Clare Wilson, head of international sales at Farrow & Ball, a British manufacturer of traditional papers and paint, recently introduced the company's line of environmentally friendly paints, primers and finishes to Hong Kong (they're available exclusively at Altfield Interiors).
How did the company get its start?
The company was founded in the 1940s in Dorset by chemists John Farrow and Richard Ball as a supplier of industrial paint to the Ministry of Defence for combat vehicles and to Ford Motors. It soon expanded to interior paints. Because our formulations have on average 30 per cent more pigment than many other modern manufacturers', our colours have greater depth. Every formula is kept in an archive, so any discontinued colour can be mixed on request. All our mixing is done in-house. With a colour tolerance of 0.5, which is twice as exacting as the industry standard, you won't have mismatched batches.
What prompted the shift to water-based paints from oil-based paints?
Besides our general belief in environmentally responsible practices - from raw materials and energy use to waste management and distribution - there are two pieces of legislation we have addressed. We have acted ahead of the 2010 deadline for an EU directive that significantly lowers the limit of volatile organic compounds (VOC) contained in decorative paints. In July 2008 we launched our first eco-finish. Tested against the US Environmental Protection Agency's standards [which Hong Kong has adopted], our paints - aside from one primer - are classified as zero-VOC'. By the end of this year, we will have moved entirely into water-based paints.
Are Farrow & Ball environmentally friendly paints suitable for Hong Kong?