After many years of offering only Mythic Paints at our store, we were blind-sided by Mythic Paint’s closing. While the prospect was daunting, we listened to our clients who suggested that since we knew so much about paint, we should start our own brand. It was a concept we had considered back in the 2000’s when we saw how many people wanted to buy high quality products with as few hazardous volatile ingredients as practical that can evaporate into the breathing environment. We knew those folks were much smarter than the mainstream paint buyer who was sourcing products in home centers or paying more in the regular paint store. 

After a few fits and starts getting it all lined up, here now in 2020 that brand is in it’s fifth year. With 9 products on the shelf and more on the way, we are earning a steady stream Of Five Star Reviews on Google and Yelp from our past customers, many of them who would readily admit they are very demanding clients, highly sensitive to volatiles and odor, but who still want a super high quality product that sells at the right price and that arrives quickly in the right color.

We think our Much Smarter Paint product also has something very few brands can even offer. It’s formulation was chosen because it allows us to match the Mythic Paint colors so many of our customers fell in love with and still have on their walls. Because of the care we take with our color equipment calibration, we think our color matches are as perfect as you can get. We can also match any competitor color and you can find them on our website to select for your paint purchase. We still offer free color matching for samples that you may want to send in.  

Since the term non-toxic seems to have disappeared from paint marketing these last few years, we believe because of lawsuits with the FTC over literal claims, accuracy and testing methods, we are happy to still be selling what we believe is a truly high quality, best in class, Zero VOC paint. No volatiles are in the formulas used for our paints and we want to reassure people we will only ever use Zero VOC labeled colorants in our tinting despite the enormous cost difference. That is not a promise you will get from home centers and big paint companies looking to trim costs. That being said, much like the problem of minute amounts of nut residue in products in the food industry, we must say on our label that our products could contain up to 5 grams by weight in a liter of paint. To put that in context, we believe the math is correct when we assume a litre of paint could weigh about 2.5 lbs. or about 1100 grams. To understand the concentration of volatiles in that litre, you could say that 5 grams of voc divided by 1100 grams total weight in a litre means the volatile content could be approximately .005 percent of the total. 

Always suggesting caution, we think because paint is a resinous liquid that forms a protective plastic-like barrier when it dries, we still believe being over exposed or continuously exposed to any kind of paint chemicals without fresh air could be bad. Homeowners and painters should only paint in well-ventilated areas rather than confined spaces and avoiding chemical vapors by using negative pressure ventilation provided by a shrouded window exhaust fan, whole house fan or extractor that vents to the outside. 

Each person should really be sensible about what bothers them and act accordingly and find the level of personal protection that suits you. If you are exposed to dusts from sanding, n-95 masks and common dust masks might be sufficient for most larger dust particles. Each job should be researched in order to be safe. 

Being exposed to hazardous dusts and vapors may require use of a NIOSH labeled respirator and the appropriate filters, which can protect you against most dusts and most vapors. People who are chemically sensitive should really consider not painting at all or being exposed to any paint product vapors or being in confined areas where those vapors linger if they can avoid it. 

Many conventional paint volatiles can be hazardous and It is sad that many other paint sellers have never switched to using only Zero VOC colorants. The reason for that is simple, because it can cost as much as $10 per gallon to tint bright or deeply saturated colors. Many paint sellers also run two colorant systems, with their high volume paint contractor customers opting for whatever paint formulations and color systems offer the least expensive paints, regardless of VOC content.

WE COMMIT TO ONLY USE COLORANTS THAT ARE ZERO VOC IN OUR PAINT. 

Our interior paint products are Third Party Certified with the same designations that were found on Mythic Paints:

USGBC Compliant – Conforms to LEED Indoor Air Quality Guidelines

GreenWise – CRGI Certified as Environmentally Responsible

MSP Exceeds the Quality Guides of Various Painter’s Organizations

Satisfaction Guaranteed – If you want to try a gallon of our paint and for whatever reason find it unsatisfactory, please let us know. We will simply ask you to donate the unused product to your local Habitat Restore and we will be happy to refund your money.