# Forum Home Renovation Painting  paint codes? diff results from wattyl & dulux

## zongatron

hi guys 
had (very) different results from different shops trying to buy the same color. 
The color in question is a dulux color from one of their paint charts. 
Got a sample pot from a bloke who sells wattyl paint and who used the wattyl code.
Sample pot was in wattyl pascol white base.
therefore ---> dulux color made up in a wattyl base with the wattyl code.
The resulting color matched the chart I would venture to say "exactly" ( best match i have ever seen actually.)  
then i went to another paint store who sells mostly dulux to buy the paint ( dont ask why). Bought 10 litres thinking i had found the color i wanted.
come home and the color is way off the wattyl sample pot. And its also way off the dulux color chart. By way off i mean many shades pinker, one was a cream with a slight pink tinge, the other was definitely pink with no cream at all.
this bloke mixed the dulux code (as its a dulux color) into nu-look paint(wattyl?) 
Anyhow, if you can understand that, my questions are these.
How could the dulux code be so far off its own chart, when the wattyl was a perfect match. When i went back to the store we added a bit of green to try and take out some pink into the 10 litres and got it even closer to the dulux color card than the dulux code got it in the first place??? 
Do the white bases have a different shade? So if i used a 10 litre of dulux base it would be closer? 
Do the machines have different types of tint in them? 
Whats going on?

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## chuth77

Different paint bases will always give a different finish... 
If you use a Dulux base, use the dulux codes... 
If you use a Wattyl base, use the Wattly codes... 
If you use Nu-Look base, use the Nu-look code... 
Take it back the shop and they should change it over... They've stuffed up, and any decent paint shop will know the above!!

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## zongatron

yeah,
i just rang dulux and they said the same thing. 
Its also worth considering that the guys at a local hardware store that sell a lot of paint also told me that white is white and all the bases are the same so it doesnt matter which one you choose?? 
Well folks it aint true.
geez 
just keep truckin on i spose

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## chuth77

White is white is white... But it's what happens to that white when the other colours are added to it that varies... 
I'd go back to this bloke... Give him a chance to rectify the problem, otherwise other people will be caught out in the future... He probably doesn't know this, and maybe while you're there he needs to talk to Dulux... Most Paint Place people are the owners, so its a small business, and in these times we should give him a chance...

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## zongatron

true, and fair enough, i get what your saying. 
However I feel he had the opportunity to look after a customer when I did go back in and said the color is no good, and questioned the codes etc.
And if he didnt know, and then couldnt figure out what had occured regarding the poor match and the nu look base or code after my questions and mismatched paint etc,..? 
I dont feel obliged to go back in and explain it to the paint shop owner man, after finding out myself, a - through a two minute call to the dulux number on the back of their color charts and, b- through the internet.
Its just one of those situations which i'm sure occurs every day in all fields of consumerism. 
And also the truth is he did do a good job adding the touch of tint and getting a pretty close match which probably would have been fine for a lot of people, and im sure he feels as though he did rectify the problem.
I accept i'm a bit anal with my finish, as are most owner builder types
I feel it a great piece of knowledge cheaply won as picking colors and wasting money on "not quite rights" can do your head in.
It was more that i felt he 'knew' he was in the wrong and why, and just ignored my query.
I find that rude. 
i have edited my post a little.... not my intention to badmouth it all.... just wanted to know what was going on about the dulux code being a worse match for its own color.
thanks for the advice

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## chuth77

> just wanted to know what was going on about the dulux code being a worse match for its own color.

  Mate, the dulux code would be a perfect match with a dulux base... The fact you decided to go with Nu-Look paint is where the problems stands...

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## Blocker

What was the name of the colour in question?..even though you may get some slight variation from different brands it's unusual that the Dulux mix would not match the Dulux colour chip. If the colour name is used in multiple brands :ie Off White,Antique White etc this increases the chance of mistakes.
Or it could be a "mistint "by the sales person.
Regards,
Blocker :Confused:

