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    Best Interior Paints

    We rigorously tested paints from Benjamin Moore, Behr, and other brands so that you can find the perfect match for your needs

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    Li Wang (Test Project Leader) testing interior paints in a Consumer Reports lab
    Li Wang, a CR test engineer, prepares paint for our staining test.
    Photo: Stephen Yang

    When you’re faced with rows of stacked paint cans at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or a specialty retailer, it’s impossible to know which ones will look good right after application—not to mention just as good after several years of wear.

    Choose the wrong paint and it can cost you in more ways than one. The price of formulas has risen annually since 2020. The top-performing paints in CR’s tests cost $35 to $66 per gallon. If you wind up using a formula that doesn’t give you the finish you hoped for, you might not be able to get your money back. Home Depot and Lowe’s will let you exchange an opened can of paint within 30 days, while Benjamin Moore won’t let you return opened paint at all.

    Then there’s your time and effort. Pick a paint that’s more prone to scuffing, fading, and staining and you’ll be painting your walls again sooner than you would hope.

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    If you think it’s easy enough to select a stellar paint based on brand, Consumer Reports’ lab tests say otherwise. We’ve found that paints from the same brand don’t always deliver the same performance. Valspar, for example, has paint that performs well enough to score in the recommended range but also sells formulations that land in mediocre territory. And HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams Infinity, sold at Lowe’s, significantly outperforms other Sherwin-Williams paints.

    As you shop, you’ll notice that some paint lines come with claims such as “low odor” or “low chemical emissions.” Some manufacturers even claim that their paints have “no chemical emissions.” Low- and zero-VOC paints first emerged in the 1990s and are now commonly sold at retailers throughout the U.S. High emissions and exposure to these chemicals—volatile organic compounds, or VOCs—can negatively affect your health, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

    Although we don’t assess the odor levels of paint formulas, it’s important to paint only in a well-ventilated area. After all, any paint odor can still be unpleasant and distracting, says Li Wang, who runs CR’s paint test lab. (Check out our guide on how to prepare a room for painting.)

    Best Interior Paints

    Here are the top five paints from our tests. For more information on how to shop for paint, see our paint buying guide. To see more paint options, check out our full interior paint ratings, which include more than a dozen lines of paint, including those below, along with Benjamin Moore, Kilz, PPG, and others. And if you’re thinking about painting the outside of your house, check our exterior paint ratings.

    How CR Tests Paints

    The paint formulas you see in our ratings are nontinted base paints (paint before the color is added). Each base paint goes through two tests to determine how well it can cover dark colors and how well it resists stains. This year we also started testing direct-to-consumer paint formulas in each brand’s whitest white. We’ll be revealing those test results soon.

    To evaluate how well a paint formula hides darker colors, we apply one consistent coat to cardstock that has been painted black. After that coat dries, we use a colorimeter to measure how well the paint has covered the darker shade.

    For stain resistance, our testers apply paint to a plastic panel. After it dries, we apply coffee and a substance similar to soot in a strip and allow the combination to dry. We wash the painted panels, then use a colorimeter to measure the color of the paint on the rinsed areas. The closer the cleaned portions are to the original coat, the more stain-resistant the paint.

    These two tests are the most crucial when it comes to longevity and ease of application. If the paint hides well, there’s no need to use a primer.

    “We don’t want you to get a paint with great hiding performance that might be fantastic when you first apply the paint but then becomes a burden to live with because it constantly requires retouching,” Wang says.

    All of the paints in our ratings recently underwent testing to determine performance. Because manufacturers change paint formulas often, we test yearly to make sure we’re bringing you results that match what’s currently available on store shelves.

    @consumerreports

    👀 See the best exterior paints based on our expert tests through the link in our bio. #paintok #exteriorpainting #labtesting

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    Tanya A. Christian

    Tanya Christian joined Consumer Reports as a multimedia content creator in 2021, bringing with her more than a decade of experience in the home and lifestyle space. As a content manager for small kitchen appliances, home remodeling products, and the sleep category, she’s happy to provide readers with recommendations on great design, helpful cooking tools, and smart ways to achieve better sleep. Follow her on X: @tanyaachristian.