Paints for a child's room: what to consider when buying?

Every child's room is a place where they should breathe healthily and develop safely. Which paint for a children's room is best depends on several factors. The most important of these is security. Therefore, first of all, we should read the recommendations confirming the appropriate composition of the product. It is also worth considering not only the child's age, but also the tendency to allergies. Then we can move on to the color and decoration issues.

What markings to look for on the packaging and what properties do the different types of paints have? What paint for painting a baby cot, and what paint for other furniture? What to avoid and what should we pay special attention to?

Children's safe paints: what to pay attention to when buying?

Safe paints for a children's room are those that are distinguished by the lowest possible concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which include, among others, acetone or aromatic hydrocarbons. It is enough to pay attention to whether there is a certificate on the packaging that guarantees the correct composition of paints for painting. The most popular are:

• PTA - Polish Society of Allergology;
• EU Ecolabel (European Daisy), valid in 25 countries of the European Union;
• Blue Angel (Blue Angel, Blauer Engel) - Germany;
• Nordic Swan - Scandinavian countries.

Safe paints for children's rooms marked in this way are diluted with water, so they do not contain toxic substances and are almost odorless, which significantly shortens the seasoning (drying) period. These are emulsion paints, which include, among others acrylic, latex, vinyl and ceramic paints.

What paint is best for an allergic child's room?

In addition to the already mentioned PTA recommendation for particularly sensitive people with a tendency to allergies, it is worth paying attention to photocatalytic paints. They have anti-allergic properties and are bactericidal. As paints safe for children, they stand out among others (thanks to the content of titanium dioxide) with their unique advantage, which is self-cleaning. What other possibilities do they have? Well, photocatalytic paints:

• they clean the air when in contact with pollution;
• protect against moisture;
• they are vapor permeable;
• they prevent the growth of fungi and mold;
• remove unpleasant odors, e.g. cigarette smoke.

Is the smell of the paint harmful to the baby?

Safe paints for a children's room: what to paint and how to clean?

The purchase of paint safe for children should be preceded by a preliminary analysis. Remember not to buy paints diluted with organic solvents and without appropriate approvals, but emulsion paints, which are diluted with water and are certified. Next, we can consider which of them will best help to keep clean. The presence of toddlers is quite an important factor here, because they use all the rooms in the house the most intensively. When buying, let's pay attention to what paint for a child's room will be resistant to permanent dirt.

Acrylic paint

Acrylic emulsion has easy adhesion to walls and ceilings and relatively high scrub resistance. However, it is not the best choice for rooms with a high degree of dirt.

Acrylic enamel

Contrary to acrylic emulsion, this paint is much more resistant to cleaning. It can be used for wood, wood-like materials and steel elements (e.g. radiator, window, furniture). It works great as a paint for a child's room, where the conditions for airing the room usually are difficult.

What paint for a child's room has similar properties? Alkyd (phthalic) enamel, which is additionally more resistant to moisture, temperature and scrubbing. Unfortunately, it is a solvent-based paint, so it is not recommended for use in a children's room.

Latex paint

This type of emulsion is enriched with a polymer resin. Thanks to this, the painted surface obtains the effect of a subtle gloss. Latex paint is safe and rarely allergic. It is more efficient and resistant to abrasion than acrylic paint and you can enjoy a non-fading shade for many years. It is also easier to apply to walls because it does not drip off the roller. This type of paint for a children's room is best for a toddler or an older school-age child.

Vinyl paint

The content of polyvinyl chloride or polyacetate makes a wall painted with vinyl paint easy to clean, but also easy to get dirty. It is a paint safe for children and a cheaper, quick-drying equivalent of latex paint. It is worth noting that it works best in rooms with low humidity.

Ceramic paint

It is a type of vinyl paint. The ceramic components in the paint make the painted surface extremely smooth. Consequently, such a wall is antistatic and does not attract dust and other contaminants. This is the most suitable paint for a children's room that requires frequent cleaning of the walls. Painted surfaces can be successfully cleaned even with a mixture of detergent.

What paint for painting a baby cot is safe?

From an early age, a child begins to explore the world through his mouth, putting all the things he comes across to his mouth. Furniture in a baby's room is particularly prone to chewing, so it is so important that the substances used to change the color of these items do not pose any threat to the baby.

What paint for a child's room will it still be appropriate? The previously mentioned water-based acrylic enamel. These paints cover better than chalk paints, which require several layers to achieve the desired effect.

What paint to paint a baby cot will emphasize the natural texture of the wood? For fans of the classic look, there is also an alternative. It is acrylic varnish, which is transparent and resistant to external factors and does not emit strong smell. Before painting, it is enough to properly prepare the crib.

What paint for a children's room under 3 years old?

We already know which paint to paint the baby's bed and the children's room will work best. Now it's worth thinking about choosing the right color scheme. For this, it will be useful to know what the toddlers under 3 years of age actually see.

The world in the eyes of a newborn is just blurry images. Children in the first month of life react most vividly to black and white contrasts, because that's the only thing they can see. It doesn't matter to the toddler whether we paint the room green or pink. They will not notice the differences in colors until later. Eyesight will develop very intensively until the age of 3.

So what paint for a child's room is the right choice? Using contrasting colors or decorations in a baby's room can be a great idea. Properly selected shades can attract the baby's attention for a long time. In the first years of life, a child will not dirty the walls as quickly as a preschooler. So there is no need to pay much attention to whether the wall painted with this paint will be easy to clean.

What is worth remembering when buying paint for a children's room?

To sum up, choosing a safe paint for a children's room will be very simple if we remember the following tips:

• paints safe for children must be water-dilutable;
• for children with allergies, choose emulsions marked with PTA approval;
• pay attention to the age of the child and the requirements for potential cleaning of the painted surface;
• use paints suitable for the microclimate in the room (high sunlight or high humidity);
• for furniture painting, use only paint with a certificate of compliance with the EN 71-3 standard "Safety of toys" visible on the packaging.

If we take into account the above recommendations, the purchase of safe paint for a children's room will certainly be much faster. Depending on the scope of work, it is good to estimate the costs of materials and their versatility in advance. Some paints cover the surface well after the first application, while others do not. Before making a decision, it is good to consider all parameters.