GREYS

Oily Steel

#99AAAA

RGB 153, 170, 170 · HSL 180°, 9%, 63% · CMYK 10, 0, 0, 33

Oily Steel is #99AAAA in HEX — rgb(153, 170, 170), hsl(180°, 9%, 63%), cmyk(10%, 0%, 0%, 33%).

Oily Steel pulls into the light end of the greys spectrum — HSL 180°, 9%, 63%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces — as the project's quiet backbone. Reads best alongside white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents.

Color Codes

HEX#99AAAA

RGB153, 170, 170

HSL180°, 9%, 63%

HSV180°, 10%, 67%

CMYK10, 0, 0, 33

Decimal10070698

CSS RGBrgb(153, 170, 170)

CSS HSLhsl(180, 9%, 63%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Sherwin-Williams

Dutch Tile Blue SW0031

ΔE 0.4 · #9AABAB

Vista Paint

Beacon Fog C-489

ΔE 1.3 · #9CAAAB

Hallman-Lindsay

Beacon Fog 490

ΔE 1.6 · #9CAAAC

Dunn-Edwards

Mythical Blue DEC787

ΔE 1.9 · #93A8A7

PPG

Polaris 10-04

ΔE 2.1 · #A0AEAD

Dulux

Coalition SG5G3

ΔE 2.1 · #96A7A4

Valspar

Blue Arrow 5001-3C

ΔE 2.4 · #A0B0B1

Benjamin Moore

Silken CSP-670

ΔE 2.5 · #9CB0B2

Behr

Portsmouth Bay QE-52

ΔE 2.5 · #A0ACAE

Colorhouse

Wool .03 Wool-03

ΔE 2.7 · #A1ABAB

Farrow & Ball

Dix Blue 82

ΔE 3.9 · #99B0AB

IKEA

IKEA182 182

ΔE 4.5 · #9AA1A0

Kilz

Sensual Silver RK240

ΔE 5 · #9EA7AE

RAL

White Aluminium 9006

ΔE 6.3 · #A5A5A5

Dutch Boy

Dusky Mood DCP-1318

ΔE 8.1 · #A6ACB8

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 10.8 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

38/100

Medium

0 · DarkLight · 100

Balanced reflectance — holds colour without washing out. Versatile for most rooms and the most forgiving range for true-to-chip results.

Undertone

TemperatureCool MasstoneTeal UndertoneGreen

A near-neutral with a subtle cool green undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.

Color Theory

Complementary

#99AAAA

#A99898

Analogous

#98A9A1

#99AAAA

#98A1A9

Triadic

#99AAAA

#A998A9

#A9A998

Split-Complementary

#99AAAA

#A998A1

#A9A198

Tetradic

#99AAAA

#A198A9

#A99898

#A1A998

Monochromatic

#4D5C5C

#6F8585

#99AAAA

#C2CCCC

#ECEFEF

Rectangle

#99AAAA

#9898A9

#A99898

#A9A998

Compound

#99AAAA

#98A1A9

#A99898

#A9A198

Variations

Lighter

#ADBABA

#C2CBCB

#DCE0E0

Darker

#758C8C

#506161

#2E3939

Saturation

#9EA3A3

#98A9A9

#6DD4D4

Interior Use

Best Rooms

living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms

Best Uses

walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces

Pairs With

white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

2.42:1

Fail

vs Black

8.68:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#99AAAA

#A3A4AB

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#99AAAA

#A7A7AA

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#99AAAA

#9AAAA9

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Oily Steel gets out of the way so the architecture and the people in the room do the work. The right neutral is never a default — it reads warm or cool, dusty or sharp depending on its undertone, and that undertone is what makes or breaks the room.

SymbolismBalance, sophistication, calm

PersonalityAdaptable, considered, timeless

versatileneutraltimelessbackdroptrimwall

How it looks under different light

#B2AC9B

Warm Bulb 2700K

Incandescent / soft white LED — pulls colour toward yellow/amber.

#99AAAA

Daylight 5500K

Midday natural light or daylight-spec LED — closest to the paint chip.

#9FB1BF

Cool Bulb 6500K

Cool white LED / overcast daylight — pulls colour toward blue.

Pairs With

#EAEBEB

Trim

Matched off-white

Same hue at 92% lightness — trim reads coordinated, not stark.

#F7F7F7

Ceiling

Whisper tint

Near-white with a hint of the hero's undertone — ceiling feels intentional.

#A66B6B

Accent

Complementary punch

Hue +180°, slightly muted for paint vs. screen — use on a door, frame, or single piece.

#574738

Floor

Walnut neutral

Warm mid-brown grounds the scheme regardless of hero hue.

Paint Info

Brand · Product Line

Benjamin Moore / Regal Select Interior

Recommended Finishes

Eggshell (walls) · Pearl (trim) · Matte (ceiling)

Eggshell hides imperfections on main walls while keeping the color rich; pearl on trim adds subtle sheen and easier cleaning; flat matte on ceilings prevents glare.

Best Surfaces

Primary walls · Cabinetry · Trim · Soft furniture

Coverage & Dry Time

Typical coverage 350-400 sq ft per gallon over a primed surface.

Touch-dry in ~1 hour. Recoat after 4 hours. Full cure 7-14 days.

Primer

Standard primer is adequate.

Application Tip

Use a 9" microfiber roller on walls and a 2.5" angled sash brush for trim cuts. Two coats minimum for even depth.

Paint Calculator

Wall area (m²)

Coats

Coverage (m² / L)

You'll need

4.0 litres

1.06 US gallons · room for one touch-up coat. Buy slightly more to ensure single-batch match.

Code Snippets

CSS — color

color: #99AAAA;

CSS — background

background-color: #99AAAA;

CSS Variable

--color-oily-steel: #99AAAA;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'oily-steel': '#99AAAA' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#99AAAA] text-[#99AAAA]

SCSS

$oily-steel: #99AAAA;

Similar Colors

Silken Blue

#9BAFB1 · ΔE 2.2

Mount Saint Anne

#A3B0AE · ΔE 3.0

Adagio

#A0A8A8 · ΔE 3.3

Nimbus Gray

#A1B0B4 · ΔE 3.4

Cobblestone Path

#9EA5A5 · ΔE 3.8

Silver Mink

#A7B2B0 · ΔE 4.1

Piedmont Gray

#9DA8A1 · ΔE 4.4

Slate

#A3A8A8 · ΔE 4.4

Built by DSGN.HOUSE Updated 2026

Our color tools run on our own catalogue of 26,000+ real paint colors across 16 brands — Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux, RAL and more — with the color math (HSL and CIELAB matching) computed in-house, not scraped from summaries. Every color you pick maps to a real, buyable paint with its code, so what you see here you can actually take to the store. We review and update these tools and their data regularly.

Created by Denis Kataev, founder of DSGN.HOUSE — a software engineer and digital entrepreneur building professional color-design tools for everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #99AAAA?

#99AAAA is Oily Steel, a soft grey with a cool undertone.

Is #99AAAA warm or cool?

Oily Steel reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Oily Steel?

Oily Steel works well in living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms. Designers typically use it for walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces.

What colors pair well with Oily Steel?

Oily Steel pairs naturally with white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Oily Steel?

You can download Oily Steel on DSGN.HOUSE in 15 designer formats including CSS gradient, Figma, Procreate swatches, Tailwind config, Adobe ASE, SVG, and 4K wallpapers — all free.

What's the hex code for Oily Steel?

The hex code is #99AAAA. In RGB it's 153, 170, 170, and in HSL it's 180°, 9%, 63%.

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