Forged Steel (SW 9565)

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Forged Steel (SW 9565) is a very deep, neutral gray from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 10, so it reflects about 10 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Forged Steel
Three Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Forged Steel by this site's color math: a trim white, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Sherwin-Williams did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Forged Steel, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore | Ambler Slate | CW-685 | 11.8 | 2.1 | very close |
| Behr | Asphalt Gray | N520-6 | 11.2 | 1.3 | very close |
| Valspar | Muted Ebony | 4008-2C | 11 | 1.9 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Knight's Armor | 1001-6 | 11 | 1.4 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams gray colors nearest to Forged Steel (LRV 10) by LRV.
Lighter than Forged Steel
Darker than Forged Steel
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9565 |
| Hex | #5B5B59 |
| RGB | 91, 91, 89 |
| HSL | 60°, 1%, 35% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 10 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 38.6, -0.4, 1.2 |
| Undertone | Neutral |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Forged Steel (SW 9565), published as #5B5B59
#4C5257
#6A6459
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
Comparisons that include Forged Steel (SW 9565)
More from Sherwin-Williams
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Forged Steel (SW 9565)?
- Forged Steel has an LRV of 10. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Forged Steel is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Forged Steel in another brand?
- Asphalt Gray (Behr N520-6) from Behr, at a deltaE of 1.3 (very close).
- Is Forged Steel warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Forged Steel as neutral, with a Neutral undertone. Its Lab b* value is 1.2; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.