This was an orange pine dresser! Now it is a lovely feature piece.

This pine table was all bare orange and dull. But paintable.

So, once you have decided to revive an old pine chest or table, you have to decide how to commit yourself financially and/or time wise. You can call in a professional furniture painter They will give you a fixed price , and at the end of the job, present you with a finished piece of hand-painted furniture that makes you smile. Or you can do it yourself.

If you do it yourself, this is where I hope I can make a bit of a difference, because so often on forums I see the life and the fun factor drain out of people as they make mistake after mistake, and see their investment in time and money turn to pooh. Just because you aren’t a professional, doesn’t mean you can’t do a good job, and being DIY doesn’t preclude you from using trade quality products. In all honestly, I really don’t understand why anyone spends the money on rubbish in big DIY stores when for the same or even less, you can use the right kit. If the reason, I don’t know what is available outside of B&Q, then you came to the right site.

Painting pine properly yourself, you need to invest financially, and wisely:

Correct paint for the finish or effect you are after;

There are many options, but the basic starting point, I think is either Annie Sloan chalk paint on any surface, protected with wax, or acrylic eggshell over the correctly primed surface. You can go with oil eggshell, I like it, but the most practical approach, if you aren’t confident in your abilities, is acrylic eggshell. (Everything worth knowing about Oil v acrylic eggshell)

You can go round and round with this brand is better than that brand, and who would pay £x for that posh paint when you can get that high street brand paint for £x – 40%.

To save yourself headache and heartache, just think: the high street eggshells are shiny, the posh eggshells are flatter traditional, and chalk paint is different, quirky and very cool if the French look is your thing. 

With that simplified view of the paint world you should find it easier to take your pick of some of these paint suitable for furniture .

The overall cost of materials for a piece of furniture is fairly constant, whichever paint you choose.

Shabby chic or not shabby chic

Whatever paint you choose, they can either be applied conventional flat and even, or can be shabby chic-ed with a juducious sanding. This wooden headboard was painted with acrylic latex, I believe, and roughed up. It could have been painted flat, and over time become shabby naturally. It is purely a case of taste how you go about painting furniture.

Correct cleaning product

You won’t need any cleaner if you use chalk paint. If you want to remove wax though, try a cleaner that doesn’t gas or burn you. Krudkutter Original is the business in tandem with a good kitchen scourer.

A decent paint brush,

Just like you wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes for a sprint that are 2 sizes too small for you, why would you buy a cruddy brush for your expensive paint? I think the Wooster FTP is the best for chalk paint, and any of these brushes will do you proud in acrylic eggshell.

If you stay water-based, there is no excuse nor reason to worry that a brush is too good for you. Leave it in a pot of the Krudkutter cleaner for a bit and wash it then, perfectly clean. Flick it out as dry as you can, shape it with your fingers and lay it down somewhere safe on a piece of kitchen paper. It will last you a long time and it will be a joy to use, and there should be some sense of peace of mind too, knowing that you are using the same kit that painters like me are using, rather than using cheapo brushes from B&Q that pros wouldn’t have much luck with either!

Paint conditioner

Acrylic paint gets a bad rap because people say it goes on stringy and you can’t get rid of brushmarks. That isn’t true. Buy a little pot of Floetrol and add that to your paint instead of water.

If you use oil paint, add Owatrol, up to 10%. Again, with a bit of technique, the conditioner will help brushmarks flow out nicely

Good sandpaper

If you use acrylic eggshell and sand between  coats with 240 grade abranet, your finish will be immaculate. Use 80 or 120 grade for rougher sanding. For chalk paint, it can be sanded super glassy smooth, but really, no need to sand till you get to the first wax stage, it’s cleaner that way.

Abranet is my abrasive of choice.

Across the range, it is used on the roughest woodwork to the highest class autos. It is part of a system. I got started for £25-£40 with a starter kit . I have adopted the whole power sanding system too, but I still have this starter kit, and use it most days.

The system is a sanding block that plugs into your vacuum cleaner, plus some abrasives. Without seeing it, I know its a weird concept, but honestly, it has revolutionised decorating across the board. And this is what the basic kit looks like.

