Not for a new project. Natura was discontinued on March 1, 2021, and the leftover gallons dealers still list in 2026 run about $89.99 — more than it cost when it was current, and $30 to $40 above the Eco Spec that replaced it, with no warranty behind it. The paint itself was good: a true zero-VOC base, Green Seal and asthma-and-allergy-friendly certified, self-priming, on the full color deck. The only Natura worth buying is a cheap, recent, openable can for a small low-traffic wall.
Spec Sheet
- STATUS
- Discontinued March 1, 2021; replaced by Eco Spec
- COVERAGE
- 375–425 sq ft / gal
- SHEENS
- Flat (K512), Eggshell (K513), Semi-Gloss (K514), Pearl (K516)
- GLOSS (EGGSHELL)
- 15–25 at 85 degrees
- TOUCH DRY
- 30 min at 77°F and 50% relative humidity
- RECOAT
- 1–2 hr at 77°F and 50% relative humidity
- WASHABLE
- After about 2 weeks
- RESIN / SOLIDS
- 100% acrylic; 44% solids by volume; 11.5 lb per gallon
- VOC
- 0 g/L base; zero-VOC Gennex colorants; isothiazolinone preservatives under 0.1%
- CERTIFICATIONS
- Green Seal · asthma and allergy friendly · CDPH v1 Emissions · Class A fire rating (ASTM E-84) · MPI 44 and 144 · LEED v4 credit eligible
- APPLICATION TEMP
- 50°F minimum surface temperature, 90°F maximum
- PRIMER
- Self-priming on coated interior; Natura Primer (511) or a bonding primer on bare or glossy surfaces
- SIZES
- Quart, gallon (leftover stock only in 2026)
- PRICE
- $55–65 / gal historically; leftover dealer stock listed near $89.99 / gal and $32.99 / qt in 2026
Dry in an Hour, Fragile for a Fortnight
The datasheet numbers are lab conditions — 77°F with half humidity — and they are genuinely fast: touch dry in 30 minutes, recoat in one to two hours, two coats before dinner and the room back the same day. A cold January room or a damp basement stretches both, and the 50°F minimum surface temperature is a hard limit, not a suggestion; below it the film does not form properly and no amount of waiting fixes that. The number that actually matters for a family room is the other one: washable after about two weeks. The paint is dry in an hour and fragile for a fortnight. And on the air-quality side, Benjamin Moore's zero-VOC lines off-gas down to CDPH-acceptable levels in roughly seven days — the one-hour figure is when the smell goes, not when the emissions do. That is a week of ventilation before a sensitive occupant moves in.
When It Goes Wrong — and How to Fix It
The flat smears or burnishes when you wipe it
Why it happens: Flat was Natura's most popular sheen and its weakest. Fingerprints and scuffs in a hallway or a kid's room burnished or smeared instead of wiping clean, which is an awkward miss for a line sold into nurseries and kids' rooms.
The fix: Use eggshell or pearl on anything hands touch. If flat is what you have left in the can, put it on a bedroom ceiling instead of a wall you clean.
The leftover can has skinned over or separated
Why it happens: Sealed latex paint holds for roughly two to five years. A gallon canned in 2020 or 2021 is at or past the end of that window, and nobody selling old stock is guaranteeing it.
The fix: Ask to open and stir it before money changes hands. If it folds back smooth with no rubbery chunks, it is usable. If it does not, walk — and do not buy an unopenable can online at a scarcity price.
Your dealer cannot get your Natura color into Eco Spec
Why it happens: Eco Spec and Ultra Spec use Gennex but cannot reach the full CSP color spectrum. The deepest, most saturated CSP colors need a different base.
The fix: Ask the dealer to confirm the base before you order. A deep charcoal, forest green, or saturated jewel tone steps up to Aura or Regal Select. Everything in the white, neutral, and mid-tone range mixes into Eco Spec without a conversation.
The job goes patchy in a cold room
Why it happens: Natura's minimum application temperature was 50°F at the surface, and an unheated bathroom or basement in winter is colder than the air in it.
The fix: Check the surface temperature, not the thermostat. Warm the room and the paint first. Below 50°F the film does not coalesce properly and extra cure time does not rescue it.
