Quality Hardware has Aura Benjamin Moore’s best paint. Aura is the pinnacle of the Benjamin Moore premium paints. Why is this? The Benjamin Moore name has been associated with superior paints for generations before they introduced Aura. With paint lines like Regal, Ben, Advance, SuperSpec, or SuperHide, what sets Aura above these other trusted and respected lines of paint?
100% Acrylic
To start with, Aura is a 100% Acrylic latex base paint. What is so great about acrylic latex? It is extremely durable. The cured acrylic forms a hard shell that can stand up to repeated scrubbing. This not only protects the substrate, but also protects the pigment in the shell, virtually eliminating rub-off or chalking.
It’s Thick
Aura also has a very high solids by volume. That means it is a thick paint. It brushes on thick and cures to a thick, protective coat; approximately 2.1 mils when dry. That’s twice as thick as some other national brands. The thickness of the coat not only improves it’s durability, but contributes to it’s extreme hide. In most cases, Aura will cover another color in one coat. But even with difficult colors like bright reds, and deep blues, Aura will deliver great results in just two coats. And if you do have to do a second coat, Aura is ready in just one hour. So you can finish your second coat in the time it takes other paints for the first coat to dry.
Low VOCs
Another thing that puts Aura above the pack is that it contains no volatile organic compounds; VOCs. That means it has virtually no odor. You can paint a room in the morning and have guests in it that evening, and the only thing they will notice is your beautiful walls.
Color-Lock Technology
That brings us to the Color-Lock Technology. This is what really sets Aura above the others. In other paints, the film is made up of a mixture of pigments and resin. And the molecules of resin and pigment fall together randomly as the solvent in the paint evaporates. But as Aura cures, the molecules of resin, which are long polymer strands, actually wrap around the pigment molecules. The result is the pigments are evenly distributed in the coating, and are protected by the resin strands. This is why Aura really shines when it comes to rich, vibrant, long-lasting colors.
Painting with Aura
Quality Hardware has Aura, Benjamin Moore‘s best paint. So I decided to us it. I had only used Aura once before, several years ago. But when I decided to write this article, I thought I should re-familiarize myself with the product. I knew all the the other stuff from my training and reading labels and sales-sheets, etc. But I wanted to be able to write from personal experience. So I decided the men’s room in our stored could use a fresh coat of paint. The first thing that impressed me was the thickness of the paint. It’s thick, almost like a milkshake. I am usually a messy painter, but Aura stayed put on my brush. I actually got through the whole job without getting any on my cloths. Cutting in was easy, as was painting around the mural that we have in our men’s room. It was painted years ago, and I didn’t want to paint over it. And I was really impressed when I picked up the roller. The Aura rolled out smooth and beautiful and even, and I didn’t get a speck of spatter anywhere.
I was using white, so I didn’t get the added experience of seeing the deep, rich colors that Aura is capable of delivering. But I have to say it is great paint.
