Have a listen... more beautiful, more environmentally friendly and healthier living!

If you want to get down to business in your own home with a paintbrush and paint roller and go for this year’s fashionable colours, choose shades of blue, purple or red. They stand for variety, light-heartedness and change, and that is what many people currently desire, according to the survey. There is also a special trend colour 2023: “Digital Lavender Cream”, a light shade of purple. If this is all too gaudy for you: a nice white or less vibrant colours will also do. Once the desired shade has been determined, the next step is to choose the right products: Is the wall paint suitable for the substrate and how do you achieve an optimal result when painting? How environmentally friendly are they? And what are the health risks of painting? We talk about this with Georg Heß from the Federal Environment Agency.

You can listen to the clip here (mp3 format, 3.6 MB) // Only available in German

There is a huge variety of paints available in DIY stores and paint shops. This makes it more difficult to select suitable products, explains Georg Heß of the Federal Environment Agency.

Georg Heß: Before you buy paints, you should first find out exactly what you’re looking for: What products are available on the market? Which is the right product for my application? This allows you to minimise or exclude possible health and environmental impacts from the outset. Furthermore, the yield of the paints is also important. Otherwise, you may need considerably more paint to achieve the desired result.

Since many people spend most of their time indoors, health and well-being depend crucially on the quality of indoor air. And if you want to play it safe and also protect the environment, look out for low-emission wall paints with the Blue Angel.

Georg Heß: Products labelled in this way have been tested for their ingredients beyond the legal requirements, and thus for their environmental and health compatibility. For example, low-emission wall paints labelled with the Blue Angel must not contain any added preservatives, in other words, biocides. Under certain circumstances, they may nevertheless contain traces of these substances. You can then obtain clearer information on this by looking at the technical data sheets. The paint container must indicate where you can find these.

Sufficient ventilation during and after application of the wall paint is indispensable and strongly recommended. It is therefore recommended...

Georg Heß: …to renovate during the warm season if possible. Then you can ventilate thoroughly without the rooms cooling down too much. This way, no heating energy is wasted.

A contribution by Steffi Milk