Zinsser UK Reviews 

Bought Zinsser Allcoat Exterior WB (Gloss Finish) Ready Mixed Colours 1 litre White in August 2024. It said 15 years life on the tin. It wasn't. Today in 2026, two years later, the paint on my south-facing window sills is cracked and falling off. However, colour, lack of odour, ease of cleaning in water, dry in 1 hour were all good. High priced.

Oh, never thought to read the reviews on this. We know all Zinsser products are a nightmare to use but generally do what they state.
I have just used allcoat on a new front door, covers well but if your expecting a perfect finish you won't get it. As with other Zinsser products it skins of far too quickly so as you are working down the door you can't keep a wet edge and it just drags if you try to go back through with a loaded brush.
Time will tell but I am concerned as the front of my place is south facing so it's going to put this to the test.
Moving in a year so hopefully.....

Great customer service. I had a query regarding Zinsser Gardz and whether you can use it on top of previously painted surfaces, as it states on their website that it’s not suitable. I contacted customer service on Sunday, then early Monday morning I received a phone call from a very helpful lady who explained that I can use it on top of contract Matt emulsion after all, prior to painting a final top coat, she said they would be amending their on-line advice regarding previously painted surfaces, she was very helpful and reassuring.

Average paint at best, used allcoat and primer on a composite door, four coats of allcoat and the primer still shows through. Will not purchase again or recommend.

Awful on exterior wood flakes and cracks within weeks. Only good on plastic but turning my back on the full zinnser range nothing but costly trouble

This Zinsser Allcoat Paint is hands down the worst paint I have ever used! I have previously used Bedec Exterior paint for all my sash windows and wood front door and have been extremely happy with this. However over on The Paint Shed I saw the Zinsser Allcoat Exterior Satin and always thought Zinsser was a professional make. Many of the reviews I read before buying from the website were glowing, 'goes on like a dream', 'I never use anything else', 'best paint ever'. Well my first and only experience is absolutely terrible, the finish was horrible, it dried like a skin of plastic, nothing like the quality I had been led to believe.

It bubbled and even though I waited over a week to ten days to cure, it started to curl out away from the window in a few days because it was just like plastic.

I was bitterly disappointed having dropped my usual Bedec for something that when on looked frankly embarrassing.

I WILL NEVER EVER BUY ZINSSER PRODUCTS AGAIN.

Product (watertite) is useless. Painted my cellar and within a week it was cracking and flaking off. Contacted them and they were really good about it (why it's a 2 not 1 star), sent me a replacement tin but unfortunately same problem. Such a waste of money.

Absolute garbage. Used zinsser all coat exterior gloss..According to the tin it has a 15 year guarantee 😂. It hasn't even been out 15 years so not sure how they figured that out. Anyway I used it on 2 large exteriors for the same customer In the middle of summer. 1 year later it had all cracked and peeled off. Sent off samples and they came back and said moisture had caused the issue and it wasnt their fault! I spoke to a zinsser rep who said off the record that they really shouldn't be selling this product but thats obviously not the official line is it. Cost me £3000 in new paint and labour to put the jobs right in some actual decent paint. Please learn from my costly mistake and do not use this joke of a product.

I purchased Zinsser Watertite paint for a concrete cellar floor. Applied two coatings on the cellar florr. 5 months later and after two minor floods the floor paint started to come up in feathery tufts. Zinsser customer service said the paint is not meant for footfall. First of all the cellar has minimal footfall and secondly it is a paint for a floor! The label does not say do not use on floor. Customer service also said the tufts are due to salt in the flood water. So two reasons not to use Zinsser Watertite.

The Cover stain by Zinsser needs to come with a warning that if you paint on top of it with a water based emulsion then it’s likely to crack and flake. This is what happened when I painted Dulux trade Matt emulsion over the cover stain which had been on the wall for over a week to fully cure. I had to sand it all down and repaint which was very time consuming and disappointing.
The response I coat from Tor Coatings the owners of Zinsser paints was that it’s the only complaint they have received for that batch of paints. Also the timescales for their aftercare team to get back to you is frustrating and unprofessional. Three weeks the first time and now over a week and still no response.

Painter/Decorator of 45yrs and this is by far the worst paint I have ever used Zinsser All Coat Exterior Satin. After sanding down prepping and thoroughly cleaning
before starting any painting and using the recommended 2 coats the first coat was patchy and and the same with the second coat which was patchy as well Ended up giving it another coat. Thats 3 coats all in Then 6 mths down the line I found I could peel the paint off with my fingernail the paint has no adhesion whatsoever. I will never touch this paint again and only if you want to peel paint off easier than wallpaper go ahead and use it. Purchased from the paint shed in Stirling.

