Let’s face it: walls take a beating. Whether it’s kids with sticky fingers, pets with unbridled enthusiasm, or my bandmates destroying the walls with amplifiers, our walls suffer daily wear and tear. As professionals, we always look to improve our game as better products hit the market. We were in an area without a local Benjamin Moore store, so our experience with that paint has been limited. That is until Grauer’s Paint & Decorating opened in Mechanicsburg a few months ago. We were thrilled to discover this store carries the ENTIRE line of Benjamin Moore products, including their more specialized paints. Enter Benjamin Moore Scuff-X, the paint that claims, “Not today, scuffs!” After using it, we felt this one was worth a full review for a handful of reasons…
What is Benjamin Moore Scuff-X?
Benjamin Moore Scuff-X is sold as a high-performance interior paint with one main mission: to resist scuffs like a pro. This isn’t your grandma’s latex paint. No, Scuff-X uses proprietary technology—science stuff that sounds fancy—to ensure your walls stay looking fresh. Even in the most action-packed areas of the house (in my case, near the ping pong table and wine fridge), Benjamin Moore is promising this paint will make us happy. Available in matte, eggshell, satin finishes, and semi-gloss, it caters to many needs, whether you’re going for a great-looking aesthetic, or simply “I need to be able to scrub muddy paw prints .”
Price Point: Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room.
As a professional painter, I am much more concerned about top performance than the price point. Which is a good thing for Benjamin Moore Scuff-X because this paint is not cheap. We needed it to meet all of its durability claims and several other criteria to justify the cost. We looked at ease of application, consistency, aesthetic appearance, coverage, and, of course, durability.
The durability is no joke.
Scuff-X’s durability is its claim to fame, and for good reason. This product is second to none when being applied to previously painted walls that are pole-sanded for prep. We have used this paint in an eggshell finish over existing wall paint in multiple sheens (builders flat and stain), and were impressed in both cases. Scuff-X digs in deep and provides a consistent sheen that would require a direct hit from a heavy object to create any visible damage. A damp rag was all it took to wipe off dye from our jeans – which is a very difficult stain for lesser paints.
We were particularly impressed with the evenness of the sheen over builders-grade flat paint. We used this in a 2-story foyer with heavy side lighting aka “problem area,” and the finish was buttery smooth. In fact, the ONLY spot we had any sheen unevenness was in areas patched with drywall spackle by a drywall crew. We were able to eliminate this flashing by using 3M small and large hole repair spackling compound. We recommend this patching underneath all brands of paint since it has a “primer” built in. Which leads us to the next subject of overall aesthetic appearance.
Scuff-X is buttery smooth,
Achieving a great aesthetic with high-quality paint over a builder’s grade/low-quality flat painting is uber-challenging. The issue of uneven absorption with poorly sealed walls is very real, and often looks patchy. The high amounts of acrylic in great paints can be detrimental since sheen builds with each coat. An uneven basecoat makes things all the more difficult for us to clean up with a fresh coat. Scuff-X was the best product we have come across to address this problem by a long shot. I am not sure what magic Benjamin Moore uses in this can, but roller lines were virtually undetectable. Even in the dreaded 2-story foyer, this paint maintained a glassy look where others tend to fail. We felt this was the most underrated aspect of Scuff-X and believe it needs more attention. Especially for DIYers, this quality of the paint “melting in” is a potentially massive improvement over other top-notch paints.
Surprisingly easy to apply (because who has time for complicated?)
Once again, achieving a great-looking finish can be very difficult with high-quality/high-acrylic paints. Some of them are very extremely thick and dry like rubber, some require a ton of effort to work in, and some take forever to dry. However, Scuff-X glides on smoothly, whether you’re using a brush, roller, or sheer determination (DIYers I’m looking at you).. Death Valley (where the brush strokes meets the roller line) blended in fairly seemelessly. Coverage is excellent; one coat provided exceptional coverage in a similar color, and a 2nd coat was only needed to even out the sheen. In fact, if we had been painting an apartment with a slightly lower standard, we probably would have stopped after a single coat.
And the best part? It dries quickly. You’re not stuck waiting around for paint to dry – literally. It’s perfect for those of us who are trying to make a living painting (time is money!), or weekend warriors who are trying to finish in time for the big game (everyone else in America).
Eco and nose friendly. Somehow.
While is is difficult for me to fathom, Scuff-X is low VOC and has very little odor. And it works GREAT! Despite manufacturer claims, this an incredibly difficult combination to achieve, and this paint may be best in class. The finish is rock-hard like an epoxy or urethane, with a fraction of the smell. Dry time or performance typically suffers for an eco-friendly product, but not in this case..
Final Thoughts: Scuff-X is a walls best friend.
Benjamin Moore Scuff-X is a paint with a ton of personality. It’s tough, forgiving during application, looks GREAT, and dries tough as nails. This paint is well worth the spend for any area you care enough about to pay decent money for paint.. As professional painters, this includes pretty much any area that does not call for a sheen Scuff X doesn’t come in (ceilings are typically painted flat). And the coverage is good enough that the elusive single-coat coverage may be a realistic possiblity in a color that is not drastically different.
Sure, it won’t do the painting for you (we can dream), but the results with Scuff-X are super satisfying as is the peace of mind that comes with knowing your walls will stand up to a good scrub in the case of an emergency. I recommend giving Scuff-X a try—your walls might just thank you.
Thank you for reading our blog “Scuff-Free Walls? Testing Benjamin Moore’s Scuff-X Claims. A Product review–” . Please feel free to reach out to us for estimates – and also if you are a DIYer and just have some questions we can answer in an email. We are happy to talk shop about all things painting, even if you are planning to do a job yourself!
