Vegan Paint (Brands and Types)

published on March 18, 2025

You’ve swapped leather for pleather and you’re using cruelty-free bath products. But have you ever thought about what’s in your paint?

If you’re an ethical vegan, read on to discover everything you need to know about vegan paint. This guide will cover which paints are vegan and which brands to avoid.

(click the links below to skip to each section.)

TLDR Top Picks
What Is Vegan Paint?
Vegan Paint Options
Paint Brands to Avoid
Frequently Asked Questions
Contact Me
Similar Articles

I will be constantly updating this list as I hear back from more brands. If you’d like to contribute information to this post, please reach out.

Top Picks (the TLDR)

If you don’t have time to read all of the information about vegan paint, here are my top choices. Note that Liquitex Ivory Black color is not vegan, but all other colors should be fair game.

Spray Paint: Ironlak
Wall Paint: Benjamin Moore Aura
Craft Paint: Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic*

* The following Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic colors are not vegan: Ivory Black, Paynes Grey, Neutral Grey V5, Perm green Deep, Prussian Blue Hue, Hookers Green Deep Hue.

Sometimes paint companies will add animal-derived ingredients to their paints. And some of them even test on animals. These tests are really sad. If you’re an animal lover, I know you don’t want to contribute to this.

What animal ingredients are in paint?

Non-vegan paint can include any of the following ingredients. If you plan to email a paint company to ask if their products are vegan, ask them about all of the following ingredients.

Casein: This milk protein is sometimes used as a binder in paint.
Beeswax: Occasionally, paint can contain beeswax for texture or gloss.
Shellac: You might have heard me mention how shellac is an ingredient in non-vegan sprinkles. This ingredient from insects makes sprinkles shiny and crunchy. Paints use it for shine too.
Animal bone char: You know how they use bone char in the sugar industry to make sugar pure white? Well, the paint industry sometimes uses it to get black pigments.
Animal-Derived Glycerin: We vegans know there are 2 kinds of glycerin. Vegetable-based is what we usually find in our plant-based soaps. Welp, there’s also animal-derived glycerin that is a stabilizer in some paints.
Gelatin: Taken from animal bones and horse hooves, gelatin is a binder in some paints. The binder helps to hold pigment particles together and adhere them to a surface.
Isinglass: Derived from the bladders of certain fish, you’ll find it in restorative painting more than in normal paints.
Ox Gall: Ox gall is bile, usually obtained from the gallbladder of cows. It is a wetting agent and dispersant in watercolor painting to improve paint flow and prevent beading.
Shellac: Taken from bugs, shellac is rarely still used in paint. Now, it’s more commonly used as a primer and a sealer.
Carmine: Taken from insects for its red pigment, carmine is seldom, if ever, used in paint any longer. You can still find it in makeup though.
Lanolin: A secretion from sheep, lanolin is a dispersing agent to improve paint handling and drying time.

Vegan Paint Options

AFM Safecoat

AFM Safecoat makes vegan wall paint, primer, stains, sealers, wood oil, grout sealants, adhesives, and caulk. You can buy a few of their products using my affiliate links below.

The Q&A section on the Green Building Supply website, says the following about AFM Safecoat paint and primer.

AFM does not test on animals. They also have a published list of ingredients. The products are not marketed as vegan, but nothing in them is animal or animal byproduct derived.

Use the AFM Safecoat website to find out where to buy it near you.

Ironlak

All Ironlak acrylic spray paint is vegan and cruelty-free. I buy mine at Michaels Arts and Crafts. I used the pink color called Potion to paint this desk.

Kilz

Kilz makes vegan wall paint & primer, stains, sealants, adhesives, and caulk.

They emailed me in 2025 and confirmed this. Their email said the following. Kilz does not use animal by-products, nor do we test our products on animals.

Buy Kilz Tribute paint & primer on Amazon or some of their products are at Lowes and Ace Hardware.

ECOS Paint

ECOS Paint makes interior, exterior, and chalkboard paint. They also make stains and varnishes. All of their paint is vegan and cruelty-free.

The only downside to ECOS Paint is that as far as I know, you can only buy it from their website. That means you have to pay $13 for shipping, and you have to plan ahead. They do offer free shipping if you spend over $200 though!

Backdrop

All the paint that Backdrop makes is vegan and cruelty-free. They make interior paint, exterior paint, cabinet & door paint, primer, and wallpaper. The only things that I don’t like is that the colors are very limiting. They don’t make purple paint, for instance. If you saw my kitchen remodel, you might have figured out that purple is my favorite color. So, I’ve never used Backdrop paint.

