We have been operating a professional paint application business for 32 years. During that time we have completed projects from one storey to seventeen, from letter boxes to industrial buildings, from dental surgeries to high schools, from pensioner flats to million dollar plus homes.  During the first 20 years or so we used conventional oil base and acrylic base paints regardless at times if windows were open or not. We operated (like most painters I guess), in been quite oblivious to the dangers inherent in breathing toxic paint fumes (whether it was oil based or acrylic), until just over 10 years ago when information about the toxins in paint, solvents, etc was officially coming through from government sources and health authorities strong enough to make an impact on paint manufacturers to reduce toxin levels.  I think the information has always been there for 20 years or more - just not as in your face as it has become in recent years.  

We always as a rule opened windows for the heavy duty paints like solvent base/two-pack products and the heavier pigmented sealers but that didn’t amount to much as far as health is concerned apparently as it’s no different than been in a room with a smoker, the windows/doors may be open but the smoke constantly hangs around in the air to be breathed in - and even after the smoker has stopped smoking, a residue of smoke/poison is left on surfaces and in the atmosphere to be continually breathed in hours/days later.

Needless to say, like most people associated with anything to do with the paint industry I had become very conscious about the solvents and poisonous substances found in some types of paints one could buy off the shelf at most paint shops. The industry itself has taken notice of the publicity surrounding environmental issues and related information coming through about the harmful substances that can be found in paints and steps have been taken radically by paint manufacturers to remove toxins (or if not able to remove totally, at the very least to reduce drastically the potency of toxins and related chemical agents found in commercial and domestic paints).

As time has moved on, paint manufacturers have been able to remove toxic substances such as lead (which was a slow silent killer for generations and old history now) and improved the production of paints to be as less harmful in the final product as best as they can without having to change the entire manufacturing process of making paint – but harmful substances, of some description are still a component of the make up of a tin of acrylic paint but so much less than there is for any need to worry about at this time, you probably should worry more about the plastic that is suffocating our environment at this moment!

Certain manufacturers take it a step or two further.

For instance, PaintPlus Colour Systems, although not a 100% biodegradable paint manufacturer have the next best thing for today’s thinking painter in whatever category he or she may be in, either domestic or commercial. Their paint is a safe, water based product and virtually odourless. It is formulated without cancer causing ingredients and contains no harmful heavy metals, plus, (and a big plus) the paint is formulated without ozone depleting aromatic or halogenated hydrocarbons and with very low levels of volatile organic compound chemicals.

One way out of the merry-go-round predicament for the major paint companies is to go completely biodegradable, or at the very least follow the example of PaintPlus Colour Systems, and Resene Paints, thus making the New Zealand image truly “Green”. At the ‘end of the day’ it is paint that we are constantly surrounded with on a daily basis and a great number of the population use paint at some stage during their lives, if not for a living, then somewhere in their home/living/working environment.  However the paint companies are not going to change overnight as the current stock piles of the chemicals that are used to make paint are enormous and production of these is currently non-stop by big industrial manufacturers and going to take many years to get through/used up. And anyway, the cost of changing over to producing biodegradable paint would be enormous as well and the shareholders/owners are not going to wear that one in a hurry! But times are changing and manufacturers of paint ingredients are taking notice about environmental issues and reductions in chemical toxins used in paint manufacture are continuous/ongoing.

So in the meantime paint manufacturers keep on making paints that although hold less harmful substances than in the past still contain a degree of poisonous ingredients that are not good to breath while applying the product, continue to give off a poisonous gas and are harmful to the eco system when left-over/waste/residue is poured down drains, into the earth, etc but manufacturers like Resene and PaintPlus have drastically reduced the poisons in their paints so that even the odour is almost harmless.  I first took a close look at biodegradable paints and the healthy aspect of using them around 10 years ago and mentioned about this to several other painters as well as two sales reps from rival major paint companies. The response was not that positive with comments like “the paint doesn’t last, does it?”, “only hippy type people and tree huggers use it”, “why use that stuff? It’s too expensive when we have cheaper paint right here” etc etc. But what really struck me was how little do those who are most professionally attuned with conventional paint know about the quality of biodegradable paints and the continuing benefits of using them.

My hands are tied in one way, because here we are, painting anything and everything we can get our quotes on and only two or three of the major paint producers ever come into the conversation when it comes to the mention of which paint to use on a job. The times when I have mentioned about using natural paints to anyone I get an interested response but usually the conversation goes back to the spec calling for a paint product from a major paint company and that’s the way we go. To change people’s opinion around to using natural paints was going to take a lot of talking and although I am keen to do that, I in the meantime have a business to run and men’s wages to think about so I always give in straight away to whatever paint spec is given to me and just get on with it. But the internet has changed all that as I can now talk about it “after hours” without worrying about wasting time and energy during the day on those who nod but are opposed to it deep down. I began to see that to use natural paints was going to go against everything we had ever learned about paint as we know it.

For smooth business operating, I go along with whatever paint specification is given to me to use on any particular contract, because at the end of the day that is what my job entails - we provide a service and the customer tells me what to use so I go along with that to immediately keep everyone happy and the contract running along in a congenial atmosphere. This website has been put together to help me get the message out there that there is an alternative and that it is more healthier to use and live with, and been natural has a finish that is really pleasant to the eye, always.

Modern colours put out by the paint manufacturers look great in a “fashion sense” but in a lot of cases (and in a relatively short space of time) they begin to look tired and almost out of place and it may be the owner’s wish/desire for another colour to be introduced, but of course its too late as the normal space of time for a painted wall to be repainted is anywhere up to ten years so for all that time the colour that has lost it’s “look” has to be endured and put up with . Whereas natural paint colouring seems to hold a lived in look that never gets boring, in fact in some cases it looks better as it ages because it takes on it’s surroundings in an almost “natural living colour” perspective.

Anyway this is only meant to be a brief “about us” so I will stop here about that, and if there is anything I can help with in regard to a question you may have that you need answered about natural paints then please don’t hesitate to send it to our e-mail address This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – in the meantime I hope you enjoy reading about other issues and facts about biodegradable paints on our website.

Please be patient if a reply to your question takes a week or two to answer, we have become involved with a national corporation in looking after their painting needs around the country and several times or more throughout the year I can be out of town for a week or so.