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## zongatron

yeah, i get that now.  
just to clear it ...--->original question---> I just wanted to know why the dulux code was a worse match for the dulux color card when the salesperson told my wife that it wont matter what base you use because they are all the same) 
And i get that he should have used the nu look codes with the nu look paint. (if they even have any codes for nu look, because the dulux man told me simply that nu look is an "uncontrolled base" and you wont get a match.)
In no way did i say to use the dulux code with the nulook paint. ( which is what he did) I couldnt even dream that up when i didnt know anything about the codes or bases. 
Re: the nu look paint.... over the phone, when we were discussing the sample pots, because he rang me to tell me there were two wattyl codes for the color, and he mentioned he sold wattyl paints...i asked if he sold dulux. He said yes. I then told him that i prefer the dulux paint thanks.... While i in no way said "please, definitely only give me the dulux paint.... when we were discussing what paint brands he had, i said that i prefer the dulux paints. I figured that was clear enough.
The only thing i can figure there now is that he thought i meant the dulux codes???? 
And so then he goes and makes a sample pot in the nu look.... and then AFTER that he says to my wife we should use the nu look 10 litres to save some money. So if he mixed the nu look sample, and from there mixed the dulux 10 litres like i had asked...it would have been a mismatch to his own sample, and yet i would have ended up with the color i requested! Ha! 
The reason we ended up with nu look was because he said to my wife that it was his preffered paint and that its all the same anyway and you may as well save a couple of bucks. NOT because we asked for it...i had already said i preffered dulux to him direct over the phone. At the time I put that down to he just forgot... 
I didnt make it clear to my wife what i wanted because i didnt think it neccessary, as i had initially asked the salesman for more than one sample pot to get the color right. And i did that because ---> he rang me up when my wife was in there and said that wattyl had TWO codes for the same color and wanted to know which code to use. It was then that I said use the dulux code and see if its a match first. And if not... to then use the wattyl codes in another sample pot. (bear in mind we were trying to match an original sample pot i had from wattyl with the wattyl code, which matched exactly the dulux color card....
And so i HAD asked for the dulux code to be tried first and he goes and mixes it in a nu look sample pot. Not asking anyone anything about what base to mix the sample in. Not that we would have known. 
So im sure you can see my displeasure at the whole transaction. 
Paint type was dulux french lace.
Kind of light orange slightpinkycream in dulux base with dulux code
darker pink with no orange or cream at all in the nu look base with the dulux code  
it sounds more complicated now than it was.
I said i prefer dulux paint.
I said mix me a sample with the dulux code.
I said if it didnt match the sample pot i had taken in (which matched the color card), mix me another sample with one of the wattyl codes.
He puts the dulux code in a nu look sample.
It doesnt match.
He doesnt try again, but just sells my wife a 10 litre tin of nu look. 
I didnt go in and straighten all that out, cause i was more worried about not being able to get a match to the color i want, when he said he used the dulux code... and at the time i didnt know it was his fault i just thought the code didnt match... like all the fine print says "approx match only"
I did go in that same day to try and get a result....and i questioned several times why the dulux code didnt match, and that i couldnt understand it....especially when the wattyl matched perfectly.---> he ignored me and just tried to fix the nulook paint. I couldnt ask for more than that when i originally thought the code was at fault not the salesperson.
And now its all paint under a bridge.

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## Bloss

You can use any brand and type base with any brand tint and any reflectivity index (ie: low sheen, flat, gloss etc), but to replicate the colour you need exactly the same mix in future. 
Eg: You can use a dulux colour in a taubmans paint equivalent base or a even a 'noname' brand and if that's the colour you like then that's fine. The big but is that if you alter one of the component parts such as the paint brand (or type) or the tint brand then you are almost certainly going to get a different colour. If you alter more than one component then the variation will be greater. 
This applies to paint type too - the perceived colour of even the same brand and tint, but different paint type is often quite different so between acrylics and plastics and oil-base there will be variations. If you then alter the level of reflectivity ie: gloss, semi-gloss, low-sheen flat and so on, the appearance will differ (albeit often in the same tone, but seeming lighter or darker when dry). 
But anyone working in a paint shop should know this and also should tell you these implications of mixing and matching. It's your choice to go ahead or not, but you should do so with full knowledge. If they didn't inform you or question your request for non-standard tinting then  IMO they have an obligation to give you your money back or the right mix. 
But sometimes, with blokes especially we don't listen to stuff we should hear and just do not absorb what is being said or dismiss it - if that's what happened then tough luck. It's not always so nowadays, but often a female will get the advice and listen to it, but then might not know all the facts about what her partner did before so can't act on the advice. 
Sounds like you have to put it down to experience. I always write on the tin lid with a permanent marker the full info - and if is in my house I actually keep details on my computer.

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## zongatron

yeah, its no big deal.
Im glad its happened as now i know exactly how to order my paint & especially sample pots.
Like, sometimes ive been given a sample pot in say, solver, because they had no dulux sample pots left.... and then liked the color and taken home a dulux 4ltr. 
I now wonder what codes were used in those cases and if the colors matched or if i just didnt notice etc

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