A coating slip composition which can be applied by the curtain coating method to substrates to be coated, for example base paper or cardboard, is described. The substrate, which may be base paper or cardboard, is coated with one or more free-falling liquid curtains, a binder being added to the coating liquid. The binder is selected from the group comprising styrene/butadiene latex binders, styrene/acrylate latex binders, styrene/butadiene/acrylonitrile latex binders, styrene/maleic anhydride binders and styrene/acrylate/maleic anhydride binders, the binder having a particle size of <130 nm.