Owatrol Floetrol Water-Based Paint Conditioner, 1L

This is superb for mixing with water based gloss paint. Makes it flow and set more like traditional gloss. A great product and you only need a table spoonful then mix well.

No idea why it says made in France. It's a French company but the product is actually manufactured in Spain. I don't know why in the instructions they say to add 10 - 15% to a litre. What's wrong with saying add 100 - 150ml to a litre of paint? I thought I'd bought a water based tub of white gloss so I added some of this product to it. Turns out my paint was oil based (only found out when I went to clean the brushes with water, DOH!) so I thought I'd ruined it. Thankfully, no. The paint was fine and the doors, door frames and skirting boards I painted with it turned out just fab. So, it must contain some dispersants allowing it to mix with oil-based paints. Just remember to stir it frequently. And it's about £10 cheaper than the oil-based version. On the downside, however, the paint seems to take a very long time to dry, which being oil-based is expected anyway, and adds a bit of smell to the room for a few days. In any case, the results are brilliant so I will use more of this in the future. Totally recommended.

I purchased this to use with water based gloss, because it claims it extends the open time of the paint and eliminates brush strokes and roller marks. It looks very much like PVA glue and is about the same consistency as PVA. It certainly does extend the open time, you have more time to work the paint than you do without it. If you have used water based gloss, you'll know it dries really fast and you don't have a lot of time to work the paint before it starts pulling. I used it with Leyland Trade water based gloss, both with a Hamilton fully synthetic brush and with an Albany microfibre water based gloss mini roller. As for eliminating brush marks and stippling left by the roller, it failed. Expensive for what it is.

Cheaper water based gloss and satin paints often don't flow very well or keep a "wet edge" for long meaning brush marks remain visible. By adding this to those water based paints it really does help the paint flow better and gives you a wet edge for longer - brush strokes merge more and you can end up with a finish closer to oil based paints.

Thanks to all those that answered my question on using this with emulsion paint. I use light reflecting paint which shows every flaw so was getting a lot of drag where the paint was drying quickly. This made a big difference. The paint was much easier to apply and almost no drag marks. Slowed drying so I could see where I had painted on final coats. It didn't make the paint thinner and drip. I actually had to add the same amount of water. It is better than just diluting with water. It is expensive but I used less paint. Used with dulux light and space.

Excellent finish quality, it makes the paint flow more consistent. My wife loves it.

Ok if like me you were having a nightmare trying to gloss a 6 panel door with just water based gloss. You’ve probably done an Internet search on how you can prevent the paint drying too fast and how to eliminate brush marks? Well I did and I came across this stuff. I love the time you have with oil based gloss and the finish you can achieve with it but really dislike the fact that white gloss goes yellow after time and your constantly painting it again and again. So I decided to go water based but struggled like hell trying to get a good finish. Trust me, by adding approximately 20 percent of this product it helped a lot, although with a 6 panel door you still have to be quite quick whilst painting it on. I just finished one of the 7 doors I have to paint and was pleasantly surprised how much better finish you get compared to not using it. So if like me you are struggling with water based gloss I do recommend you add some of this to it. You would think that paint manufacturers would add this into their paint themselves to help us out but until they improve it I say add this to it…… good luck!

Only one I use as a decorator