So you use the sanding block for flat areas, the dust goes straight down the tube into your vacuum. For fiddly bits, there are a variety of specialist sponges and blocks available, but for DIY to get the feel for it, the simplest option: it comes with an interface pad, which is about 1/2″ thick foam with velcro. I take the pad off the sanding block and use it for sanding profiles.

Don’t bother cutting corners with other sandpaper, you will miss the whole point of it.

Masking tape

So often I see demos where a few pieces of masking tape would have raised the standard from sloppy DIY to thoughtful professional. 3M Scoth Blue 2090 is reliable and easy to get hold of.

Don’t buy from a Dulux Decorator merchant though, they will pull your pants down, so to speak. Go on line for half the price.

Something to protect the floor

A roll of lining paper works well, or a sheet of One Tuff if you like your floor protection tuff and fluff free. Cotton dust sheets or newspaper, is making life hard for yourself.

Make time

You are also committing your free time to this project, because even with the best will in the world, no plug-and-play-and-leave machine can do it for you. I don’t know about you, but there are only so many hours in a day, definitely not unlimited spare time, so make it count, do it right and maximise the return on your money and time!

That is the kit, how do I actually paint pine furniture?

There are thousands of blogs and forums that talk about painting pine and painting pine furniture. I see a lot of misconceptions floating around, and home DIY painters especially, are getting in trouble, unnecessarily, following duff advice, or not understanding a few simple principles.

Painting pine properly is not easy, but with a few thoughts in the forefront of your mind, any keen painter can achieve excellent results.

Rather than me talking in abstracts this links to an article I wrote that uses the exact same principles outlined above:

Paint a pine table with Little Greene paint & Mirka CEROS

When you have read that, you should have a clearer picture in your mind of the practical steps and the principles. However, there are lots of combinations of primers and paints for different surfaces, so by all means come back here, and below is a series of step by steps to paint varnished furniture, paint waxed furniture etc

Painting pine furniture the professional ways

When it comes to preparing pine furniture for painting, if you want a professional looking finish, there is no choice: it should be done to the best of your ability. When deciding which primers and finish paint to use on pine furniture, there is choice. Oil based or water based, or a combination of the two.

All the paints and products mentioned, I use them and stand by them (unless I say otherwise). Some suppliers are listed in the lower information section of the page.

Armed with a good paint brush, abranet abrasives, vacuum cleaner with brush attachment, decent paint, a few bits and bobs, and the tips and tricks below, you are good to go!

Any questions this weekend, just ask them via Twitter. I am @acmasterpainter

Oil based finish on pine furniture

I think the combination of water-based primer, oil based undercoat, oil-based eggshell is the solution numero uno that ticks all the boxes for the most durable and, in my opinion, the most beautiful traditional paint finish possible on timber:

Step-by-step way to an oil paint finish on pine »

Water-based finish on pine furniture

On unpainted timber, a combination of oil based primer, and water-based eggshell will get you very close to a beautiful “oil-based” finish on pine. It is based on what I have picked up from the most knowledgeable residential painter I have ever encountered, US painter, Jack Pauhl.

When starting from bare pine, please bear in mind that water-based primer and water-based topcoats will do little to disguise the grain of the wood. The finish will be tough, it is low odour and nice to apply, but 2 coats of a quick-drying oil-based primer like Zinsser Coverstain, although rather smelly, is the best start to a more solid water-based finish.

Step-by-step way to an acrylic eggshell paint finish on pine »

100% water-based products for painting pine furniture

100% acrylic water-based primer, brushing filler and water-based eggshell plus patience will achieve very close to a beautiful “oil-based” finish on pine using water-based products only! I developed this system on a 2011 project where absolutely no oil paint was allowed on site, but the finish on the woodwork had to be 5 star.

Step-by-step way to an acrylic eggshell paint finish on pine »

Painting over previously painted furniture

Repainting over old oil paint, I would have no hesitation in recommending an all water-based approach ie 2 coats of Mythic Universal primer plus 2 coats of acrylic finish (Mythic semi gloss, or Little Greene acrylic eggshell, Sikkens BL Satura, to name but 3 that come with glowing references.)

