Mylar vs white paint

Which is better Mylar emergency blankets OR white paint? And what kind of white paint would you use? Flat white,hi gloss,semi gloss what would you use?

Mylar is better. However, it is expensive and a PIA. Get FLAT white paint.

flat white paint is better than mylar....better in every respect imho, less expensive, easier to work with and more reflective.

mylar is better 95 to 98% reflective where white paint is 88% reflective. flat white is what you want. if its your first grow or new to growing i would go with paint. but in the long run you pay money for the lights and electric to run it. So you dont want to rip your self off by not getting the full use of the light you pay for.

mike4c4 said:

mylar is better 95 to 98% reflective where white paint is 88% reflective. flat white is what you want. if its your first grow or new to growing i would go with paint. but in the long run you pay money for the lights and electric to run it. So you dont want to rip your self off by not getting the full use of the light you pay for.

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While I've seen studies regarding mylar being more reflective I didnt really see any gains using it vs flat paint. Could have been my setup though.

I'm gonna go with the flat white seems easier to deal with and serves the purpose thanks for your time!

Mylar would be higher in reflectivity if it had the consistency of paint.

Mylar is virtually impossible to keep perfectly smooth like paint on an already smooth surface, you would have to glue the entire back and roll it down with a roller to start pushing up towards +90%. Waste of time.

I would at least do Reflextix or something at least if I was going to consider Mylar.

How large of an area are you covering?
A Coleman Mylar emergency blanket from the camping department is only 2 bucks, and is plenty to cover a small area (4' x 6 1/2').
Compare that to what you would need, a pint? Quart of white paint to cover your area.
To me, the Mylar does better as far as reflecting, and is removable if you decide to move or change.

Flat white paint is the way to go. You can find it now as most dollar generals if you have one in your area even at some family dollar stores. easy to apply easy to clean and no wrinkles. Best bet in my opinion.

I have started my fist grow qith white paint

I finally took down my mylar because my wireless thermometer/hygrometer would not work through it. I hated that shit anyway, go with paint.

I got some flat bright white at a paint store and they shot a bunch of additional "Titanium White" pigment in for me and it is blinding white.

why not those reflective blankets ? Can get them for like a few dollars on fee bay....Get some spray adhesive, and you're good to go....It will be so bright you might want to put some shades on

Those reflective blankets are they easy to clean? What chemical is best to clean mylar that won't hinder its reflectivity? What happens to reflectivity of mylar when it is creased or wrinkled; go up or down?

hmm i did my first grow with Flat white and seemed ok then when we setup a better grow it had mylar was exspensive though enything reflective is good its wether you splash the cash for exspensive or cheap the choice is yours id say

If you have funds to spend buy the mylar. Its more of a pain but you do reflect a little more light then with flat white paint.

However. It will also depend on the size room you are working with. Larger rooms or even medium sized rooms I would really go with flat white pain. Anything smaller then say 4x4 I would use the mylar.

in all reality. Big commercial growers either use Panda Film or paint. They may have some mylar here and there but there rooms are not fully wrapped in mylar.
It comes down to cost. For the price of white paint compared to mylar and the amount of light you are going to gain using mylar for the price. It is more cost effective to use white paint over the mylar.
As you will only be gaining a small amount of light reflection using mylar over flat white paint.

I would say that 8 out of 10 people will choose flat white paint over mylar. Price being the biggest factor.

Hope some of this helps you out.

Note that mylar reflects heat (infrared) while flat white paint does not.

In my (basement) grow room, I have painted the walls flat white and have reflectix attached to the wall with Velcro. I keep the reflectix up in the winter to help keep the room warm, and take it down in the summer to keep things cool.

yes my option is to stick with mylar hence the reason infrared blocks heat signals but hey hoe its stricly upto what u choose

Mylar is for idiots. It's only 95%+ reflective when it is PERFECTLY flat. Which is impossible to achieve in any real world use. Not to mention the shit is practically designed to fold, bend, and rip.

Get the slightest crease in it and instead of reflecting light it focuses heat into hot spots.

Flat white paint or any diffuse(matte) white surface is far better than any type of reflective sheeting. The diffuse reflection completely eliminates hot spots and reflects more light than mylar in practical applications.

PS> Check out Orca Film. It's heavy duty paper like material that works the same as panda film but is 100% diffuse and much "tougher", making it easier to hang and more resistant to damage.

What about a box with actual mirrors in? Anyone tried actual mirrors?

Mylar is much more reflective, I don't know how and why people are having problems installing it. Having troubles doing a two man job by yourself shouldn't warrant a "zomg too hard". Just get someone to help you. Find some cardboard, then cut 1x1 inch squares, use thumb tacks, have a friend hold it, pull it tight and tada, wrinkle free.

Although white paint has way more pros than cons.

Paint Pros:

Easy to clean the walls once painted.
Cheap
Easy to apply

Mylar pros:
Can remove it
Much more reflective

It appears that a lot of people on this forum use the actual size of the grow room to determine if they use mylar or white paint. If the room is a huge 10x10 then paint would be much more efficient and easier. But for smaller closets, grow boxes,etc mylar.

Keep in mind if you're covering a small area, there's a fuck ton of it on a roll, so once you get a roll you'll be able to have enough for several times. It basically all depends if you want to spend the extra money, and have a bit more hassles for 10% more light reflection. Also, the good quality mylar is much thicker and slightly easier to work with and it doesn't tear as long as you do the tiny squares of cardboard and thumbtack trick.