If you are a novice home painter, then you probably think that interior and exterior wall paints are interchangeable. However, you couldn’t be more wrong. Using exterior wall paint for the interior of your home can be hazardous to your health. Similarly, your interior paints won’t be able to withstand the extreme weather that the exterior walls of your home are perpetually exposed to. 

Still clueless about the difference between interior and exterior wall paints? Fret not, we have come up with a quick guide that will help you understand wall paints better. 

What Are Wall Paints Made Of? 

The basic ingredients that you will find in your wall paints are solvent, additive, pigment and resins. The base of a paint or the primary ingredient that makes a paint wet is called the solvent. Solvents can either be water-based or oil-based. While oil-based solvents are mostly found only in exterior wall paints, water-based solvents can be found in both exterior and interior wall paints. 

The pigment is the component which gives colour to your paint. The additives help the paint to have different properties like fade resistance, moisture resistance and mildew resistance. The resins are responsible for binding your paint to any surface. They are made of silicone, epoxy and acrylic. The resins used in exterior wall paints are softer and more flexible than the resins used in interior wall paints. 

Features of Exterior Wall Paints

• Exterior wall paints are formulated keeping in mind the fact that they will have to withstand the harsh U.V rays, rain and snow. 
• They must be fade resistant as they are directly exposed to sunlight throughout the year.
• These paints are made to protect against fungal growth. 
• The resins used to formulate exterior wall paints are soft and flexible. This is so that they can expand and contract without cracking or chipping off. 
• Keep in mind that exterior wall paints emit a higher level of volatile organic compounds and hence they are unsafe to use inside your home. 
• Exterior wall paints also require sunlight to completely cure.
• There are limited options when it comes to choosing exterior wall paints as they are available only in three variants – flat, semi-gloss and gloss enamel. 
• Exterior wall paints are a little more expensive than interior wall paints as they use a higher quantity of resins and additives. 

Features of Interior Wall Paints 

• Interior wall paints are designed in a way that they are washable, easy to maintain and dampproof. 
• They are made to resist staining and scuffing. 
• Interior wall paints are not exposed to sunlight and hence they aren’t fade resistant. 
• The resins used in the interior wall paints are more rigid as they are not exposed to extreme weather fluctuations and don’t expand and contract. 
• These paints generally have zero or at least a low amount of volatile organic compound emission to ensure that the air inside your home is safe and free from hazardous chemicals. 
• When it comes to the cost, interior wall paints are comparatively cheaper than exterior wall paints. 

It is always helpful to educate yourself about paints even if you are planning to hire a painting contractor to do up your space. You must understand the basic difference between interior and exterior wall paints so that you can choose the perfect textured paint for every corner of your home

Want help to decide on which paint to choose for your new space? Why not contact the experts at Asian Paints and let them guide you with everything, right from buying the right type of textured paints, planning to painting and post-painting cleanup?