The hard work for preparing a solid surface has already been done by the old oil paint, so as long as it is solid, you can achieve a really solid and durable finish, slightly more plastic sheeny than oil eggshell, but very acceptable in 95% of cases.

Painting waxy pine furniture with minimal preparation

Try Annie Sloan chalk paint for a real country look to your pine furniture. This is a very clever product that thrives on wax and grease. Minimal preparation required except on knots, which you need to seal with a couple of coats of aerosol Zinssser BIN.

Then apply 2 coats of chalk paint and seal with clear wax or varnish. This is how boy decorators use Annie Sloan Chalk paint.

You can tint the wax, or wipe on / rub off to reveal the backing colours, distress, age, or keep it conventional. See Cait at Carte Blanche for the full inside story and Annie Sloan supplies.

Painting laminate

Sometimes furniture is made up of different materials. The interior of a pine cupboard may have an easy wipe finish? Here is how to paint a laminate finish.

Furniture painter specialists to do the painting for you

If you would rather have a professional furniture painter transform a piece of furniture for you, contact one of these specialist furniture painters in your area. Trustworthy and switched on, they have their own slightly different approach to their work, but fundamentally, we all sing off the same hymn sheet. Correct material choice and thorough workmanship is the way to go.

For ready-reckoner budgeting, think in terms of £150 for a chest of drawers to £250 for a good size wardrobe for a flat paint finish. Nicky Hancock of HK Art or Martin Dunn are 2 craftsmen on the list who also offer fine-artistic additions, and most offer decorative paint finishes. If you have a suite of good quality furniture, it usually makes sense on every level to employ a pro, as you would be hard-pushed to replace one piece for the cost of the painting of the suite. If you have a one-off not-so-special piece of furniture, then experience says that it is probably a DIY project.

Extra tips

How much cleaning, how much sanding? »

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The conventional decorating specification for woodwork always starts, with kps – knot, prime stop.

Knot and prime »

Stopper, Filler »

Painting over primer »

I now use Little Greene Paint Company exterior / interior oil based eggshell on furniture and kitchen units.

In general terms, water based eggshell paint still doesn’t do it for me when a 5 star finish is required on furniture that has never been painted before – UNLESS you can spray it or go the full 7 coats with gesso included in the specification. Then you get a perfect finish, which then opens up a whole can of worms, because, you have to decide, do you want this laminate-looking finish on a characterful piece of reclaimed pine? I know I don’t, but the laminate look is growing in popularity, so maybe I am out of touch!

Beware painting furniture in white oil paint The 2010 VOC regulations have thrown most of the paint industry into a tizz and they are having real trouble formulating white eggshell and gloss. Lots of evidence that it is prematurely yellowing, Dulux especially, as the highest profile manufacturer. Drying times have also extended.

Thus far, Little Greene oil eggshell still performs as expected, and in normal conditions, I have had no problems sanding down first coats of eggshell the following day.

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Remember, this technique is great for reviving pine and oak furniture, a truly eco recycling strategy, but think long and hard before applying a hand-painted finish to an inlaid, veneered table and / or antique item. Better to sell them and buy a more modestly constructed piece for painting.

I will be preparing a list of materials and tools required for each of the above options, suggesting decorating products at trade price.

How do you paint pine furniture?

The king is dead, long live the king. I am not referring to the passing of a royal sovereign, but rather the end of my involvement with one traditional paint dynasty, Farrow and Ball, and the beginning of a new relationship with The Little Greene Paint Company.

So why the jumping of ships? I am an old school painter, and my speciality is hand-painted kitchens and furniture. I rely on (and trust) traditional oil paint that comes in a range of traditional heritage colours. The 3 main olde worlde traditional paint suppliers are F&B, The Little Greene Paint Company and Paint Library. For many years, Farrow and Ball has had the highest profile of this group, and has long been my supplier of choice – till now.

