The best paint for trim levels smooth, lets go and stays white

What the best paint for trim has to do

Trim paint is an enamel: it levels into a smooth film, cures harder than wall paint, lets go where doors and windows close against it, and keeps its color in the corners light never reaches.

The USDA's Wood Handbook explains the shine. Smooth surfaces, consistent color and a lasting sheen are often wanted on interior woodwork, especially trim, so high-gloss and semi-gloss enamels are more common there than flat paints. Our interior painting covers trim, doors and crown along with the walls.

Trim paint types compared

The facts come from the makers cited below; the wording and the picks are our editorial guide, not a measurement.

Waterborne alkyd: the leveler

Benjamin Moore describes waterborne alkyds as giving the flow and leveling of oil-based paint with soap and water cleanup, and calls them a favorite for cabinets, trim and doors. Flow matters most on a long baseboard, where low light from a window picks out every brush mark.

The same page says these paints are less viscous than latex, so latex users face a learning curve, and suggests testing a small area first. It puts their full cure at about five days, against three to four weeks for latex acrylics.

Acrylic enamel: the one that lets go

Blocking is fresh paint sticking to itself. Dunn-Edwards' examples are a door sticking to its jamb and a window sticking to its sill, and it says paint can tear off one side when they're pulled apart. Acrylic latex paints generally resist blocking better than vinyl acrylics or alkyd and oil-based coatings, it says, while low-quality latex blocks badly, especially in warm, damp weather.

Alkyds can develop better block resistance as they harden, the same page adds, so the gap narrows with time. It also says to adjust doors and windows so they open and close freely before painting. More on that in painting interior doors.

Oil-based alkyd: hard, and yellow in the shade

Benjamin Moore says conventional alkyds cure by oxidation in about five days to a hard, glossy finish latex can't match, and calls them well suited to interior trim and doors. The costs: petroleum-based solvents, higher VOC levels and paint thinner for cleanup.

Then there's the color. Dunn-Edwards lists normal oxidation of oil-based paint as a cause of yellowing, along with heat from radiators and heating ducts, ammonia cleaners, and a lack of light, like behind pictures and inside closets. Its fix is a high-quality latex, which doesn't tend to yellow. Trim lives in exactly those spots. Our post on latex vs oil-based paint covers painting over old oil.

Kick, Close, Keep White: the best paint for trim, piece by piece

Roundups crown one best paint for trim. Trim isn't one surface, though: a baseboard gets kicked, a door gets closed, and a closet casing lives in the dark. We sort each piece by its hardest job. It's our editorial framework, not a lab standard.

• Kick: baseboards, stair skirts and chair rail take shoes, vacuums and toys. Hardness and washability come first.
• Close: doors, jambs, window sashes and stops press against each other. Block resistance comes first.
• Keep White: white trim in closets, behind furniture or over a radiator. A paint that doesn't yellow comes first.

It's a starting point built on the sources below, and the label has the last word. Two pieces have their own guides: painting baseboards and painting crown molding. Cabinets are a harder job again; see the best paint for kitchen cabinets.

Satin or semi-gloss for trim?

Semi-gloss is the classic trim sheen: it wipes clean and sets trim apart from flatter walls. Satin forgives dents and old brush marks, which suits wavy baseboards in an older house. Gloss looks sharp on new, smooth trim and shows every flaw. Our paint sheen guide explains each level.

Choosing the best white paint for trim

The best white paint for trim is the one that suits your walls and your light, used on every piece of trim in view. Five checks do the work:

1. Start with the walls. Warm walls like cream, beige and greige tend to sit better with a softer white; cool grays and blues with a crisper one.
2. Hold the white against the wall color and the ceiling. Trim should look either clearly different from the ceiling or exactly the same.
3. Paint a scrap board and stand it on the baseboard. Look at it in the morning and again under your lamps at night.
4. Use one white for baseboards, casings, doors and crown. Three whites in one room look like a mistake.
5. Check where it's going. White trim in a closet or behind furniture is a reason to skip oil-based paint.

For the wider color plan, see how to choose paint colors for your home and how to test paint colors.

Or skip white

Trim can match the walls, in a higher sheen, or go darker than them. Matching keeps a room calm; a darker trim gives it a sharper edge.

Painting wood trim white

Painting stained wood trim white is mostly a primer job. The Wood Handbook says extractives in wood can discolor finishes, particularly in humid rooms like bathrooms and kitchens. Finger-jointed trim is pieced from different trees with different amounts of extractives, it notes, and a stain-blocking primer is often used over those pieces and over knots.

Varnished trim also needs cleaning and a scuff sand so primer can grip, and old painted trim needs an oil or latex test first. The full order of work is in how to paint trim.

If your trim is older than 1978

EPA says old or worn lead-based paint, especially on surfaces that rub, like doors and window sills, can produce chips and dust that become a hazard. It also says any painting project in a pre-1978 home with lead-based paint can easily create dangerous lead dust. Find out what's on old trim before you sand it. See painting older Madison homes.

Exterior trim is a different job

Outside, trim faces sun, rain and Wisconsin freeze and thaw, so the prep and the paint change. Our post on painting exterior trim covers caulk, rot checks and timing. We paint exterior doors and trim as part of our exterior work, not whole-house siding.

When to stop and call a professional

• Stop sanding or scraping if your home was built before 1978 and you don't know what's on the trim; our post on painting older Madison homes explains why.
• Call 911 if anyone has serious trouble breathing while you're using a solvent-based paint.
• Stop and air out the room if oil-based paint fumes bring on a headache or dizziness.
• Call a pro when old paint flakes off in layers, stain keeps bleeding through primer, or there's a whole house of trim and doors to do.

How we paint trim at GK Painting

Trim, baseboards, crown molding and interior doors are part of our interior painting. We cover the floors and everything nearby before the first can is opened, repair and prime small holes, and clean up at the end. George quotes every job himself and walks it with you when it's done.

We use premium paint from Sherwin-Williams and Behr, and Behr is the more economical of the two. If you'd rather use a brand you already like, we'll use it, and your written quote is built around the paint you pick. The written quote is the price, no extra charge if the job takes longer than expected.

If a problem comes from the quality of our work, like a finish that peels or didn't bond, tell us and we'll come back and make it right. We're based in Waunakee and work across Madison and Dane County. Read our reviews, or ask for a free estimate.