You reacted to a paint labeled zero-VOC
Why it happens: Natura's own technical data sheet discloses isothiazolinone-type preservatives at under 0.1%. Every waterborne paint in a can needs something to stop the can spoiling, and isothiazolinones are the industry's standard answer — and a well-documented contact sensitizer. Zero-VOC describes what evaporates off the finished wall, not what sits in the can.
The fix: If you have a known reaction to a named preservative, ask for the full safety data sheet before you buy anything, current line or leftover can. Buy a quart, paint a test patch in one room, and live with it for a week before committing to a house.
Application Settings That Work
- BRUSH
- Low spatter, smooth roll, forgiving on a wall for a weekend DIYer. It went up like a quality Benjamin Moore wall paint because it was one.
- AIRLESS
- Airless at 1,500 to 2,500 psi with a 0.013 to 0.017 tip, per the technical data sheet.
- THINNING
- Water or 518 Extender, 8 fluid ounces per gallon maximum. Clean up with water.
- PRIMER
- Self-priming on coated interior surfaces — the single feature Eco Spec buyers miss most. On bare or glossy substrates, Natura Primer (511) or a bonding primer. Deep custom colors sometimes needed a Deep Color Base Primer tinted to a prescription formula underneath.
Natura vs Eco Spec — The Real Differences
"Eco Spec replaced it" is true but lazy. The two paints are not identical, and if you liked Natura specifically, three of these differences will bother you.
| Natura (discontinued 2021) | Eco Spec (current) | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-priming | Yes, on coated interior surfaces | No — budget a separate zero-VOC primer coat |
| Sizes | Quart and gallon | Gallon only in the US retail line |
| Sheens | Four: flat K512, eggshell K513, semi-gloss K514, pearl K516 | Three: flat, eggshell, semi-gloss — no pearl |
| Colorant | Zero-VOC Gennex | Zero-VOC Gennex, the same system |
| Certifications | Green Seal, asthma and allergy friendly, CDPH v1 | Green Seal, asthma and allergy friendly |
| Durability read | Green-building reviewers who tracked both rate Natura the higher-quality paint | Rated near the bottom of Benjamin Moore's range for durability by the same reviewers |
| Price and support | $55–65/gal when current; about $89.99/gal as leftover stock, no warranty | $53–73/gal, current production with a warranty behind it |
The self-priming loss is the one that costs you real money and a real afternoon, and the gallon-only sizing hurts a single accent wall. Be fair about durability too: reviewers who followed both lines for years rate Natura the better paint, and that belongs next to the recommendation rather than left out of it. The recommendation still stands — for a new project, current production with a warranty at a lower price beats a five-year-old can at $89.99. Walk in with the old lid, ask for Eco Spec in the same color, and budget the primer.
What It's Good At
- +A genuinely low-emission base — 0 g/L with Gennex colorants that held the claim through tinting
- +Independently tested certification: Green Seal, asthma and allergy friendly, CDPH v1, MPI 44 and 144
- +Clearing a closed nursery of smell inside an hour, where commodity acrylic hangs for a day
- +Self-priming on a previously coated wall, which its successor is not
- +Easy application — low spatter, smooth roll, forgiving for a weekend DIYer
- +The full Benjamin Moore deck, so clean air did not cost you color choice
- +Fast turnaround: touch dry in 30 minutes, recoat in one to two hours
What It's Not Good At
- −Surviving its own price — $55 to $65 a gallon against a cheaper Eco Spec with the same certifications ended the line
- −Flat, which scrubbed poorly and was the sheen most buyers reached for
- −Deep saturated colors, which needed two coats minimum and often three
- −Being supported — no warranty path, no fresh stock, no guarantee of the can's age
- −Value in 2026, where leftover listings sit above what the paint cost new
- −High-traffic rooms; it never claimed to be a kitchen or hallway paint
Honest Alternatives
The direct successor. Zero VOC, zero emissions, Green Seal and asthma-and-allergy-friendly certified, current production with a warranty. The trade is real: gallon-only, no pearl sheen, and not self-priming, so budget a zero-VOC primer coat Natura never needed.
The right can if the room is a full bath rather than a bedroom. Zero VOC, formulated for constant humidity, with added antimicrobials and Colorlock color retention that keeps a saturated color from washing out over years of steam. A specialist, not a whole-house paint.
The budget interior line. Low VOC rather than zero, but if your concern is everyday low odor and not strict zero-emission certification, it covers a wall well for meaningfully less. The right call when the room is not a nursery.
