The best Silicate paints, compared.
Top pick: Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white – Highest stored score, with exterior use, coverage and both primer routes written on the 5 L white listing. Best value: Earthborn Ecopro 10 L white – Lowest price per litre in the set, about £24.88, for a full elevation when you already have the data sheet. Updated October 2026.
Silicate paint is a mineral wall coating bound with potassium silicate. In the UK you buy it for a solid wall, lime render, stone, or an older mineral finish that should stay vapour-open under a matt coat. It is not silicone resin, and it is not an additive you stir into emulsion. You tell a suitable tin from the wrong coating by the wall and the primer route. A bare mineral surface wants a silicate primer and a chemical bond. Acrylic still on the wall wants a strip-back, or a bonding coat the maker says is less breathable. The listing should name exterior use, coverage, and a primer. Those checks are in the [silicate paint buying guide](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/silicate-paint/sub/silicate-paint-buying-guide). Water-borne coatings for exterior mineral walls are capped at 40 g/l VOC ready for use. “Breathable” on a label is not a vapour class. Ask for the sd value; class V1 is an sd below 0.14 m. The binder is alkaline, so mask glass and skin. A listed house can need consent if you paint a face that was never painted.
Silicate paint is a mineral wall coating bound with potassium silicate. In the UK you buy it for a solid wall, lime render, stone, or an older mineral finish that should stay vapour-open under a matt coat.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
What are you matching?
Earthborn Ecopro Silicate Masonry Paint in the 5 L white tin (part E86002, £130.00 or £26.00 per litre on amazon.co.uk) covers a stated 5 to 7 m² per litre on exterior mineral walls, giving roughly 25 to 35 m² per tin in a single coat. The listing bullets specify that you must pair it with Earthborn Silicate Primer on bare porous masonry or Earthborn Bonding Primer when painting over sound conventional plastic masonry paint. On the manufacturer’s 2026 data sheet, the potassium-silicate binder reaches an sd value of 0.01 m at pH 11.2 to 11.4, though using Bonding Primer over old acrylic reduces breathability compared with the bare-mineral silicate-primer route. It takes the top pick spot in this four-tin set because it combines a practical 5 L facade volume at £26.00 per litre with complete primer, coverage, and exterior-use documentation on the listing. Only one UK customer review sits on the page (2.0 out of 5, dated 1 September 2025), and that buyer complained that the tin looked previously opened and expensive rather than reporting a wall-cure failure. The required primer is a separate purchase not bundled with this ASIN, and application requires temperatures above 8°C with wall moisture below 15%.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Homeowners painting a medium area of exterior lime render, stone, or solid brick in white who want full primer and coverage details on the listing before ordering.
Less suitable: Anyone hoping for a self-priming one-tin masonry paint, cold-weather painting below 8°C, or a large customer-review sample.
Specifications
Common questions
Can this 5 L white tin be used on interior walls?
The listing question is unanswered. Specific uses say exterior and the indoor/outdoor field says outdoor. Treat the tin as exterior masonry paint.
Does the listing say this paint needs a primer?
A bullet says it must be used with Earthborn Silicate Primer or Bonding Primer. Bonding Primer is the route over conventional plastic masonry paints. The primer is not in the tin.
What did the one UK review say?
The stored listing has one review, dated 1 September 2025. It calls the paint disappointing and expensive, and says the tin looked as if it might already have been opened. The star line is 2.0 from 1 review. It does not report a wall-cure failure.
At £248.75 for a 10 L white tub (part E86003), this Earthborn Ecopro listing brings the shelf price down to about £24.88 per litre on amazon.co.uk, the best value in this set for a full house elevation or gable end. Applying Earthborn’s data-sheet coverage figure of 5 to 7 m² per litre, one 10 L container supplies roughly 50 to 70 m² of single-coat coverage, which avoids buying two separate 5 L tins at £260.00 combined. The Amazon product page prints the title, part number, 10 L volume, white colour and UK origin, but omits bullet points, coverage numbers and primer instructions. You therefore need Earthborn’s 2026 technical data sheet for the 8°C minimum temperature, the 10 to 20% Silicate Primer dilution on the first coat, and the eye-protection warnings. No customer reviews or star ratings appear on the stored amazon.co.uk listing, so there is no buyer feedback on packaging or delivery for this larger tub. Because a full 10 L mineral paint tub is heavy and cures by chemical reaction once exposed, it is more than a small patch repair needs, and leftover paint may go to waste.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Full-facade or multi-wall white masonry jobs where you already have Earthborn’s 2026 data sheet and want the lowest price per litre.
