Painting - Moisture spots on latex-painted walls

I recently bought a foam rubber Halloween costume that came crunched up in a little bag. The instructions said it's a good idea to hang it up in the bathroom and crank up the shower to steam out the wrinkles. They were wrong! It did nothing for the wrinkles, but now there are spots all over the walls. There's no peeling, discoloration, or mold; these are slick spots that look like moisture, though if you touch them they don't seem wet. I thought maybe they would dry up, but it's been several weeks and no luck. Using a hair dryer on them does nothing. The paint is an eggshell finish latex over an oil based primer, and the paint job is only 6 months old.

What are my options here? Can anything be done to remove the spots? If I repaint (using a glossier finish this time), will the slick spots show through?

Welcome to the forums!

It's a little hard to say not knowing exactly what caused the spots. If you have any of the paint leftover, I'd try touching up the spots and see how it does. I wouldn't expect them to bleed thru new paint but if it does, it would be best to prime them.

How dark/deep a color is on the walls?

It's a light brown. Kind of like coffee ice cream but a bit darker.

Exactly what kind of paint?
Some are better for baths than others
The darker ones show this more also

It's California Paint Pacific acrylic latex, medium base enamel.

Eggshell?
Give them a clean with a Top Job mix
It may or may not help, but may give us an idea of what we are dealing with

I was able to do a pretty good fix-up job by wiping down the walls with damp paper towels. I think I figured out what's going on here: The paint is crap.

After 6 months it never fully cured, and it re-absorbed moisture from the shower. When I wiped it with the towels it became tacky, and a small amount of paint rubbed off. So I was basically re-constituting the paint partially and smearing it around. I never heard of acrylic paint doing this; my understanding is that once it's dry it's dry, and repels water.

Ugh! I can recommend Ben Moore Regal kitchen and bath if you repaint (I'm pretty sure you're going to do so), worked pretty well in my bathroom. The pros here will have a better idea what prep work you need to do before the new paint goes on.

Sounds like a really cheap builders paint, formulated where it almost resembles paint :eek:

Best to repaint, preferably prime and repaint with quality coatings ;)

I have had nothing but excellent results using the Sherwin Williams "Bath Paint". You could leave a steam shower going all day with the shower door open and this coating holds up. Regular latex as you said never gets a chance to cure so the showering keeps wetting the the paint. Let the paint dry and then apply two coats of this bath paint. Designed for constant showering.