Times are a-changing at Farrow and Ball

Over the past year, F&B, assured me several times that despite their move to be good eco citizens, they would continue to offer their traditional paint range in oil, albeit as a niche product. So I kept with the company. That will teach me. Their interior oil eggshell was withdrawn in the New Year, so rather than give in, I moved to their exterior oil eggshell, which as far as I can tell has the same sheen, but is breathable ie same look as the interior oil eggshell of yesteryear. I was happy. But then, in the last few weeks, F&B announce that they no longer offer oil paint of any description. And to rub salt in the wound, they claim there is no difference between their hybrid paint and the traditional oil paint.

In defence of F&B, the whole paint industry has been dealing with ever-tightening environmental regulations, and most oil paints have gradually been modified (made more eco) to meet the low VOC (aka pollution) targets. Despite the tinkering chemists and BS marketeers, to all intents and purposes, oil eggshell from traditional to modern paint suppliers can still deliver what you would expect – body, sandability and flow – with a lot less solvent than of old. A win-win.

However, for some reason best known to themselves, Farrow and Ball, bastions of all that is traditional, have been developing some new fangled hybrid paint, claiming it offers a seamless substitute for their oil paint. Please! Call me old fashioned and unwilling to embrace new technology, but I have tried most acrylic paints, and not even the Americans with their long history of using acrylic for everything, can formulate water based “enamels” to match oil paint. (Getting very very close) F&B cannot.

Sad painter

Truth be told, I actually felt quite depressed, like when you feel you have lost some control over the direction of your life. There have been a couple of worrying paint trends that have steadily been undermining good old fashioned craftsmanship as I know it and Farrow and Ball, champions of much of what I believe in as a craftsman, seemed to have joined the “lowest common denominator” conspiracy, mwahahahaha – a long-standing global move away from oil over to water-borne / acrylic paint, a fixation on health and safety and dropping standards the accepted norm. But I digress.

As far as I am concerned, Farrow and Ball are taking the mick, saying that a traditional painter can expect the same quality finish from their new fangled paint formula. Kitchens painted with traditional oil-based eggshell look so cool, wear so well, and the subtle brush finish is the mark of a painters skill. Maybe the “F&B look” is not dependent on oil content, but high end acrylic finishes require a different set of skills, mainly a good spray technique. Great for those modernists who want a perfect laminate paint look in a characterful kitchen, but not for those seeking a hand-painted beauty.

Little Greene Paint at Broken Cross

Luckily, the world got better for me when I voiced my concerns about Farrow And Ball’s “traditional acrylic” to Mark at Broken Cross Paints, the best little independent decorator’s merchant in the western world. He saw Farrow and Ball’s change of emphasis coming a long time ago and has been promoting the more true-to-the-ideals-of-tradition, Little Greene Paint Co.

Another high end painter walked in the store and joined in on Mark’s deconstruction of F&B and added to the eulogies about The Little Greene Paint Company who have stuck with low odor oil-based “eco” eggshell in traditional colours. And when you dig deeper, the oil eggshell boasts a very durable finish, being suitable for interior AND exterior use, and comes with a better colour range than Farrow And Ball with a large selection of English Heritage colours

And from a convenience point of view, the Little Green Paint co deliver next day, another thing F&B have stopped doing in the name of progress.

All’s well that ends well

So, this old school painter has jumped ship from F&B, happily.

I have been using and advocating Little Greene Paint Co oil based eggshell ever since. The Heritage paint arrives as promised, the colours are beautiful, deep and subtle. And it goes on a treat. Sanding, body, workability, drying times, fumes, all were really good, really traditional. I am converted, and so should you be!

Long live The Little Greene Paint Company.

All Hail The Little Greene Paint Company

Spraying acrylic paint is a mindset You need to go into spraying with your mind and your wallet open. Be aware of what you need and what extras you want, before taking the plunge on the unit. Make sure spraying is what you want to do and budget accordingly. Buying the machine is only the start of the costs. In fact, spraying will not make you any money, or more likely, it will cost you money, without all the extras.

You may need extra needles and tips (fluid sets) for HVLP, and you will need extra tips for airless.

None of this gear is cheap, so check before you buy what else is required.

