One Coat Paint

Painting your walls in a new colour can give a new lease of life to your home environment. But this is one of the most exhaustive interior decoration jobs and only the best paint, such as our top pick, can help you finish work without hassle.

Johnstone’s One Coat Emulsion is an interior walls and ceiling paint developed to help homeowners achieve satisfactory results in a quick and easy process.

This matt emulsion boasts a premium quality and quick drying features. Its water-based formulation makes it ideal to use in all environments while the generous colour choice includes neutrals and dramatic shades.

One Coat impresses with an advanced formula that ensures flawless results on all surfaces, including bare walls. It can even seamlessly cover a darker colour on a previously painted wall, which is a rather uncommon feature for a one-coat paint.
All this is possible thanks to a high viscosity, but this trait has a negative side too. In fact, it makes the product harder to spread on walls, lowering the coverage.

That being said, even if the coverage is indeed lower compared to similar products, the exceptional covering power counterbalances this minor drawback; and in the end, we’d rather compromise on this and get fast results than having to apply a second coat.

If you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to Johnstone’s One Coat, Dulux Once Matt could be a great choice. This water-based emulsion has been specially developed to ensure a one-coat coverage on walls and ceilings in a fraction of the time needed to redecorate with standard interior paint.

The product has a concentrated formula enriched with high-quality pigments that provides a quick coverage on most surfaces. Use this paint on bare as well as previously painted walls and ceilings. Priming is often unnecessary and required only on bare or damaged walls.

Achieving one coat coverage is fairly easy although it requires a specific technique. According to Dulux, you’ll have to apply a thick coat using a medium pile roller, then leave the product to dry.

Any missed spots or touch-ups can be performed after a minimum of four hours without over coating the whole surface; the fresh paint will dry to match the original coat.

We followed the technique above and the paint lived up to our expectations. Some users have complained about a scarcer performance on darker colours but this could be due to incorrect application.

The One by Rainbow Chalk Paints is a superb one coat paint and primer in one developed for a variety of surfaces. Ideated as a solution for builders and professional decorators, the paint is easy to apply straight from the tin onto woodwork, UPVC, metal, glass, ceramic and a variety of different substrates.

This two-in-one product boasts an eco-friendly water-based formulation and a quick drying time.

The luxurious opaque finish and 12 attractive shades make The One ideal for furniture and kitchen cabinets, window frames, doors and skirting boards. But the product is also suitable to use on exterior surfaces ranging from wood and metal to masonry.

Thicker than standard chalk paint, the product seems tricky to apply at first. But a short-pile mohair roller can help you achieve great results without hassle.

Perhaps you already have a favourite topcoat but struggle to eliminate existing stubborn stains from reappearing through paint? If this is the case, Polycell Stain Stop can be the answer to your needs.

This product isn’t a topcoat, but it’s a one coat paint to use over existing stains to block them from reappearing. Compatible with masonry materials, plaster, stone, plasterboard, and wood, this stain repellent provides a one coat coverage over water, grease, rust, nicotine and crayon stains.

Drying to a hardwearing film, the product blocks the stains from making their way through the fresh topcoat. This increases the durability of your paintwork, saving you money and hassle in the long run.

Available in just one highly pigmented colour, the product offers a great coverage and a superb covering power.

Moreover, the product is compatible with multiple paint and interior decoration products, including water-based emulsions, oil-based paints and wallpaper.

The last entry on our list is Ronseal One Coat Matt Black, a self-priming product developed for exterior woodwork but also suitable to use on a variety of alternative substrates.

Matt Black paint offers a contemporary alternative to classic gloss and satin finishes and dries to a highly opaque film that protects surfaces from adverse weather conditions. Formulated for exterior use, the product boasts a quick drying time and becomes showerproof in only one hour.

One Coat stands true to its name on most surfaces; however, on porous or worn wood it may take two or more coats to achieve a satisfactory result.

Another slight drawback is the very limited colour choice. This product is available in matt black only and if you happen to like the formula but want to change colour, this won’t be possible.