A tougher, more scrubbable wall paint than Natura ever was. Low VOC, not zero, with better washability for high-traffic rooms. The workhorse Natura's flat sheen could not be.
Natura Questions, Answered
Is Benjamin Moore Natura still being made?
No. Benjamin Moore stopped manufacturing Natura on March 1, 2021. A few stores still sell down old stock, and you will find leftover gallons online, but the line is officially gone. Benjamin Moore points buyers to Eco Spec as its current zero-VOC paint. If a retailer lists Natura as in stock in 2026, it is old inventory, not new production.
What replaced Natura at Benjamin Moore?
Eco Spec. After discontinuing Natura, Benjamin Moore made Eco Spec its greenest paint. It is zero VOC, zero emissions, Green Seal certified, and asthma and allergy friendly certified — the same green credentials Natura carried — and it costs less per gallon, which was part of why Benjamin Moore consolidated. For a new low-odor project, buy Eco Spec.
Was Natura actually zero-VOC?
Yes, and the Gennex colorants held the claim through tinting, which is unusual. What it was not is preservative-free: its own technical data sheet discloses isothiazolinone-type preservatives at under 0.1%. Zero-VOC describes what evaporates off the wall, not what is in the can. The Green Seal and asthma-and-allergy-friendly certifications were real and tested.
Is Benjamin Moore Natura worth it?
Not for a new project. It was discontinued in March 2021, and the leftover gallons dealers list run about $89.99 — more than it cost when current, $30 to $40 above the Eco Spec that replaced it, and with no warranty behind it. The paint itself was good. It is only worth buying as a cheap, recent, openable can for a small low-traffic wall.
Should I buy leftover Natura stock if I find it cheap?
Only if it is recent and you can open it. Latex paint lasts two to five years sealed; a gallon canned in 2020 or 2021 may have separated or skinned over. If the store lets you check that it stirs back smooth with no chunks, a clearance gallon for a low-traffic wall is fine. For anything you want a warranty on, buy current Eco Spec instead.
Can you use Natura paint in a bathroom?
Leftover Natura in eggshell or semi-gloss is fine for a powder room or half bath — the formula was mildew-resistant and washable once cured, about two weeks per the datasheet. Skip flat in any wet room. For a full bath with daily showers, use a current line: Aura Bath and Spa is Benjamin Moore's zero-VOC bathroom pick, with Eco Spec as the budget zero-VOC alternative. Do not paint below 50°F surface temperature.
Can I still get my Natura color?
Yes. Benjamin Moore colors belong to the brand's deck, not to one product line, so any dealer can tint Eco Spec, Regal Select, or Aura to the exact color your Natura can was mixed in. Check the formula label on the old lid, or give the color name. Natura used zero-VOC Gennex colorants in bases 1X through 4X and the current lines use the same system — only the deepest CSP-spectrum colors need Aura or Regal Select rather than Eco Spec.
Is Eco Spec as good as Natura was?
Mostly, with two real trade-offs: Eco Spec is not self-priming the way Natura was, and it comes in gallons only with three sheens against Natura's four including pearl. Some green-building reviewers also rate Eco Spec's durability below Natura's. What it keeps is the part that matters for a sensitive household — zero VOC, zero emissions, Green Seal, and asthma and allergy friendly certification — at a lower price.
How much does leftover Natura cost now?
More than it did new. Independent dealer webstores still listing old stock in 2026 charge around $89.99 a gallon and $32.99 a quart, above Natura's historical $55 to $65 and roughly $30 to $40 more per gallon than current Eco Spec. Unless you find a genuine clearance discount on recent stock, the leftover-can hunt costs more than the supported successor.
Was Natura pulled for being toxic?
No. It was discontinued in 2021 on cost, and the emissions certifications behind it were tested. The rumor traces to a real event, though: the FTC charged Benjamin Moore over marketing the paint as "Emission Free," one of four paint companies in the same 2017–18 sweep, saying the company had no evidence for the claim. The April 2018 consent order bars unqualified zero-VOC and emission-free claims unless emissions really are zero or trace. Read the certifications, not the old slogan.
Ask a Question
Mid-project with Natura? Stuck between two cans?
Ask Maya below — every question gets a real reply, usually within a day. Still have a can of Natura on a shelf, or had a dealer rematch your old color into Eco Spec? Tell us how the swap went and what the wall looks like now.