Also if you want to airless spray walls with 12” fans or exterior masonry paint, make sure the machine can handle this. The cheapest models usually won’t.

Masking machines, tapes, films, plastic sheeting, extension poles (for ceilings, etc), lubricants are all extras that won’t come with the initial purchase. And freebies with machines, in fact any freebies within the spray industry are generally rare.

If you are wondering how I know so much about not being prepared, it’s because I took none of the above advice on board, and ended up with a bit of a shock when I came to spray for the first time.

HVLP Sprayers

 You will see many articles and advertisement extolling the virtues of spray painting. You will see HVLP (high volume low pressure) spray machines from as low as £95. These products are of absolutely no use to a professional painter, in fact they are probably of no use to anybody at all.

HVLP machines need power to spray paint;

The more power the unit has the more expensive it will be. The power comes from a turbine graded in ‘stages’. These stages start at 2 stage (the lowest power) to 5 stage (currently the highest output possible). They work like vacuums in reverse, converting air into power. More power is created by more stages. You can add onboard compressors to the larger stage turbines to increase power further.

Best HVLP for spraying acrylic paint

To spray acrylic (or latex as it may be advertised on US sites) you will need a minimum 4 stage turbine, but in reality you would be better with a 5 stage. Paint thinning is pretty much always required, even with 5 stage units.

Most of the cheap units are 2 or 3 stage units. With this kind of low power, you will struggle to spray anything that isn’t the consistency of water, so acrylic paint will be so thin as to be unusable. The more expensive models of these lower powered units (Graco/Apollo/Capspray) are designed for thin oils and dyes, which have little or no viscosity to them.

Setting up an HVLP spray gun

Setting up an HVLP gun is a hassle and you will require patience. But get it wrong and you could end up re-spraying the lot or, even worse, sanding and re-spraying the lot.  

The paint will usually be in a cup under the gun. The air is forced to both the pressurized pot and the gun separately. When you pull the trigger the paint is pushed to the gun where it meets the air going to the gun. This can be regulated to atomise the paint into small particles to enable it to spray.

A 4-stage turbine will spray thicker paint, but you could never use product straight from the can with any HVLP gun. To spray more viscous material you will also need to increase the air, which will create more overspray.

Overspray is the bounce back of some of the paint from the surface, and is your worst problem, especially in occupied houses, and more air in the mix adds significantly to the problem. So thin the paint right and set up the gun correctly. Too much overspray can, and will, get everywhere, leaving any uncovered carpets and furniture covered in a very fine talcum powder-like dust in the colour you are spraying. Cover everything methodically with sheets or plastic.

Trial and error As the air and material has to be regulated by the user it’s a trial and error process. The settings you make today won’t necessarily be the same settings you need tomorrow, even for the same paint. There are too many variables: ie: humidity, cold or paint consistency. So get the thinning right, water and paint conditioner is best, and get the settings correct before you start the job.

As I mentioned, these units can be difficult to set up for the beginner. Don’t expect any indepth help from any US manufacturer’s spray manual on actual spraying – it is assumed you know how to do it.

Technique for spraying with HVLP

Don’t learn to spray on a paying job. Get an old door or have a go on something that isn’t going to be scrutinized too much.

Don’t spray light, fast coats, this will give you a rough patchy finish because the paint will dry too fast and (in some cases) before it even touches the surface.

Apply a full wet coat moving the gun slowly and methodically across the surface. It’s all about practice, don’t expect to be able to do it straight way.

Cost of good HVLP

To get an HVLP unit to spray paint to any sort of standard, you will need to spend a minimum of £1000. But if you are looking at consistent high class finishes you will need a 5 stage unit with the option of an onboard compressor. This set up will cost you nearer £2200.

I know that some people reading this will say ‘I have a 3 stage turbine and it sprays just fine’ and that’s ok if you’re happy with the finish. But if you used this next to a Graco TurboForce 9.5 plus compressor you would see a marked difference in both performance and finish quality.

HVLP speed and control

HVLP is slow, though not as slow as a brush and roller, but if you’ve had any experience with an airless pump you will be a little disappointed with HVLP, performance wise.

