Johnstone’s Cleanable Matt: Is It Worth Upgrading Your Paint?

If you’re choosing paint for a busy home, there’s one question worth asking before you automatically reach for a standard matt emulsion:

What happens when the wall gets dirty?

Because while almost any decent emulsion can look lovely when it’s first painted, family homes, hallways, kitchens, playrooms and other busy spaces have a habit of putting that finish to the test.

Fingerprints. Mud. Food. Scuffs. And those mystery marks that nobody in the house will admit to making!

This is where Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt really comes into its own.

You still get that lovely low-sheen, contemporary matt finish, but with much more stain resistance, durability and cleanability than you’d expect from your everyday matt emulsion.

So, what actually is Johnstone’s Cleanable Matt?

Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt is a premium water-based matt emulsion designed specifically for busy, high-traffic areas that are likely to need regular cleaning.

Its Easy Clean Technology helps prevent stains from soaking into the paint, making everyday marks easier to remove with soap, water and a soft cloth.

Johnstone’s states that the finish can withstand up to 10,000 scrub cycles, but there’s another benefit that I think is just as important:

It stays matt after cleaning.

If you’ve ever repeatedly wiped down a painted wall, you might have noticed shinier patches starting to appear where you’ve cleaned it. Cleanable Matt has been designed to retain its matt appearance, so you’re less likely to be left with obvious patches every time you wipe away a mark.

Cleanable Matt vs a standard vinyl matt

Take something like Johnstone’s Covaplus Vinyl Matt.

Covaplus is a brilliant everyday trade emulsion. It has great opacity, good flow and impressive coverage of up to 17m² per litre, making it a great choice for large areas and rooms that simply don’t need that extra level of durability.

The important thing is that the two paints are designed to do slightly different jobs.

Covaplus Vinyl Matt gives you great coverage and a lovely finish. Cleanable Matt is designed to help keep that finish looking good when everyday life gets involved.

For ceilings, spare bedrooms and quieter areas of the home, you might not need to spend the extra money on a cleanable paint.

For hallways, stairs, dining areas, children’s bedrooms, open-plan living spaces and anywhere that regularly comes into contact with hands, pets or everyday mess, that’s where I’d start thinking about upgrading.

Cleanable Matt vs Johnstone’s Acrylic Durable Matt

This is where choosing between the two can get a little trickier because Johnstone’s Acrylic Durable Matt is also tough, washable and has a Class 1 scrub rating to ISO 11998.

So why would you choose Cleanable Matt?

I’d look at what you actually need the paint to cope with.

Acrylic Durable Matt is particularly useful where moisture and condensation are a concern. It has a mould-resistant formulation and is designed for walls and woodwork, including surfaces that may be susceptible to condensation.

Cleanable Matt puts more emphasis on stain resistance and frequent cleaning. Its Easy Clean Technology is specifically designed to help stop stains from setting into the paint in the first place.

So, the easiest way I'd look at it is:

Lots of everyday marks, fingerprints, children or pets?
I’d go for Cleanable Matt.

Moisture, condensation or somewhere mould resistance is important?
I’d look at Acrylic Durable Matt.

There will naturally be some crossover, but I always think it’s better to consider the problem you actually need your paint to solve rather than simply looking for the word “durable” on the tin.

What about Johnstone’s Perfect Matt?

Again, this is a different type of premium paint.

Johnstone’s Perfect Matt is all about achieving an exceptionally flat, flawless finish. Its Smooth Layer Technology helps reduce visible application marks, particularly on large walls or in areas with critical lighting, and it’s also designed to make spot repairs easier.

If you have a big open-plan room with lots of natural light hitting the walls and your main priority is getting that really flawless decorative finish, Perfect Matt is definitely one I’d consider.

If you’re more concerned about sticky fingers, dogs brushing past the walls and all the other marks that come with a busy home, I’d be more inclined to reach for Cleanable Matt.

Put simply:

Perfect Matt = flawless finish.
Cleanable Matt = easy cleaning.

Both are premium matt paints. They’re just designed to help with different things.

How does it compare with Dulux Diamond Matt or Crown Clean Extreme?

These are probably two of the closest alternatives.

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is a highly durable, stain-resistant and repeatedly cleanable matt, achieving Class 1 ISO 11998 and tested to 10,000 scrubs.

Crown Trade Clean Extreme Scrubbable Matt is also a true flat matt with 10,000-scrub durability and an ISO 11998 Class 1 scrub rating.

So I wouldn’t tell you that Johnstone’s Cleanable Matt is the only paint capable of this sort of performance, because it isn’t.

What I particularly like about the Johnstone’s product is the combination of Easy Clean Technology, excellent stain resistance and a finish designed to stay matt after cleaning.

And I think that last point is really important.

Most of us choose matt paint because we love the finish. So if you need something hard-wearing, you don’t necessarily want to compromise on that lovely matt appearance just to make your walls easier to clean.

Why stain resistance matters just as much as scrub resistance

There’s an important difference here that can easily get lost when you start comparing durable paints.

Knowing your paint can withstand thousands of scrubs is great, but realistically, what you want at home is for the mark to come off easily in the first place.

Johnstone’s Easy Clean Technology is designed to help stop stains from penetrating and setting into the paint, so everyday marks are easier to remove.

Think food splashes, dirty hands, muddy pets and all the general scuffs and marks that seem to appear from nowhere.

After all, the aim isn’t to see how hard you can scrub your wall. It’s to avoid having to!

Where would I use Johnstone’s Cleanable Matt?

I particularly like it for:

• Hallways and staircases
• Children’s bedrooms and playrooms
• Dining rooms
• Kitchens and open-plan kitchen/living spaces
• Utility rooms
• Entrance areas
• Busy family living rooms
• Commercial spaces and other high-traffic interiors
• Homes with children or pets

Basically, if you already know a wall is going to need wiping down regularly, it makes sense to choose a paint that’s been designed with exactly that in mind.

Does durable paint have to be shiny?

Years ago, durability and sheen tended to go hand in hand.

If you needed something washable, you might have automatically reached for a silk, soft sheen or eggshell.

Thankfully, that’s not necessarily the case anymore.

Cleanable Matt gives you the practical benefits of a highly cleanable paint while still giving you that lovely matt finish.

I particularly like this on larger walls, where a higher sheen can reflect more light and make imperfections much easier to spot.

So you get the durability without having to compromise on the finish you actually wanted.

Is Johnstone’s Cleanable Matt worth the extra money?

For every wall in every home? Probably not.

There’s not much point paying for a specialist, high-performance paint on a ceiling that’s unlikely to be touched for the next five years.

But equally, repainting the bottom half of your hallway because your standard emulsion can’t cope with everyday family life isn’t exactly saving you money either.

I’d think about how long you want that finish to last, rather than just the price of the tin.

If spending a little more when you first decorate means your walls can cope with cleaning, resist everyday stains and stay looking freshly painted for longer, it can end up being much better value.

So, would I recommend it?

For the right room, absolutely.

You don’t have to sacrifice that lovely matt appearance to get a wall that can cope with everyday life.

With its excellent stain resistance, high durability, Easy Clean Technology and ability to stay matt after repeated cleaning, Johnstone’s Trade Cleanable Matt  is definitely one I’d consider for busy family homes and high-traffic areas.

My advice would be simple:

Don’t ask whether every room in your house needs durable paint. Think about which walls you’re constantly wiping down.

Those are the ones where upgrading to something like Johnstone’s Cleanable Matt  could make a really noticeable difference.

Happy decorating,

Helen x