“Washable” is a marketing word. What counts is the class on the technical data sheet, measured by a test. This guide shows how to read those lines (wet scrub resistance, contrast ratio, gloss, particle size), compares three real data sheets and says which class to look for in a kitchen, a hallway and a child’s room. It ends with how to clean a painted wall without ruining the finish.
Updated on 4 November 2026. General information, not a substitute for a technician’s assessment.
The essentials
- EN 13300 classifies interior paints. On Portuguese sheets it appears as “NP EN 13300”.
- For wet scrub resistance, class 1 is the most resistant and 5 the least. Also check the number of cycles: 200 for classes 1 to 3, 40 for classes 4 and 5.
- The contrast ratio (class 1 to 4) says how well the paint hides what is underneath. It does not measure washing.
- Gloss matters too: Rawlins writes that ease of cleaning depends on gloss as well as scrub resistance.
- The standard’s hiding figures are for a fixed spreading rate (about 7 m² per litre). On the wall, the practical spreading rate is different.
How the sheet presents the classification
A full sheet has four EN 13300 lines:
| Line | What it measures | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Gloss (EN ISO 2813) | Light reflection | “Mate total” (total matt) is up to 5 at 85° (Barbot). Mapei writes “opaco” (matt), under 10 at 85°. We did not read the standard’s full table. |
| Particle size (EN 21524) | Grain of the paint | “Fino” (fine) is under 100 µm (Mapei, Barbot). Most wall paint is fine. |
| Contrast ratio (ISO 6504-3) | Opacity at a given spreading rate | Class 1 is best. Barbot writes “class 2 = 7 m²/L at 98 % opacity”. |
| Wet scrub resistance (ISO 11998) | Wear of the film | Class 1 to 5, with loss in µm and cycles. |
Watch the spreading rate behind the opacity. CIN says the Vinylmatt class 2 is for 6.5 m²/L in two coats. Mapei gives class 1 for 6.7 m²/L. Barbot uses 7 m²/L. Do not compare “hiding class” between brands without looking at that number.
The wet scrub table
Loss of dry film thickness after scrubbing, from Rawlins Paints (the same table Barbot publishes):
| Class | Thickness loss | Cycles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | under 5 µm | 200 |
| 2 | 5 to under 20 µm | 200 |
| 3 | 20 to under 70 µm | 200 |
| 4 | under 70 µm | 40 |
| 5 | 70 µm or more | 40 |
The smaller the loss in µm, the better. Always check the cycles before comparing two classes.
Three data sheets side by side
Every line below comes from the sheets as we read them on 4 November 2026.
| Paint (sheet) | Wet scrub | Hiding | Gloss | Maker’s wording |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barbot 1302 Barbomat (Rev. 15, 12/11/2024) | Class 1, under 5 µm, 200 cycles | Class 2 | Total matt | “High scrub resistance”. For bedrooms, living rooms, hallways. |
| Barbot 1942 Tinta Plástica Mate (Rev. 01, 06/12/2024) | Class 3, 20 to 70 µm, 200 cycles | Class 2 | Total matt | “Fair washing resistance”. For exteriors of “low demand”. |
| Mapei Dursilite | Class 2, 13 µm, 200 cycles | Class 1 (over 99.5 % at 6.7 m²/L) | Matt, under 10 at 85° | “Super washable”. |
One brand sells two matt paints, one class 1 and one class 3, both “total matt”. Gloss says nothing about washing. The difference is in the scrub line. At CIN, Vinylmatt (data sheet 10-250, revised July 2026) is class 1 for scrub and class 2 for opacity.
On both Barbot sheets there is also a line called “polishing resistance” (internal test E28): it measures how much the gloss changes after rubbing, and both score class 2. This is the maker’s own test, not part of EN 13300.
Which class for which room
The standard does not say which class goes in which room. What follows is our reading of the sheets, not an official rule.
| Room | What the wall suffers | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Grease, steam, frequent cleaning | Class 1 or 2. See also which paint for each room. |
| Hallway and stairs | Hands, bags, leaning | Class 1 or 2 |
| Child’s room | Fingers, felt tips, food | Class 1 or 2, matt or a satin that is easy to clean |
| Living room, adult bedroom | Little wear | Class 2 is enough. Class 3 only if you almost never clean |
| Ceiling | Dust, almost never washed | Hiding matters more than scrub |
A paint sold as “for bathrooms” may be class 3. As the room-by-room guide notes, “for bathrooms” does not mean “more scrub resistant”.
Brillux (Germany) writes that a coating of class 3 or worse must not be declared “cleanable”. We did not read the standard, so we cannot confirm the rule. Take it as a warning: with class 3 or worse, do not expect to scrub hard.
Three warnings
- The class is for the white. Barbot writes that the data are “according to certificates and tests on the white”. We found no data by colour.
- Gloss and look. A scrubbed matt can end up shiny in that spot, which is what Barbot’s “polishing resistance” tries to measure. For how gloss and colour change a room, see colour, light reflectance and choosing paint.
- Scrub and VOC are different things. The scrub class says nothing about VOCs: see paint VOC and the label. For paint families, see paint types.
Roadmap for choosing
- Decide how much the wall will be cleaned.
- Open the data sheet, not just the label. Look for “NP EN 13300”.
- Note the scrub class and the cycles (200 or 40).
- Note the hiding class and the spreading rate it was measured at.
- Compare the practical spreading rate on the sheet with your area in the calculator and the guide how much paint do I need.
Cleaning without ruining the finish
The sheets we read give no instructions for cleaning a painted wall. We only saw a search summary of idealista.pt (we could not open the page, error 403) advising a dry cloth first, a soft slightly damp cloth with diluted neutral detergent, no abrasive sponges and a test in a hidden spot. That is press, not a manufacturer. As our own caution:
- Dust with a dry cloth.
- Test in a hidden corner.
- Use water with a little neutral detergent and a soft cloth, without rubbing the same spot over and over.
- Dry with a cloth.
- Stain that will not come off: see painting ceilings and stains and peeling paint and stains.
If paint comes off on the cloth, stop: the film may be weak.
What we could not confirm
- The text of EN 13300. It is a paid standard and we did not read it. Values come from data sheets and two manufacturer pages. A 2022 edition exists and we did not confirm whether it changed these limits.
- The limits for hiding classes 2 to 4 and the gloss grades. The pages we read give different or incomplete values. We only quote what the sheets write.
- How long new paint should wait before being washed. We only saw intervals between coats (6 to 12 hours at Mapei, 4 hours at Robbialac Viplad), not a curing period.
- The class of your colour. Sheets describe the white.
- Whether a particular cleaning product is safe for each paint.
Sources (read on 4 November 2026)
- Barbot, Data sheet 1302 Barbomat, Rev. 15, 12/11/2024 (gloss, grain, hiding, wet scrub, polishing).
- Barbot, Data sheet 1942 Tinta Plástica Mate, Rev. 01, 06/12/2024.
- Barbot, Price list 2026, class legend: cited through a search summary and our room-by-room guide; the file was too large to open today.
- Mapei, Dursilite data sheet (EN 13300 classification, application).
- CIN, Vinylmatt technical bulletin 10-250, revised July 2026.
- Robbialac, Viplad data sheet (drying times; no EN 13300 classes).
- Rawlins Paints, EN 13300 (scrub classes 1 to 5).
- Brillux, EN 13300 standard (gloss, hiding, warning on “cleanable”).
- Baukobox, Wet abrasion interior paints (five classes, class 1 most resistant; no thresholds).
- idealista.pt, Segredos para limpar as paredes: cited through a search summary, not read directly.