HVLP has more control than airless though and it’s not as easy to get into difficulty.

To follow: Spraying acrylic paint with airless

This is a guest post from Ron Taylor, a professional painter and decorator working in the Midlands. In 2004, Ron took the plunge ahead of the rest of the UK pack, and he is definitely now an authority on brushing and rolling acrylic paint, spraying acrylic with HVLP and spraying acrylic paint with airless. He uses acrylic paints on all his private residential work. He can be contacted on………..07905 895502 ron.taylor3@ntlworld.com

Spray acrylic paint

If there’s one thing guaranteed to spark a debate amongst painters, it’s the use of acrylic paints on trim. For so long, alkyd products were the king here with only the sheen level in debate.

But acrylic is nothing new for trim, we’ve had it for years in the form of primer/undercoat. And we’ve used water based paints on ceilings and walls forever and no one complained about that. So why are so many painters so vehemently against acrylic paint when it comes to a finish coat on woodwork?

Quality of finish (look and feel), lack of shine (in gloss) and durability are all things that have been levelled at water based paint on trim as a way of dismissing it as not good enough for the purpose intended. Now, whilst this may have been the case a few years ago, it most certainly isn’t the case now.

Let’s take a good look at each of the above.

Acrylic paint – poor quality finish

There is a misconception of late that, in the old days of oil paint on trim, every job was perfect and every door we painted looked like the one on 10 Downing Street. I’m a decent painter (though I certainly wouldn’t say I’m the best), but I have never done anything that remotely looked as good as that. Now I know it’s metal and sprayed, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. The point is, with the best oil product in the world and an unlimited timescale, I’m saying I still couldn’t do it with a brush and/or roller to anywhere near that standard. But oil is still held in such high regard, because an acrylic product couldn’t come anywhere near that finish, right? Well, no actually. You definitely wouldn’t get the super, deep shine, but with any airless sprayer and a fine finish tip you would get the finish.

With a brush and roller it’s different, of course, and the faster drying acrylic will look a little grainier than oil. But unlike an oil finish, it won’t take 16 hours to dry and be susceptible to being covered in all sorts of flies and fluff.

I grant you, the feel of oil when dried is superior to most acrylics (with the exception, maybe, of Sikkens Rubbol BL Satura) but who but the fussiest of clients obsesses about it when the job is done?

Acrylic paint – lack of shine

Years ago, there were two main finishes for oil-based paint on trim: gloss and eggshell, with gloss being the more popular and eggshell. When I was learning the trade and then went self-employed, nobody had anything other than gloss. It was not even discussed with the homeowner. Only posh people had eggshell and at the time I never worked for them. However, satin finishes did come into favour about 20 years ago, and now seems to be by far the most popular finish amongst my clients.

So when acrylic paint lacks shine, just go for the sheen above. If the customer wants eggshell but it’s not shiny enough, use satin. It’s only when the very highest shine is required that acrylics fall short on sheen. Sadolin Superdec Gloss won’t have the excellent shine of a product like Sikkens XD but it will last as long and won’t be such a pain in the backside to apply.

Acrylic paint – poor durability

Yes I’ll concede on this one. I’ve yet to see an acrylic trim paint as hardwearing as oil. But how hardwearing do you want it? Most acrylics will put up with all but the worst abuse and as a rule of thumb, the higher the sheen, the more hardwearing it is. If the customer has young children grabbing the doors and kicking the trim, advise them that Diamond Eggshell is not the best product in that situation and Ecosure Gloss would be much more preferable.

Acrylic trim paint – usability problems

When I started using acrylics full time on trim, around 7-8 years ago, it was a learning curve. But at the time I had seen these products and wanted to persevere. I had always been unhappy with oil based paint. Too smelly, too sticky, wet for too long and white tended to go yellow over time. Water based paint seemed to be the answer to my prayers.

I soon found out that it wasn’t as simple as just switching paint, and a whole new way of working needed to come into play. I’ll be honest I nearly gave up, but the way the industry is now with EU legislation and yellowing gloss, I’m glad I didn’t.