Less suitable: Small repair walls or first-time buyers who need application instructions on the Amazon product page.
Specifications
Common questions
What size and colour does this listing state?
10 L, white, part number E86003, made by Earthborn in the United Kingdom. The stored price is £248.75, about £24.88 per litre.
Does this 10 L listing state coverage or a primer?
No. The listing has no bullets, so coverage, finish, primer and where it can be used are not stated on this page. Those limits are on the maker’s data sheet, not on this ASIN.
Is there a star rating on this 10 L tin?
No customer-review line is on the stored listing, so there is no star rating and no review count for this tin.
The 5 L Sandstone tin of Earthborn Ecopro Silicate Masonry Paint (part E86252, £145.00 or £29.00 per litre on amazon.co.uk) states the same 5 to 7 m² per litre exterior coverage as the white 5 L pack, in a warm stone shade. The listing bullets confirm an outdoor matte finish that helps prevent algae growth, and they say you must apply Earthborn Silicate Primer or Bonding Primer. The technical fields flag breathable, fast-drying and water-resistant properties, and they leave the waterproof true-or-false field blank. You pay £15.00 more per tin than for the 5 L white tin. Mineral pigments can dry lighter than they look in the tin, so order enough from one batch or test a sample first. There are no customer reviews on the amazon.co.uk page, and an unanswered buyer question asks whether it can go on interior walls despite the outdoor listing field. You cannot thin this paint with water, and you must mask glass and metal against alkaline splashes.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Period-property or stone-wall owners who want a pre-mixed Sandstone mineral finish in a 5 L facade tin.
Less suitable: Buyers who want the lowest cost per litre, customer reviews on the listing, or an interior wall coating.
Specifications
Common questions
Is the interior-wall question answered for Sandstone?
No. The question is on the listing and unanswered. Specific uses say exterior and the indoor/outdoor field says outdoor.
Does this listing say the paint is waterproof?
The waterproof question is unanswered. There is no true-or-false waterproof field. The water-resistance level says water resistant, and special features include breathable.
Is a primer named on this Sandstone tin?
Yes. A bullet says it must be used with Earthborn Silicate Primer or Bonding Primer, including over conventional plastic masonry paints when Bonding Primer is used.
This 100 ml Oatmeal pack (part E86500, £18.23 on amazon.co.uk) is a colour-test sample for checking how a mineral shade dries before you commit to a 5 L or 10 L tin. At the 5 to 7 m² per litre rate stated on the larger Ecopro listings, 100 ml covers only about 0.5 to 0.7 m², enough for a test patch on lime render, stone or brick. At about £182.30 per litre it is a colour trial, not a maintenance tin, and you should let the patch dry before judging the matt tone. The amazon.co.uk technical table lists the container type as a tube and leaves finish, coverage and primer blank because the listing has no bullet points. There are no customer reviews, so the part code E86500 and the colour name Oatmeal are what the page gives you to check. The potassium-silicate binder is alkaline, around pH 11 on the maker’s sheet, so keep splashes off glass and skin even on a patch.
Pros
Cons
Best for: Homeowners testing how the Oatmeal shade dries on bare stone or lime render before ordering a 5 L or 10 L tin.
Less suitable: Any wall painting or patch repair larger than about half a square metre.
Specifications
Common questions
What size is the Oatmeal listing?
100 ml, colour Oatmeal, part E86500. The container type says Tube. The stored price is £18.23.
Does this 100 ml listing state coverage or a primer?
No. There are no bullets, so coverage, finish and primer are not stated on this page. It is a colour check, not a facade tin.
Is there a star rating on the 100 ml tin?
No customer-review line is on the stored listing, so there is no star rating and no review count.
Four amazon.co.uk Earthborn Ecopro silicate masonry listings were scored from the stored pages, snapshot 21 October 2026. This was not a laboratory cure, breathability or weather test. Listing specification takes the largest share, then whether the pack can cover a real facade, then price per litre, then Best Sellers Rank and the review line. Three listings have no customer reviews. The remaining listing has one 2.0-star comment about an opened tin, so stars alone do not rank the set. The top pick is the 5 L white tin, the most complete facade specification on the listing. The best value is the 10 L white tin, the lowest shelf price per litre.
