Benjamin Moore’s Natura

I have been waiting for the opportunity to try Natura for some time, and the opportunity has finally come up. It’s one of the few paints in the range I haven’t tried yet.

Natura is a washable, zero VOC paint, meaning it gives off no emissions. This makes it perfect for anyone with allergies or asthma. It’s also ideal for use in Children’s bedrooms, which is why I recently completed a toddler’s room with it.

Pretty much everything we use gives off some kind of emissions, known as VOC’s or volatile organic compounds. From cooking to cleaning, to new carpets, fuel, adhesives and even your sofa. Unfortunately paint is also one of the things on this list. 

We try to minimise our use of high VOC paints, such as oil based finishes, and stick to the low VOC products. Unfortunately most paint brands aren’t up to scratch for use on trim or woodwork and this is one of the many reasons we have switched to using Benjamin Moore on most of the work we complete. In the US Benjamin Moore’s Natura, Regal, Ultra spec & Aura ranges are all classified as zero VOCs. 

However, here in the UK we use a different classification that does not allow any brand to state that it is zero VOCs unless it has undergone an additional stripping process and a strict chemical emissions test. The emissions test involves putting a panel of wet paint in a chamber and extracting all the air over a 96 hour period and monitoring everything that is released. Natura has undergone this process and testing,  and so can be advertised as zero emissions and has an asthma and allergy rating. Because Aura has not been through this process, they can only call it a low VOC paint, even though the actual emissions difference between them is likely minimal.

In the UK Natura comes in two finishes at the moment, flat or semi-gloss. As with all Benjamin Moore’s products, this is great to apply. It has a recoat time of just 2 hours, though as the old cottage I used it in was rather cold, it did need to be left overnight to fully dry before I could apply a second coat.

Coverage was ok and it did fully cover in 2 coats, however it’s definitely not got the opacity of the other paints in the BM range. The finish seems to be very flat, even more so than what I am used to with Regal flat. As for durability and being able to touch it up, only time will tell.

I have read a few negative reviews of Natura online and how it smells terrible, and has made people ill, but I could barely smell anything at all.

Overall I’d say it wouldn’t be my first go to in the Benjamin Moore arsenal, and I don’t think that this is what they intend. But in the right situation it’s definitely got its place and I’d have no hesitation in using it again, if the opportunity comes up.