Diamond vs Dogs

As we prepare for our Social Community Projects launch, we take a look at a recent AkzoNobel project by Select Decorator, Benjamin Mott - bringing colour to a local rehoming centre.

Bringing a splash of colour to the Blue Cross Rehoming Centre in Lewknor, Oxfordshire, Benjamin recently transformed a bi-colour play barn to withstand dirt and provide a robust scheme to reduce cleaning.

Housing abandoned or unwanted pets, Blue Cross Centre promotes welfare providing treatment until the animals find a new home. The play barn is used on a daily basis where animals and particularly the centre's canine residents can play and exercise. With a grassy outdoor play area adjacent to the barn - complete with assault course, sandpit and paddling pool, this ensures our furry friends get to bring the outdoors in!

To help withstand the test of time, Benjamin used the Dulux Trade Diamond range of paints; which includes Matt, Eggshell and High-Performance Eggshell versions- well known for its hard wearing qualities, providing a long-lasting finish and an extended maintenance cycle. The range was used to provide fresh pops of bright colour in the play barn focusing on yellow and blues to create an upbeat and 'optimistic' feel to the room. Diamond finish will retain its original appearance for longer than conventional paints and surfaces can be repeatedly cleaned rather than need to be redecorated, adding to significant cost savings over the life span of the project. What better way to demonstrate the chosen paints durability than by testing it with four-legged friends? With a multitude of animals, Blue Cross staff, a film crew and the Dulux Trade Commercial Specifier team in tow; it was time to put it to the test!

The Test

First to 'test' the paints capabilities in front of the cameras was Katie, an 18-month Staffordshire Bull Terrier Cross - although as the saying goes "never work with children or animals" nearly proved true! To the surprise of the team, Katie refused to touch the Diamond-coated walls. The next tester came in the form of Mary, an 18-month Staffie cross with plenty of energy. Mary gave an Oscar-worthy performance in just one 'take', after merrily splashing outside in the pool. Mounts of energy and several paws later, resulted in the play barn looking like a typical day with muck and dirt ground into the walls and on the floor. Finally, after rolling around in grass and sand, it was the debut of 12-month old crossbreed Doofus. Clearly the star of the show, once inside the Playbarn, he managed to create the most mess of the three dogs!

The Ultimate Test

The ultimate test using just a sponge, soap and water, it was time for the Dulux Trade team to restore the walls back to their pristine condition- using good old 'elbow grease'. Diamond's properties mean that detergent or sugar soap are not needed. Water-based stains on a Diamond surface can be easily removed with just water. Happily, thirty-minutes later, Diamond lived up to its reputation as being a very durable paint! Nicola Bishop of Blue Cross said, "Our team were amazed to see that the magnolia walls, which had previously been marked with mud, sand and grass stains, were stainless, clean and bright after what seemed like little effort to wipe them down. We were a little sceptical at first that a paint could reduce our maintenance cycles and reduce the time spent in cleaning but since the Play Barn has been painted, several of our staff have reported that they don't have to spend so much time cleaning the walls. We will be using Diamond for our next redecoration project." See the results for yourself!