Listing specification and system clarity
35%Whether the amazon.co.uk page states exterior use, a matte finish, coverage of 5 to 7 square metres per litre, and the silicate primer or bonding primer route.
Pack utility for masonry work
30%Whether the container is a 5 L or 10 L facade tin, or only a 100 ml colour-check tube.
Price per litre
25%Shelf price divided by pack volume on the stored amazon.co.uk price. Primer is a second tin and is not included.
Amazon UK rank and reviews
10%Best Sellers Rank in Wall Paint, plus the customer review line. The score is lower when reviews are absent or flag a fulfilment problem.
Start with the wall and the binder route, then the maker’s temperature and moisture limits, then whether the listing actually states coverage and a primer, and only then the price per litre. The notes below follow that order. None of these listings was lab-tested.
Silicate paint is a mineral coating bound with potassium silicate. You buy it in the UK when a solid wall, lime render, stone, or an older mineral coating needs a matt finish that stays vapour-open. It is not silicone resin, and it is not a mould additive you pour into emulsion. Silicone masonry paint is a different product, even when the two sit side by side in search results. The first check is the binder route and the wall.
Silicone masonry paint and a mould additive in emulsion are different products. The binder here is potassium silicate. A similar search result is not the same wall coating.
Earthborn says never thin this paint with water. On a bare mineral wall the first coat is thinned with silicate primer, in the range the sheet states, not with water from the tap.
Bonding primer over old acrylic is a mechanical bond. The maker says breathability drops and the stated life is shorter than the silicate-primer route. Those years are the manufacturer’s words.
The largest share of the score is whether the listing states the route. A bare mineral wall wants a silicate primer and a chemical bond. A wall still in sound acrylic wants a bonding coat only if you accept a mechanical bond and a drop in breathability. Earthborn states a typical life of 5 to 10 years on that route against 15 to 20 years on silicate primer. Keim Soldalit is the sol-silicate route when the facade mixes sound old paint and bare repairs, and it is not one of the tins here.
Pack decides whether the tin can do the wall. A 100 ml pack is a colour check. At the 5 to 7 square metres per litre stated on the two 5 L listings, that sample covers well under a square metre. A 5 L tin is the practical facade volume when the page also names a primer. A 10 L tin is the volume for a full elevation and, in this stored set, the lowest price per litre. Primer is a second purchase and is not in these listings. The two 5 L pages state coverage and a primer.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You are painting a medium area of exterior lime render, stone or solid brick in white, and you want primer and coverage written on the listing. Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white is the top pick, at about £130.00 (£26.00 per litre). The bullets name both primer routes and 5 to 7 square metres per litre. The only UK review is 2.0 from one comment about a tin that looked opened.
You already have the 2026 data sheet and you want the lowest price per litre for a whole facade. Earthborn Ecopro 10 L white is the best value, at about £248.75 (about £24.88 per litre). The Amazon page has no bullets and no reviews, so coverage and primer are not on that listing.
You want a warm stone colour in a 5 L facade tin, not a blinding white. Earthborn Ecopro 5 L Sandstone is about £145.00 (£29.00 per litre), £15 more than the white 5 L tin. The bullets match the white tin on primer and coverage. There is no customer review on the page.
The top pick in this set is Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white at about £130.00, or £26.00 per litre. It is the only listing here that states exterior use, a matte finish, coverage of 5 to 7 square metres per litre, and both primer routes, and it has the highest stored score. It is not a laboratory winner, and the only UK review is 2.0 from one comment about a tin that looked opened. The best value is Earthborn Ecopro 10 L white at about £248.75, about £24.88 per litre, the lowest price per litre in the set. That page has no bullets and no reviews, so the temperature and primer rules come from the maker’s data sheet, not from the listing.
Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white
Highest stored score, with exterior use, coverage and both primer routes written on the 5 L white listing.
Earthborn Ecopro 10 L white
Lowest price per litre in the set, about £24.88, for a full elevation when you already have the data sheet.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026. Shelf prices and the one star line are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file, dated 21 October 2026. The price band is this set, not a market average. No listing was lab-tested.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, stars and review counts are the stored amazon.co.uk figures, not a live crawl. We did not lab-test these paints.
