Painting kitchen tiles: which paint, and how to make it last

Tile paint on a kitchen splashback: the paints that stick to glazed tile, the prep, the grout, why a week matters, and where painted tiles won't cope.

Updated 30 October 2026 · The Kitchen Resprayer

The short answer

You can paint kitchen wall tiles with a tile paint such as Rust-Oleum Kitchen Tile Paint, Ronseal One Coat or Dulux Tile Paint. Degrease, rinse, scuff the glaze, then two thin coats.

Treat it gently for a week while it cures. Keep it off worktops, floors and anything that sits in water, and away from direct heat: Rust-Oleum's is good to 60C.

The paints, side by side

Paint	Coats	Coverage	Before water	Price (750 ml)
Rust-Oleum Kitchen Tile Paint	2	Up to 14 m² per litre per coat	Full cure 7 days; hard dry 4 hours	£17.60 Dunelm (offer); £21.59 B&Q
Rust-Oleum Bathroom Tile Paint (two-pack)	2	Up to 14 m² per litre	Limit water for the first few days; full cure 7 days	-
Ronseal One Coat Tile Paint	1, or 2 for a big colour change	Check the tin	24 hours to dry and become waterproof	£25 Wickes
Dulux Tile Paint	1 or 2	Up to 18 m² per litre	At least 24 hours	Selected stores only
Zinsser AllCoat over a primer	1 primer + 1 or 2 top	-	At least 2 hours between coats	AllCoat £23.99 to £26.99; Bulls Eye 1-2-3 primer £18.99 (Paintersworld)

Makers' own specifications and retailers' prices, read 30 October 2026.

For the tiles round the sink, Rust-Oleum makes a two-pack bathroom tile paint with an activator, which is built for wetter places than its kitchen paint. Mix only what you'll use in five days.

Prep is most of the job

Degrease

Kitchen tiles carry a film of cooking grease the paint won't grip. Rust-Oleum says sugar soap or equivalent, then rinse with water, and white spirit if wax or oil was ever used. Dulux says hot detergent and a scourer, and a fungicidal wash where there's mould.

Scuff the glaze

A glossy tile gives paint nothing to hold. Rust-Oleum says abrade any hard or glossy surface; Dulux says sand the tiles to scuff them; Zinsser says key with a fine abrasive.

Fix the grout

Rust-Oleum's paint is fine on grout in good condition, so repair any that's cracked or crumbling first. Ronseal says clean the grout with a grout cleaner before you start.

Warm the room

Rust-Oleum says apply and dry its tile paint above 10C, and its bathroom version between 10C and 30C. A cold kitchen in winter is a real risk.

Painting, and the grout lines

Use a short to medium nap mohair roller for Rust-Oleum's paint, or a brush for Dulux's. Ronseal says work the paint into the grout lines and finish each tile with a vertical stroke. Two thin coats beat one thick one: Rust-Oleum's recoat time is four hours, Dulux's is four hours between coats.

Painting over the grout leaves the whole wall one colour, so the tiles stop reading as tiles. Ronseal and Dulux both say to redraw the lines with a grout pen once the paint is dry. Ronseal's One Coat grout pen is £14 for 15 ml at Wickes and dries in 24 hours; do the vertical lines first. If you'd rather a coloured grout, Rust-Oleum's kitchen grout paint is £11.19 for 250 ml at B&Q, covering about 3 m² in two coats.

Dry isn't cured

Rust-Oleum's kitchen tile paint is touch dry in an hour and hard dry in four, but it doesn't reach full cure until seven days, and Rust-Oleum asks you to take extra care with it in that time. Ronseal and Dulux say 24 hours before water. Until then, no wiping, no splashes, no leaning pans against it.

The same gentleness carries on afterwards. Rust-Oleum says clean painted tiles with a damp cloth only, never abrasive cleaners, and wipe food spills straight away because some foods can stain it. It's the complaint that comes up on Mumsnet from people who've painted theirs: they can't scrub them the way they used to.