Like ECOS, you have to order from their website, but they say it only takes 1-3 business days to get anywhere in the U.S. or Canada.

Benjamin Moore

In 2021, Benjamin Moore interior house paint was vegan and cruelty-free. I used their Aura paint when I remodeled my kitchen. All the kitchen cabinets and the kitchen wall used Aura. I emailed them in March 2025 to make sure they’re still vegan and cruelty-free. I will update this section as soon as I hear back.

Rust-Oleum

Rust-Oleum does not test on animals.

Rust-Oleum makes many lines of spray paint. Some are vegan, and some are not. As of Jan 2025, the following are the ones that ARE vegan and cruelty-free.

American Accents 2X spray paints are all vegan
The Painter’s Touch 2X paints are all vegan

Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball makes interior and exterior house paint. They never test on animals, so they are cruelty-free. The Farrow & Ball website has a page where you can type in your zip code, and it will tell you where to find it.

95% of the products that Farrow & Ball make are vegan. They make 2 products that are NOT vegan: Casein Distemper and Soft Distemper. They contain non-vegan binders. Casein Distemper includes a milk protein, and Soft Distemper includes a product from cows.

Liquitex

Liquitex makes acrylic paints that are perfect for craft projects. They do not test on animals. Their website says the following.

Liquitex materials are not certified as vegan, and while majority do not contain animal derivatives, cross-contamination risks exist in the supply chain. Let’s break this down.

The first part of the sentence (Liquitex materials are not certified as vegan) means that they aren’t certified. That’s fine. A lot of companies do not pay for the certification but are still vegan.
The second part of the sentence (and while majority do not contain animal derivatives) means that most of their products are vegan but some are not.
The third part of the sentence (cross-contamination risks exist in the supply chain) isn’t a concern. This is a typical, cover our a*s statement. All companies say things like, may contain milk when it’s produced in a facility that also produces non-vegan products.

Liquitex has 5 product lines. Let’s look at them individually.

Soft Body Acrylics. Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics are mostly vegan with the EXCEPTION of the following colors. These colors are NOT VEGAN: Ivory Black, Paynes Grey, Neutral Grey V5, Per green Deep, Prussian Blue Hue, Hookers Green Deep Hue.
Heavy Body Acrylics. Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics are mostly vegan with the EXCEPTION of the following colors. These colors are NOT VEGAN: Ivory Black, Paynes Grey, Neutral Grey V5, Per green Deep, Prussian Blue Hue, Hookers Green Deep Hue.
Acrylics Basics. Liquitex Acrylics Basics are mostly vegan with the EXCEPTION of the following colors. These colors are NOT VEGAN: Ivory Black, Paynes Grey, Neutral Grey, Hookers Green perm Hue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna.
Acrylic Gouache. Liquitex Acrylics Gouache are mostly vegan with the EXCEPTION of the following colors. These colors are NOT VEGAN: Ivory Black, Neutral Grey No5, Neutral Grey No7, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber.
Acrylic Inks. Liquitex Acrylic Inks are all vegan.

I’ve used their Heavy Body acrylic paint for making my boards that I take my food photos on. All colors of their Heavy Body acrylic paint EXCEPT Ivory Black are vegan. Here’s a picture on one of the boards we painted using white and pink Liquitex paint.

gingerbread cake on a pink and white board

Paint Brands to Avoid

Glidden

As of March 2025, Glidden paint is not vegan.

Krylon

Krylon makes many lines of spray paint. I have been emailing with them since Jan 2025 and have yet to get confirmation, so for now, please assume their products are not vegan friendly.

Rust-Oleum

Rust-Oleum makes many lines of spray paint. They do not test on animals. However, some of their paints do contain animal products, and are therefore NOT considered vegan.

As of Jan 2025, the following lines of spray paint are NOT VEGAN.

Universal Metallic paints
Low Odor Spray Paints

Frequently Asked Questions about Vegan paint

Is vegan paint more expensive?

Vegan paint is not necessarily more expensive, but I will sometimes recommend a more expensive line, simply because it’s a better product.

Is vegan paint safe for kids and pets?

I personally look for no VOC paints, so things I recommend will be safer for kids and pets. However, not all vegan paints are low-VOC.

Can I use vegan paint on furniture and outdoor surfaces?

Benjamin Moore and Rust-Oleum make some vegan paints that are suitable for furniture and outdoor uses.

Comments or Questions?

If you have a question or a comment about this blog post, please message me (instagram or email). Sometimes companies will change their formulas so if you know something I don’t, please let me know so I’m not sharing outdated info.

Vegan Paint (Brands and Types)

Table of Contents

Top Picks (the TLDR)

What is Vegan Paint?