To ensure it delivers the best products, Dulux Trade has reformulated the Dulux Trade Diamond Matt range in line with customer feedback to deliver a durable, easy to work product that is compliant with green building accreditations.

  • Dulux Trade Diamond Matt has been upgraded to deliver enhanced opacity and whiteness alongside improved oil stain resistance.
  • As well as wider sustainability benefits, Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is now 99.9% VOC free, so it has a lower carbon footprint and impact on indoor air quality.
  • Dulux Trade unveils the ‘Tested & Approved by Professional Decorators’ seal of approval to showcase the rigorous three-stage testing process that ensures the best quality and results.

Durability

For professional decorators, offering a high-quality finish is one of their top priorities. Designed for high traffic areas, the new Dulux Trade Diamond Matt formula will help extend maintenance cycles further with walls that stay looking newer and cleaner for longer.

The range has led the way in durability and is compliant with BS EN ISO 11998 Class 1 and BS 7719 Class C and can withstand 10,000 scrubs (the equivalent of five hours non-stop scrubbing). Dulux Trade Diamond Matt can therefore be repeatedly cleaned and scrubbed, ensuring that unwanted stains can be easily removed by clients without damaging the paint film on the wall – making the professional finish last even longer.

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt also delivers great opacity and is now available in 150 additional extra deep colours, providing decorators with reassurance that they can achieve strong aesthetics that will last the test of time.

‘Tested & Approved by Professional Decorators’

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt has undergone rigorous testing, as part of the Tested & Approved product testing process (find out more about the process at www.duluxtrade.co.uk/testedandapproved), to ensure that it lives up to decorators’ expectations and genuinely delivers on the benefits promised. Following laboratory testing under controlled conditions, Dulux Trade asked professional decorators to review the product in three stages:

  1. Assessments by a member of the internal Dulux panel of professional decorators – which is a blind test
  2. Assessments by a panel of external professional decorators – which is also a blind test
  3. Field trials that put the product to the test under external conditions

Hannah Beeke, R&D Team Leader at AkzoNobel explains: “Our ‘Tested & Approved’ process is designed to truly put products to the test and we do this by working closely with experienced professionals. Their opinions help to ensure we are delivering the highest quality products, and ultimately, the best results for the end user.

“With the new Dulux Trade Diamond Matt, we worked with our expert decorators to trial the product and we used their feedback to make further improvements to the formula. We then took the range into field trials where it was tested under external conditions – enabling us to see how it will perform for our wider customer base. This ongoing rigorous process means that we are confident the new Diamond Matt range is the best it can be and will genuinely deliver the durability and sustainability benefits decorators are looking for.”

Speaking on the Tested & Approved process, Desmond Cass, Managing Director of D.Cass & Son (and Dulux Select Decorator) said: “I was quite surprised by how much testing Dulux Trade does before it gets to the final product…we [professional decorators] are able to give our analysis of products quite easily as we use them day in and day out throughout our working lives.”

Desmond added: “It is so important that Dulux Trade carries out these tests with professional decorators (especially ones that have been in the trade a long time) as you can’t get their knowledge anywhere else. It is a true test of the actual product…and absolutely essential that it is done by decorators who know what they are doing.

“It [the Tested & Approved process] really elevates Dulux Trade above the rest.”

Sustainability

In a recent survey, 71% of professional decorators said their clients now regularly request sustainable paint options. Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is 99.9% VOC (volatile organic compound) free, so it has a reduced impact on the overall carbon footprint of a project when compared with the previous formulation.

Innovative binder technology ensures that the water-based paint delivers quick drying times, helping professionals work quickly and efficiently. It forms a film even at very low temperatures and in conjunction with the low VOC content, it means that redecoration work can be completed quickly, maximising efficiency for the decorator and minimising disruption to the customer.

For added reassurance that it delivers sustainability benefits, Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is also compliant with green building accreditations BREEAM, LEED and WELL.

Matt Gray, Skills Development Consultant at Dulux Academy, AkzoNobel, said: “We take pride in the fact that Dulux Trade Diamond Matt offers superior benefits and painters and decorators who recommend it to clients can be safe in the knowledge that they are working with a sustainable choice that has been ‘Tested & Approved’. Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is a trusted product for the industry, suitable for a wide range of real-life projects.”

For more information on Dulux Trade Diamond Matt, see here: www.duluxtrade.co.uk/diamondmatt.