Best Paint Brands in Australia: Dulux vs Taubmans vs Wattyl

By The Maestro Painting Team · Published 30 August 2026

Ask ten painters which brand is best and you will get ten answers, most of them shaped by which trade centre is closest to the depot. The truthful answer is less satisfying but far more useful: within the major Australian manufacturers, the differences at equivalent price tiers are modest, and the tier you choose matters much more than the brand. A premium Taubmans product will comfortably outperform a budget Dulux one, and vice versa. This guide explains what each brand is genuinely good at, where the real quality line sits, and how to choose without getting talked into something you do not need.

The brands at a glance

Dulux

Dulux is the brand almost every Australian homeowner names first, and its dominance is partly earned and partly logistical. The colour range is the most widely recognised in the country, the fan decks are everywhere, and any painter in any suburb can get a tin tinted within twenty minutes. That availability is a real practical advantage on a job, especially when you run short late in the day or need a touch-up months later.

On performance, Dulux's premium interior and exterior lines are genuinely good. The tinting consistency between batches is reliable, which matters more than people realise when you are coating a large area over several days. Where Dulux gets a mixed reputation is at the value end of the range, which is perfectly adequate for a ceiling or a rental turnaround but is not what you want on a hallway wall.

Best for: homeowners who want a specific well-known colour, jobs where matching an existing Dulux finish matters, and anyone who values being able to buy more of exactly the same product for years to come.

Taubmans

Taubmans has built its reputation on washability, and in our experience that reputation holds up. The Endure interior range in particular is the product we reach for when a client has young children, a busy hallway or a stairwell that collects handprints. Scuffs that would burnish a softer finish tend to wipe off cleanly.

The colour range is smaller than Dulux's but perfectly comprehensive for most projects, and the tinting is solid. Coverage on the premium lines is good, though some painters find the roll slightly heavier than the Dulux equivalent, which is a matter of preference rather than quality.

Best for: family homes, high-traffic interiors, rentals where durability matters more than colour breadth, and anywhere you expect walls to be cleaned regularly.

Wattyl

Wattyl is an older Australian name that quietly holds a strong position in exterior work. Solagard has been specified on Australian exteriors for decades and is well suited to the conditions, which is a meaningful thing to say about a coating expected to survive an Australian summer on a north-facing wall.

Across the rest of the range Wattyl tends to sit slightly under Dulux and Taubmans on price at comparable tiers, which makes it a sensible option when budget is tight but you still want a proper product rather than a builders-grade one. The colour range is respectable and the trade support is good.

Best for: exterior repaints, larger projects where the price difference across many tins adds up, and homeowners who want solid performance without paying for the most premium tier.

Haymes

Haymes is Australian family-owned and sits firmly at the premium end. Painters who use it tend to be loyal to it, usually citing how it lays off, how the deep colours look, and how low the odour is. On a high-end interior where the finish will be scrutinised in raking afternoon light, it is a very good choice.

The trade-off is availability. You will not find it in every hardware store, and that matters if you need a top-up tin on a Sunday. For planned projects with a specified colour scheme, that is rarely a problem.

Best for: premium interiors, deep and saturated colours, heritage restorations and jobs where finish quality is the priority over convenience.

Where the real quality line sits

Here is the thing worth internalising: every major brand runs three broad tiers, and the gap between tiers within a brand is far wider than the gap between brands at the same tier.

On a typical three-bedroom home, upgrading from mid-range to premium across the whole interior might add $400 to $800 in materials. Against a total job cost that often runs several thousand dollars, and against the labour cost of repainting years earlier than you needed to, it is one of the better value decisions available. Our Sydney painting cost breakdown puts those material figures in the context of the full job.

Matching the product to the surface

Brand loyalty matters far less than choosing the correct product type. These are the distinctions that actually change outcomes.

• Ceilings. A dedicated flat ceiling paint. Flat hides imperfections, and ceilings are not touched, so premium tiers are wasted here.
• Interior walls. Low-sheen acrylic is the Australian standard. Matt for a softer look in formal rooms, semi-gloss only in wet areas if you want the extra wipeability.
• Trim and doors. A water-based enamel. Modern water-based enamels have largely replaced oil for interior trim because they hold their whiteness rather than yellowing, and they dry faster.
• Bathrooms and laundries. A product with mould inhibitors and good moisture tolerance. This matters across Sydney's more humid months.
• Exterior walls. A premium exterior acrylic formulated for Australian UV. This is the one place we would always argue against saving money.
• Roofs. A dedicated roof membrane system, which is a different animal entirely from wall paint. See our roof restoration service for how that system is built up.
• Feature and decorative finishes. Specialty brands come into their own here. Our decorative finishes work often uses products the big three do not make.

