I bought a tin of harvest brown as I had used this successfully in the past. I had to return it as the paint had a pronounced orange tint to it. I contacted Cuprinol and was told that it was a rogue b... See more
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Find the right products to enhance your garden wood and furniture at Cuprinol. We have paints and treatments for sheds, fences, decking, buildings and more.
Akzonobel Building, Petersfield Avenue, SL2 5DS, Slough, United Kingdom
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I purchased several cans of Cuprinol Garden Shades in different colors for several different garden projects. When I started using the first of the paint it seemed to be reasonably viscose and covered well after 2 coats. I had to stop projects and store remaining paint, at least 2 cans of paint were unopened (2.5l cans of each). These were stored under recommended conditions for 5 months, on opening them they were both watery and despite spending a lot of time stirring them they still didn't thicken enough to be suitable for purpose. I am extremely disappointed with this and would appreciate your help in resolving this.

Reply from Cuprinol
I really wish that I had seen these reviews before I bought two tubs of Forget Me Not to paint my summer house and it's so runny it's un-useable. You can only put a tiny quantity on the brush otherwise it drips everywhere. It's like putting a thin blue wash over the wood. It will take forever to paint a 12' x 11' shed. And how many coats will I need. Awful paint. And yes I have stirred the paint until I'm "blue" in the face. And it keeps separating into two shades of pale blue.
I had always used Ducksback on all our fences, raised beds and boarders and it had that nice waxy feel about it, but in the last year, every 5l can i have bought and used is like water, absolutely useless. I have 2 x 5l cans unused and sealed should they wish to test the contents.

Reply from Cuprinol
Gutted. I have been using Ducksback on my garden, which is a sea of timber covering fences, steps and decking for several years and always been delighted. This year is a disaster! I bought 2 of their largest containers and they have washed away within 2/3 months of application. My garden looks an unloved mess. The formula must have been played about with because what I have left is useless
I got the Autumn Brown Ducksback in March 21 for the garden fence, it needed repainting in March 22 and I am looking at the fence now in Feb 23 and it needs redoing. It has washed off at the top of every fence panel due to rain from the trees above. This product is a waste of time. How do you claim on their 5 year guarantee? Footnote It is now 29 June 2023 and I am still waiting for a reply from Cuprinol.

Reply from Cuprinol
Bought lots of Cuprinol Ducksback (silver copse colour), what I thought was a quality paint and not the cheapest. It went on ok and had the recommended 3 x coats. Only 8 months after I’d painted my fence and it looks absolutely awful. My fence has gone green and the paint is flaking off.
Took photos and contacted AkzoNobel who were not interested and claimed it was the wrong type of paint for my fence, which it is not! Total waste of money.
So much for the 5 year all weather protection.
I need to re-paint my shed - originally done 17 years ago with Shades and still not bad - but I read the reviews and was wary of the new Shades formula. I ordered a 2.5l tin of Summer Damson listed as 2017 - which is fine (thick and plasticy) plus a 5l tin of Forget me not listed as 2018 - it is like water. I put a bit on the old colour and it is like painting with tinted water. I am returning it at a cost of £2.89 and will have to think again. I am astonished that a company with a reputation like Dulux has the nerve to continue to produce such rubbish! It is not fit for purpose! Not sure what to do next as I really need a good quality light blue shed paint!
I used to love this paint but nowadays it’s bloody awful, so runny and rubbish to paint with leaving nasty drips everywhere, shocking Cuprinol.

