White surface on paint when rubbed?

[Tracy]

I recently (within the last 2 months) painted part of an interior wall a dark red color. Whenever you rub a finger or hand against the paint, it leaves a whitish mark. The mark wipes away easily with a damp cloth. But what is it, and what is causing it?

The details:

- The wall is sheetrock.

- I used two coats of Behr flat latex paint. No primer. The room had already been painted with a latex paint.

- Because I was sampling the color to see if I wanted to use it for the whole room, and was in a hurry to see the end result, I painted the second coat before the first was completely dry. Could that be a factor?

- The paint itself does not seem to be rubbing off, either on the finger that rubs the wall, or on the damp cloth that rubs the mark away.

- This does not seem like chalking to me. There is no chalky surface on the paint.

Any thoughts?

Thanks Tracy

[m Ransley]

Dark paints can Burnish. Live with it or use a quality paint. But ask if it will burnish before you buy it. Go to a Paint store that sells only Paint

[TOM KAN PA]

____Reply Separator_____

Behr was rated by CR as being a good paint.

[Murray Peterson]

[e-mail] (Tracy) wrote in news:a5c54b8e.0409051751.75404bd5 @posting.google.com:

Flat textures are rough on the surface (in a microscopic sense). It's very easy to polish out the surface roughness, or fill it in with oil/dirt, and this will show up as a texture and/or colour difference. This is especially visible with darker colours.

My guess is that you are seeing the effect of skin oils being deposited on the paint surface, which is filling in those microscopic pores. If so, the only cure will be to go to a slightly glossier finish (eggshell or satin).

[Tracy]

This is not burnishing. I know the difference, as I have some burnished surfaces on other walls (I don't like glossy paint, and I'd rather repaint more often than live with shiny walls). The rubbed surface is not shiny. It is just white.

Tracy

[tlbwriter]

I just thought I'd follow up on this... I decided I didn't like the Behr's color, and was concerned about the white marks, so I went with American Traditions (Lowes) instead. While both paints are the flattest finish available, the American Traditions paint is slightly glossier than the Behr. And I don't have the white mark problem with the American Traditions. So, I don't know if it's a Behr problem, or if it's a finish problem, but I wanted to post my resolution just in case someone is searching on this topic.

Tracy