Black wall paint: choose the room first
Updated: 22 October 2026
You are in a British hallway with a card that only says black, and the basket already holds a fence paint because the title matched. Black wall paint, for the job you actually have, is a water-borne emulsion for plaster, plasterboard, or a wall that has already been painted. This page is the order of decisions. The [black wall paint comparison](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/black-wall-paint) holds the six amazon.co.uk listings, the scores and the two badges. Shelf prices were read on 19 October 2026 and they move. Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are in a British hallway with a card that only says black, and the basket already holds a fence paint because the title matched.
You are in a British hallway with a card that only says black, and the basket already holds a fence paint because the title matched. Black wall paint, for the job you actually have, is a water-borne emulsion for plaster, plasterboard, or a wall that has already been painted. This page is the order of decisions. The black wall paint comparison holds the six amazon.co.uk listings, the scores and the two badges. Shelf prices were read on 19 October 2026 and they move. Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Finish | Volume | Coverage | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Crown Crown Grey Black matt 2.5 L | Matt, Grey Black | 2.5 L | 14 m² per litre | 8.8 | about £22.20 | View offer |
 Johnstone's Johnstone's soft sheen black 2.5 L | Soft sheen | 2.5 L | 12 m² per litre | 9.2 | about £16.99 | View offer | |
| Best value |  Johnstone's Johnstone's matt black 2.5 L | Matt | 2.5 L | 32 m² a tin | 8.3 | about £16.99 | View offer |
On this page
What you are actually buying
Black is not one product in this set. The two Johnstone's 2.5 L tins are interior emulsions at £16.99. One is matt. One is soft sheen. Crown Grey Black is also a 2.5 L matt, and the name is a dark grey, not a jet. Dulux Simply Refresh Rich Black is a 1.25 L tin sold as a one-coat feature-wall matt.
Sandtex black is a multi-surface satin whose indoor/outdoor field says Outdoor. Chalkboard paint and floor paint are not in this shortlist. If the wall is inside and sound, you are buying emulsion. If the surface is outside brick, concrete, stone, wood or non-ferrous metal, the Sandtex satin names that job, and it is not a bedroom emulsion.
Finish, room, then volume
Matt hides bumps and shows every scuff as a pale mark. Soft sheen, which Johnstone's describes as subtler than silk, wipes more willingly and shows the surface. Crown's bullets on Grey Black make the same split: this matt for bedrooms and living rooms, Crown Silk for kitchens and bathrooms, mid sheen for halls. None of the six listings prints a BS EN 13300 wet-scrub class, so a washable bullet is a claim, not a class.
Volume comes after that. Johnstone's maker page states about 12 m² per litre and two coats, plus another coat when the contrast is strong. The amazon matt file prints 32 m² for the 2.5 L tin, about 12.8 m² per litre, which is close to the maker rate and not the same sentence. The sequence is on the how to paint a wall black page. The finish choice is on the matt versus soft sheen page.
What the tins cost per litre
The shelf price on a small tin looks similar to a 2.5 L tin and buys far less wall. The entry band is the two Johnstone's tins at £16.99, about £6.80 a litre. Crown Grey Black is £22.20, about £8.88 a litre, and it is the tin that prints a maximum VOC of 1 g/l. Dulux Simply Refresh is £23.50 for 1.25 L, about £18.80 a litre. Landlords is £22.90 for 1 L.
Outside this set, B&Q has listed Dulux Easycare Washable & Tough Rich Black at £30. That is shop context, not an extra row here. A £17 tin is the right volume for more than one wall in two coats. It is a poor bargain if you only needed one feature wall and then starved a one-coat paint.
Rules that change the tin
The legal cap is not a quality score. SI 2012/1715 caps interior matt walls and ceilings, where the gloss is at or below 25 at 60°, at 30 g/l. Glossier interior wall paints sit at 100 g/l. The tin has to show the subcategory, the limit and the ready-to-use VOC. Crown's 1 g/l line is inside the matt cap. It does not make Grey Black jet, and it does not mean you can skip ventilation. A 2015 public-buying figure of 10 g/l is tighter than the legal cap and is not a shop rule.
If the house is pre-1980s and the old paint is sound, HSE says wet-key and overcoat it. Do not dry-sand it or burn it off. If it is flaking and might contain lead, that is a decorator's job. Landlords paint helps limit condensation mould. It does not repair a leak or rising damp.
A short choice
If people brush past the wall, start with the soft sheen, the top pick in this set, and accept that lumps will show. If the wall is looked at and rarely touched, the matt at the same £16.99 is the best value, and you accept pale marks. If you want a printed 1 g/l VOC line and a dark grey rather than jet, Crown Grey Black is the 2.5 L matt that says so, at £22.20, with kitchens sent to Crown Silk.
The best black paint for walls page assigns each tin to a job and says who should skip it. Do not let a 4.8 from 40 ratings on the Sandtex satin outrank a 4.5 from 950 on an interior emulsion. The star line only means something after the room is chosen.
Common questions
How much black paint do I need for one wall?
A wall of 3.0 m by 2.4 m is 7.2 m². At Johnstone's maker rate of about 12 m² per litre, one coat is about 0.6 L and two coats are about 1.2 L before waste and a strong colour change. A 2.5 L tin covers that single wall twice with paint left over.
Is matt black paint washable?
Not on the evidence in this set. The Johnstone's matt listing prints no washable figure, and reviewers say a light touch leaves a pale mark that wiping makes worse. Wickes marks a standard Dulux Matt Rich Black as not washable, and marks Dulux Easycare as washable. That Easycare tin is not one of these six ASINs.
What is the difference between jet black and grey black?
Jet black is the colour name people expect to dry near-black. Crown's tin in this set is called Grey Black, and the bullets also sit in a grey range. It can look dark in the tin and read as charcoal once the room's daylight hits it. Johnstone's black is the jet-named pair here.
Can I use exterior black satin indoors?
You can physically brush it on, and the Sandtex specific-uses line says Interior/Exterior, while the indoor/outdoor field says Outdoor. It is still a 750 ml multi-surface satin at about £26.23 a litre, aimed at brick, concrete, stone, wood and metal, not a 2.5 L bedroom emulsion. One review describes gutters.
Do I need a bigger tin if I am covering white?
Yes, if you are using ordinary emulsion. Johnstone's says two coats and a further coat over a strong contrast, and white to black is that contrast. A 2.5 L tin at 12 m² per litre is one coat of a small room, not two. The Dulux feature-wall tin is the exception that claims one coat, and only if you load the roller as the maker describes.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures read on 19 October 2026. The Dulux tin was checked again on 20 October 2026. Last checked 20 October 2026.
- SI 2012/1715 Schedule 2, VOC caps and labelling (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BS EN 13300:2022 preview, wet-scrub classification (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BS 6150:2019, painting of buildings code of practice (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: lead in paint, wet key, no dry sanding or burning (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Dulux Simply Refresh feature wall, one coat and roller load (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Johnstone's matt wall and ceiling paint, coverage and two coats (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Sandtex 10 Year exterior multi-surface satin (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listings for the six ASINs (retrieved 19 October 2026)