The practical difference between interior and exterior formulations is worth understanding before you buy anything, and we cover it in our post on why interior and exterior paints are not interchangeable.

What Sydney conditions ask of your paint

Sydney is a demanding place for exterior coatings, and it asks different things in different parts of the city. Across greater Sydney the constants are high UV through summer and a humid subtropical pattern that encourages mould growth on shaded southern walls.

Closer to the water, on the eastern beaches and up the northern peninsula, salt-laden air adds a corrosive load that attacks metal fixings, fascia and any coating with a weak bond. Homes there benefit meaningfully from a premium exterior acrylic and a full primer system. Further inland and out west, the binding constraint is heat: prolonged high temperatures and stronger thermal movement in render and cladding, which rewards a coating with good flexibility.

None of that points to a particular brand. It points to buying the premium exterior line of whichever brand you prefer rather than the entry-level one, and applying it as a complete system. You can see the products we specify on our materials page, and the regions we cover on the service areas page.

Practical buying advice

• Buy the system, not just the topcoat. Use the manufacturer's matching primer or undercoat. Mixing systems is the most common cause of avoidable adhesion problems.
• Test in your own light. Sample pots on the actual wall, viewed morning and evening, beat any fan deck. Our guide to choosing colours that last covers how to do this properly.
• Do not colour-match across brands if you can help it. The match will be close but rarely exact, and the difference shows on a large wall.
• Check the data sheet, not the marketing. Spread rate, recoat time and recommended dry film thickness tell you more than any claim on the front of the tin.
• Note the batch number. Keep it with the leftover tin for future touch-ups.
• Buy enough in one go. Tinting between batches can vary very slightly, so ordering the full quantity at once is safer on large areas.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which paint brand is best in Australia?

There is no single best brand. Dulux, Taubmans, Wattyl, Haymes and British Paints all make products that perform well when the right tier is matched to the right surface. The product range within a brand matters far more than the brand name on the tin, and the premium line from any major manufacturer will outperform the budget line from all of them.

Is Dulux actually better than Taubmans?

Not inherently. Dulux has the widest distribution and the best-known colour range, while Taubmans is well regarded for its washability and its Endure interior line. At equivalent price tiers the performance gap is small, so the decision usually comes down to colour availability and which product suits the specific surface.

Is expensive paint worth the extra money?

Usually yes on walls that get touched, washed or exposed to sun. Premium paint has higher pigment and binder content, so it hides better, levels more smoothly and holds up longer. On a ceiling that nobody touches, a mid-range product is perfectly sensible and the saving is real.

Can I mix brands on the same job?

You can, but stay within one brand's system for any single surface. Using one manufacturer's primer under another's topcoat voids most warranties and occasionally causes adhesion problems. Using Brand A on walls and Brand B on trim is fine because they are separate systems.

Are trade paints different from the retail tins?

Sometimes. Trade ranges are generally formulated for application speed, coverage and durability rather than shelf appeal, and trade centres carry larger pack sizes and a wider selection of primers. Many premium retail products are identical in formulation to their trade equivalents.

Which brand is best for Australian exterior conditions?

All the major brands make exterior acrylics engineered for Australian UV levels. What matters more than brand is choosing a premium exterior line rather than a budget one, and applying it as a full system with the matching primer, particularly on coastal and sun-exposed elevations around Sydney.

Does the colour I choose depend on the brand?

Colours can be colour-matched across brands, but the match is rarely exact because tinting systems and base formulations differ. If you have fallen in love with a specific colour from one brand's fan deck, it is usually best to buy that brand's product rather than asking another to replicate it.

How long should a quality paint job last?

With a premium product applied correctly over proper preparation, interior walls commonly hold up seven to ten years and exteriors eight to twelve, less on coastal or heavily sun-exposed elevations. Preparation and coat count influence lifespan at least as much as which brand is in the tin.

The part nobody wants to hear

The most expensive paint in Australia, applied over a dirty, chalking, unprimed wall, will fail faster than a mid-range product applied over a properly prepared one. Brand choice is a genuine variable, but it is a smaller one than preparation and coat count. If your budget is finite, spend it on preparation first, coat count second and brand tier third. That order will serve you better than any brand comparison.

Not sure which product suits your home? Talk to us about your project and we will recommend a specific product and system for each surface, explain the cost difference plainly, and let you decide. We handle interior work and full exterior repaints across Sydney.