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Silicate paint buying guide

Updated: 23 October 2026

When you own a Victorian solid brick terrace, a stone cottage, or lime render outside, a standard masonry tin can trap moisture behind an acrylic film. This silicate paint buying guide filters the binder, the primer route and the pack before shade or stars. Searches mix mineral coatings with silicone resins and mould additives, so you can spend well over £100 on a tin that will not bond, or that chokes the vapour path you meant to keep. Shelf prices for the four Earthborn Ecopro tins are on the [silicate paint comparison](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/silicate-paint). Peter F. updated this page on 23 October 2026. Our amazon.co.uk links may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

When you own a Victorian solid brick terrace, a stone cottage, or lime render outside, a standard masonry tin can trap moisture behind an acrylic film.

Our top picks

Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white

Best overall

Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white
8.6/10about £130.00
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Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 10 L white

Best value

Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 10 L white
8.2/10about £248.75
View offer
Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 100 ml Oatmeal

Alternative

Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 100 ml Oatmeal
6.6/10about £18.23
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On this page
  1. 1.What you are buying when the tin says silicate
  2. 2.Which primer route matches the wall
  3. 3.Pack size before colour
  4. 4.What to leave on the shelf

What you are buying when the tin says silicate

True mineral masonry paint uses liquid potassium silicate, waterglass, which penetrates porous masonry and reacts with it to form an insoluble mineral bond. Water vapour can still leave a solid wall. On amazon.co.uk a search for mineral paint often returns silicone masonry paint, acrylic emulsion or a mould additive. A standard 5 L acrylic masonry tin near £30 is a film, not this system. Earthborn Ecopro Silicate Masonry Paint is a dispersion silicate under DIN 18363, an industry standard rather than a UK statute, which limits organic content to under 5%. The VOC Regulations 2012 cap water-borne exterior mineral wall coatings at 40 g/l ready for use. Earthborn states under 0.5 g/l. The safety data sheet puts the potassium silicate fraction at about pH 11.2 to 11.4, so it irritates skin and eyes. A non-toxic bullet is not a reason to skip protection.

Which primer route matches the wall

You cannot put this topcoat on an unprimed facade and expect an even bond. None of the four paint ASINs is a primer tin. Bare porous stone, unpainted brick or cured lime render takes Earthborn Silicate Primer: a chemical bond, with the paint at sd 0.01 m (about 1,515 g/m² in 24 hours). Sound conventional masonry paint takes Bonding Primer: a mechanical bond, a stated life of 5–10 years rather than 15–20, and primer resistance of sd 0.35 m (about 59.9 g/m² in 24 hours). Class V1 in specifier guidance is an sd below 0.14 m, so Bonding Primer does not keep an open wall. A mixed facade of bare repairs and old paint may suit a sol-silicate such as Keim Soldalit, sold by the kilo outside this Amazon set. Whether a film belongs on the wall is silicate paint vs acrylic.
Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white

Testsieger

Earthborn Earthborn Ecopro 5 L white
8.6/10about £130.00
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Pack size before colour

The set is four Earthborn Ecopro packs: 100 ml Oatmeal, 5 L white, 5 L Sandstone and 10 L white. Five 100 ml pots at £18.23 (about £182 a litre) cost far more per litre than 5 L white at £26 a litre (£130) or 10 L white at about £24.88 a litre (£248.75), the lowest price per litre here. Coverage of 5–7 m² per litre is on the 2026 data sheet and the two 5 L listings. The collection page says about 6 m² per litre. The 100 ml and 10 L listings omit coverage. As a rule of thumb, 5 L is about 25–35 m² for one coat, and a second coat roughly halves the finished area. On bare mineral walls the first coat is thinned 10–20% with Silicate Primer, not water. Who each pack suits is best silicate paint. Coat order is how to apply silicate paint.

What to leave on the shelf

Potassium silicate is not an all-surface exterior paint. Leave it off wood, metal and plastic guttering. Keep primer and paint off glass, tiles and aluminium, because pH 11.2 to 11.4 clouds unmasked glass. Skip Silicate Primer on engineered brick, synthetic resin render, acrylic plaster or latex that has no open pores, and on walls treated with a water-repellent sealer. Repair rising damp and salt efflorescence before any tin. Fresh lime has a cure wait on silicate paint for lime render.

Common questions

Is silicate paint the same as silicone masonry paint?
No. Silicate paint uses an inorganic potassium silicate binder that reacts chemically with bare mineral walls to form a vapour-open coating. Silicone masonry paint binds the pigment with a synthetic silicone resin emulsion that forms a water-repellent surface film. Because UK search results and Amazon titles often mix the two words, check that the technical data sheet names potassium silicate or DIN 18363 before you buy.
Do I need a primer as well as the paint tin?
Yes. A primer is mandatory with Earthborn Ecopro Silicate Masonry Paint, and none of the four paint tins in this amazon.co.uk comparison includes one. You buy the primer as a second container. On bare porous masonry, Silicate Primer both primes the wall and is the 10–20% thinner for the first coat, because you must never thin this system with tap water.
When is Silicate Primer the route, and when is Bonding Primer?
Use Earthborn Silicate Primer on bare, unpainted porous mineral walls such as lime render, porous stone or soft brick for a chemical bond and an open vapour rating of sd 0.01 m. Use Bonding Primer only over sound conventional masonry paint. That is a mechanical bond, and the maker’s stated life drops from 15–20 years to 5–10 years, with breathability at sd 0.35 m.
What does 5–7 m² per litre mean for a 5 L tin?
As a rule of thumb from the manufacturer’s 2026 data sheet figure of 5–7 m² per litre on a smooth surface, one 5 L tub covers roughly 25–35 m² for a single coat. Because exterior masonry takes two coats, a 5 L tin finishes around 12.5–17.5 m² of smooth wall, and less on hungry lime render or pebbledash.
Why is a 100 ml tin about £182 a litre?
The 100 ml Earthborn Ecopro Oatmeal pot (£18.23 on amazon.co.uk) is a colour sample for a patch on your wall, not a facade. Scaled to a litre, that packaging is roughly £182 a litre, whereas the 5 L white tub is £26 a litre and the 10 L white tub is about £24.88 a litre.
Does under 0.5 g/l VOC mean there is no acrylic in the tin?
No. Under the VOC Regulations 2012, water-borne exterior mineral wall coatings are capped at 40 g/l of volatile organic compounds, and Earthborn states under 0.5 g/l. As a dispersion silicate under DIN 18363, the formula still contains up to 5% organic content as an acrylic stabiliser.

Related pages

Silicate paint comparison

Best silicate paint

How to apply silicate paint

Silicate paint vs acrylic

Silicate paint for lime render: cure time and primer

Sources

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.

  1. VOC Regulations 2012 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. Keim: silicate paints (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Keim Soldalit (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. Keim application notes (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. Earthborn Silicate Masonry Paint data sheet 2026 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Earthborn FAQs (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Earthborn silicate paint safety data sheet 2022 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. Historic England: redecorate (retrieved 22 October 2026)