Reply from Cuprinol
Don’t waste your money. I purchased 4 cans (20 litres) of garden shades natural stone that was applied over 2 coats of undercoat on my new garden room. This paint is so thin and watery that it took 3 coats to achieve the desired look as advertised. After only 4 weeks of being applied, it has already started showing signs of wear as it chips off with only the slightest of knocks or rubbing exposing the undercoat. I’ve been left with no other choice now but to use an oil based paint to completely re-paint the entire cabin. Sadly anything else water based would be useless due to the poor adhesion of the Cuprinol.
My message for Cuprinol; this is not helping the environment if your customers are being forced to purchase multiple cans to compensate for the poor quality paint that other brands are excelling at. I’m now out of pocket as are many others who have left negative reviews so the only winner here is Cuprinol who are getting richer due to customers having to buy more substandard paint.
I spent 5 cans of 9 litre Cuprinol Ducksback silver copse fence paint to paint my wooden fence which was painted 4 years ago using the same paint in autumn gold colour.
4 cans of 5 litre Ducksback had been used to paint the same fence 4 years ago.
I applied one coat over on the first day, I applied another 4 coats on the following two days leaving at least 4 hours drying time between the coats. All together 5 coats have been applied. The weather conditions were dry not damp or rainy and the outside temperature was 15-20 degrees C when I applied each coat.
Looks like my fence needs at least 2 more coats. I have already contacted Cuprinol about the issue but I have not been given a reasonable response.
This paint is rubbish, don’t waste your hard earned money on it.

Reply from Cuprinol
I recently bought a tub of Ducksback from Travis Perkins to paint a new,treated 6x4 garden shed which is used for hens. I painted two coats of Ducksback on the shed assuming it would then be waterproof. I'm afraid to say it has been utterly useless from the first rain we had since it was painted,two days after we purchased the shed.. The inside of the shed is completely saturated and the Ducksback has had no waterproofing effect whatsoever.It has been a complete waste of money.

Reply from Cuprinol
Used cuprinol garden shades for many years with great results but this year I bought a tin for arbour and straight away noticed how watery it was I started to brush it on but I might as well been using tap water definitely not the same consistency as previous years very disappointing as it isn't cheap

Reply from Cuprinol
I used Cuprinol Garden Shades in Natural Stone. This product is awful to apply. Runny like water, don’t get much coverage and 1-2 coats is still not enough. It took 6 5ltr tins to do my small garden fences at two coats. Still needs another coat really. I gave it two stars because the end result colour is lovely… but mighty expensive £240 in total on this paint to do a small garden.

Reply from Cuprinol
Bought Cuprinol Ducksback in black to paint rough cut sleepers.
Paint was runny, applied two coats as recommended. Started to peel within a week after a rain shower.
I’ve used Cuprinol products for many years and it’s always been reliable, this product is awful. It’s not up to Cuprinol’s standard, should be ashamed.
I’m now looking for an alternative product.
K
Bought this based on great reviews from father-in-law who has used it for years. Agree with many others that something must have changed, it's like water. Two coats does nothing over wood, almost looks like one of those shabby chic distressed paint jobs.
Tried paint sprayer and brush, neither work at all, it literally drips off the brush before you can get to the wall.
Bought four cans and has made painting our new summer house an absolute chore.
Recently bought Cuprinol ducks back paint what a waste of time and money as fast as you paint a panel it’s disappeared 4 coats later and still patchy customer service reskin you should water test your panels first and possibly sand them what a utter joke never in 40 years of painting them have we ever had to do this don’t waste your money
Bought a tin of Red Cedar wood preserver which turned out to be a milky colour and had to go back. The paint in the replacement tin becomes blotchy once it's on leaving blobs and vacant spots. Used to be a good product but not now.
I’m using Cuprinol white daisy for inside my new shed. It’s dreadful paint. I’ve always used Cuprinol before and it was never watery like this! Outside I have Seagrass colour and it has covered ok with 2 coats. I have had to order more White daisy paint and I really wish I’d never used it. Won’t use Cuprinol ever again.
Cuprinol garden shades Pale Jasmine. So disappointing, am using it for the inside of a summerhouse, thought it would take me a day or two. On the third coat it's nowhere near covering, might as well use milk, its so thin and splashes everywhere so can't load the brush properly and takes forever. Don't even mention how difficult it is to do the ceiling.
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