The effect of incorporating nano-sized crystalline domains formed by comb-like polymers in waterborne latexes on the mechanical and barrier properties as well as on the water sensitivity of the films cast from these latexes was investigated. Crystalline domains were formed by homopolymerization of stearyl acrylate, which also led to the formation of a very soft amorphous phase. (Co)polymerization of short chain (meth)acrylates formed the main film-forming phase. It was found that the application properties improved with respect to regular latexes devoid of crystalline domains. In addition, the properties of poly (stearyl acrylate) containing latexes were affected by the interplay between its very soft and crystalline domains. The behavior of this system is further complicated by the fact that the T-g of short chain (meth) acrylates that depended on the polymerization strategy, strongly affected the film properties. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.