Where painted tiles won't cope

Right behind the hob

Rust-Oleum's kitchen tile paint withstands direct heat only up to 60C. Ronseal says not in direct contact with heat; Dulux says not for heated surfaces. Expert Reviews found Wilko's tile paint fine behind a sink but not behind a cooker or hob.

Round the sink

Use the right product and seal after: Rust-Oleum says paint first, then run silicone over the paint, for both its tile paint and its grout paint. Its kitchen paint isn't for anything regularly sitting in water.

Worktops and floors

Rust-Oleum rules out countertops, floor tiles and quarry tiles for its kitchen tile paint; Wickes lists Ronseal One Coat as not for floor tiles or tiled work surfaces. A worktop needs its own system: see painting a worktop instead.

Inside a shower

Dulux says its tile paint isn't for inside shower areas.

Paint it, or something else?

Option	Cost	Worth knowing
Paint it yourself	£17.60 to £25 a tin, plus a grout pen	Prep, two coats, a week to cure
Have it painted	£150 to £300 for a small splashback, about 3 hours (MyJobQuote)	-
Self-adhesive glass panel over the tiles	£108.98 (Toolstation) to £125 (B&Q) for 600 x 750 mm	B&Q's is rated to 200C
Tile stickers	£16 for 4 at Dunelm	Not within 15 inches of a heat source
Tile over the old tiles	Tile £15 to £60 per m², labour £40 to £90 per m² (Trade2Base)	Only over firmly bonded tiles on a wall that can take the weight
Strip and retile	As above, plus removal; a typical splashback is 1.5 to 3 m²	Instarmac says removing old tiles is the ideal

Prices and conditions as each source published them, read 30 October 2026.

Tiling over tiles has rules. Instarmac, which makes tile adhesive, says the old tiles must be securely bonded to a sound wall that can carry both layers, with any hollow or loose tiles removed, and puts the limit at 20 kg per m² of tiling on gypsum plaster and 32 kg per m² on unskimmed plasterboard. Degrease, abrade, prime and use a flexible adhesive.

If the tiles are only part of it and the cupboards are dated too, see kitchen makeover on a budget for every change ranked by cost, or how to paint kitchen cupboards. Or send two photos for a free quote to respray the cupboards.

Where this comes from

All read 30 October 2026. Firms change their prices and terms; check the current position with them.

Common questions

Yes, wall tiles, with a tile paint or a primer system made for glazed surfaces. Clean and degrease them, rinse, and scuff a glossy glaze. Don't paint worktops, floor tiles or anything that sits in water: Rust-Oleum and Ronseal both rule those out for their tile paints.

With care. Rust-Oleum says its kitchen tile paint isn't heat-resistant but withstands direct temperatures up to 60C. Ronseal says its tile paint is fine behind a hob but can't be in direct contact with heat, and Dulux says its tile paint isn't for heated surfaces. Right behind a gas hob, a glass panel is the safer choice.

Yes, if the grout is sound. Rust-Oleum says its tile paint is fine on grout in good condition, and to repair it first if not. Ronseal and Dulux both say to paint over the grout, then redraw the lines with a grout pen once the paint is dry, after 24 hours.

None of the tile paint makers read for this page puts a number of years on it. What they do say is how to make it last: thorough prep, two thin coats, a full week to cure for Rust-Oleum, and a damp cloth rather than abrasive cleaners afterwards.

Not with a dedicated tile paint: Rust-Oleum, Ronseal and Dulux all say theirs need no primer once the tiles are cleaned and scuffed, though Rust-Oleum suggests a stain blocker if there are stains. A general paint needs a bonding primer: Zinsser lists its AllCoat for ceramic tiles over a degreased, keyed surface.

Paint them, fix a self-adhesive glass panel over them (£108.98 to £125 for 600 x 750 mm at Toolstation and B&Q), stick tile stickers over them (£16 for four at Dunelm, kept 15 inches from heat), or tile over them if the old tiles are firmly bonded and the wall can take the weight.

Every splashback option with its heat limit

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