I've recently used Zinsser all coat exterior matt, and I must say I'm very pleased with the outcome
I've used it to paint window frames and doors on the exterior of my property, and I highly recommend the product

I used the Zinsser BIN spray can version as an MDF sealer and primer. I have used the brush on BIN paint many times before, and I thought the spray can might save time. Sadly, the can ran out quite quickly, and the nozzle clogged a number of times. I did not complete the bath panel I was painting, when the 400ml spray can should have been sufficient. I had to go out and buy a litre can of BIN paint. Into Poundland for some chuck away mini rollers as well.

Bought zinniser paint for my garage doors expecting it to be good paint, after reading about it. Painted the doors following the instructions, at first it was brilliant,loved the colour. Second coat and I was very pleased. 3 days later the paint started to bubble and crack, there were clusters of small bubbles forming on the doors it looked awful. I sanded them down and repainted but it doesn’t seem to be working and it looks like I’ve painted it with a yard brush. I will never buy zinniser paint again after the problems I have had

Zinsser allclean white emulsion paint, spent well over £400 as we were doing the whole downstairs decorating. Initially the paint went on easy even though paint is watery. Needed at least 3 coats. Well after 4 weeks the drama began the freshly painted surfaces started to show signs of splitting and got worse over a few weeks. All the time,effort and cost was not worth the product. We got intouch with zinsser and explained the situation, got advise to how to rectify, this didn't resolve the problem. The whole downstairs in our house had to be stripped by hand with a heat gun to lift the paint off the walls and ceilings, tore off in sheets. The worse paint I have ever used and will not be using this again ever. Save your money and stick with what you know. The paint doesn't expand or contract with general house humidity, paint ends up like a plastic film.
You will regret it, this is an honest and genuine review, Zinsser needs to explain that this paint is not suitable for walls, ceilings and can cause splitting on their paint tins. Save your money, waste of time.
Zinsser UK wanted paint code from tins, sample of paint tore off ceiling and walls to investigate before accepting any liable that there paint is at fault. Got a possible explanation for the disaster from zinsser that it was my walls and ceilings at fault, what in every room. Paint is not fit for purpose.

Totally regrettable purchase of very expensive ZINSSER WHITE MATT SPRAY STAIN. It may be that the product is ok – not sure yet – but the delivery system has been designed by criminally insane, low IQ, baboons. It is literally impossible – this is not an exaggeration – to use the spray dispenser button without the evil smelling product getting onto finger, and dripping and splattering in an expensive waste onto everything beneath it. The dispenser button needs to be re designed by a sensible six year old child, please

I bought Zinsser Permawhite Exterior, just 3 years ago. I had no idea that they advise a shelf life of just 3 years! I have tins that are 10 years old and still good. That said, the paint itself is still perfect and I used it no problem. The issue I had was that the bottom of the tin, after just 3 years, has rusted through and the paint leaked everywhere. It was fine until I stirred it, (I use a wooden spatula). A plug of hard paint had formed, which moved when I stirred it and the paint started coming out of the base. Luckily it was onto a plastic sheet, so no damage done. I contacted Zinsser to be told that they weren’t interested at all. They didn’t even want to see a photo of the tin base. They said after 3 years, they have no responsibility. It has been kept in a paint cupboard under the stairs, away from heat and cold. There’s not a single dent on the tin and it was thoroughly sealed. I’m shocked to find out that others have had the same issue, yet Zinsser refuses to do anything. I bought it from a trusted supplier, so I’ll go to them now, in the hope that they think it is a reasonable expectation that a tin should stay structurally sound for more than 3 years. I will not be buying Zinsser again. The paint may be ‘ok’ (I agree with others that it does not cover well; 6 coats for the stair rails and window frames), but if the tin degrades that quickly, I can’t trust it.

I used the solvent based paint for my front door. The paint is toxic! I used 3 face masks on top of each other. I was painting for about 2 hours and stopped. Today my lungs are very sore. My mouth is sore and I will never use it again. I feel poisoned. It’s bad!

I use alot of zinsser products being a Decorator... the primers are basically bullet proof if used properly although I always sand and prep although it states on alot of their products no Sanding needed..

However I'm now using zinsser allcoat in a white satin (waterbased) the blacks not bad...everything was sanded back filled washed down and used a zinsser primer to seal fillers stains etc but have put on 3 coats on a bank of windows over the primer and still grins in certain areas... luckily I have a scaffold here...

I don't know why so many companies are cheaping out with coverage of white paints but charging rolls royce money... don't get me wrong it has a nice finish and durable but the coverage is beyond poor for us professionals and it's not cheap either ... even on my account... they need to either A.Improve coverage like TODAY....or B. Reduce the cost by at least 20%

I'm glad this is one of my last ever outsides (except my own house) as I won't be using this again..

Zinsser 123 good. Zinsser BIN not so. Zinsser technical contact us advice, absolutely useless, I asked a simple question but no response. So obviously they don’t give a toss about giving technical advice. Which to me says steer clear as they don’t know,