer under it!

Lori, it is Behr Premium Plus w/ primer “interior flat/matte”.

is Behr Premium Plus w/ primer “interior flat/matte”. That's most of the problem right there.

And your advice, Christopher, would be...

For really dark colors, just use eggshell unless you can realistically avoid touching the wall.

Agreed Paintguy. Unless it is strictly an accent wall in back of the china cabinet or such, give it some sheen to avoid or lessen the scuffing.

David can you recommend a better brand of paint?

mewr,

I am biased. I sell Behr all day long, and have been doing so for the last 13 years, after a 4 decade career as a painting contractor ( I am 75, if you are wondering). I can only tell you that it is highly rated By Consumers Reports. I can also tell you I have used most of the Behr products on and in my own house and have never had a complaint.

Most contractors have an understandable bias also. They are comfortable with the products they know, and brand names which customers know. I was the same way back in my contracting days. I knew the Ben Moore products and my customers recognition of the Moore name.

One caution is to always be aware of what line of a name brand paint you or your contractor is using. All the majors make really crap lines for contractors doing "blow and go" production work, to really good products. Know which line to use. Go to the paint store and ask them to explain what you are buying.

My "go to" paint for interior paint is Behr Premium Plus Ultra Matte, but then, I live in a sedate adult environment. Were I still raising a family, I would probably opt for eggshell for general use.

I would spend the $5 or $6 extra dollars for Ultra over regular Premium Plus. It is an extremely dense, inherently mildew resistant, stain resistant, stain blocking, high adhesion paint, largely due to its "nano" technology. Behr introduces nano-ized zinc into the resin to make the paint film more dense. You might recall that zinc is toxic to plant life, which is what mildew and algae are. Although ALL Behr paints include a chemical mildecide also. All three of the Behr main lines are 100% acrylic based, and use strictly titanium oxide as their white pigment. The Ultra line runs in the low to mid $30's per gallon.

The main reason to possibly go to the Marquee line is that it guaranteed one coat coverage if thew approved palette of colors is used. the one caveat is that the walls must be well sealed. Going over "contractors grade" paint won't do. The color would cover, but the sheen would be streaky in only one coat.

The argument for Marquee is that one coat of a $40 per gallon paint is cheaper than two coats of a $30 paint, plus you save a lot of labor not having to go around twice.

Finally, let me state that I am writing this from my home, after having worked all day. I get no bonus for giving out advice during my evenings, nor do I even own stock in Home Depot ( although the stock is flying high and I wish I had bought it 13 years ago when it was 30 something)!