When you first use acrylic paint you will notice 3 things: it dries too fast, it doesn’t cover and it doesn’t stick to existing oil painted surfaces. And you’re thinking ‘Why would I use that?’

Well, you can apply acrylic paint, with the right tools, faster than oil, so you will save some time on each coat.

Once you know how to get the paint to stick, acrylic is much more forgiving than oil for showing up imperfections in the substrate.

If you decide to get into spray painting (a whole article in itself there) you can get an unbelievable finish at lightning speed. Whether it’s worth the hassle, though, is dependent on the amount of trim you have to spray.

But regarding acrylic vs oil on trim, there will come a day when there isn’t a choice. More stringent emission controls on VOC’s will, at some stage, regulate that all decorative coatings are water based. In the US it is already law in the state of California, with other states looking at doing the same.

How many coats of acrylic on existing oil painted surfaces?

When repainting existing oil painted surfaces, with oil paint you would be looking at one undercoat and gloss to complete the job, but you really need to rethink that with acrylic. One primer and two topcoats will be a more realistic specification.

Acrylic primers

You need an adhesion promoting primer to make the acrylic topcoats adhere to the surface. With very thorough preparation (wet sanding, etc) you may be able to skip the primer, but I wouldn’t think that would be a 100% reliable way of achieving good adhesion with standard acrylics. Products from Mythic like the excellent Black Label Satin and Semi-Gloss are now coming to the UK and these are self priming, which means you can skip the primer (even on bare wood) and these types of products offer superb coverage and adhesion, if you can get hold of them.

Avoid standard acrylic/primer undercoats under water based trim paint. They are cheap and cheerful and if you don’t prepare the substrate well beforehand, they won’t stick any better than just applying the topcoat. These products also tend to be a dirty white or grey in colour (for opacity) and leave loads of brushmarks. If you use them under oil, the brushmarks may be lost due to the oil paint levelling. But they won’t be lost under acrylics where the levelling is not as good. Plus the colour of these products certainly won’t help the poorer opacity white acrylic paint cover on top of them.

Choose specialist American primers. Also, dedicated manufacturers’ primer/undercoats are not as good, adhesion wise, as US primers like Zinsser 123+ and Mythic MP Primer. So a coat of Zinsser 123+ Primer will give a better finish, with superior adhesion under two coats of Dulux Ecosure Gloss than the same topcoats over Dulux Ecosure Undercoat. In the case of Mythic MP Primer you can also sand it smooth like an oil primer, which is unusual for a water based product. The US primers are formulated to stick. Many of our manufacturers’ acrylic undercoats have shocking adhesion to oil paints, and seem to be released as a companion in name only, with little thought to the job they need to do.

I have yet to come across any UK-made primer or primer/undercoat that comes close to doing the job that specialised products from the US do, and usually for less money.

Acrylic top coats

All acrylic topcoats are formulated with two coats of finish in mind. Flatter primers can absorb the shine of topcoats and reduce the sheen of the finish. Uneven application of topcoats over a flat primer can also lead to a patchy look. It’s always better to allow for two topcoats.

Best brushes for acrylic trim paint.

Acrylic paint is hugely brush dependent, and what works with one finish won’t, necessarily, work with another. Selecting the correct brush is a pain, I know, but it’s worth looking into, to achieve the look you want. All synthetic brushes are, most definitely, not the same.

Purdy Monarch Elites are a fine all-round brush and work well in most oils and some acrylics. But they can be too stiff in some coatings and leave more brushmarks. I’m not knocking the brush, but Purdy make a vast array of different bristle types, not just the Elites, with the XL line being much more forgiving of brushmarks. They look nicer too.

I have had great results of late with Proform Technologies Picasso (mainly in wall acrylic) and Contractor (for trim) brushes. The Contractor is soft, but pushes through paint easily, leaving a very nice finish. Unfortunately they are difficult to come by in the UK now, since the main importer was bought out.

Also look at Wooster brushes; they do a very varied range for all types of paint, with the Alpha and Ultra/Pro Firm being good choices. Also getting good reviews is the Wooster Chinex FTP. Chinex is a stiff bristle designed to push through heavy bodied water and oil based paint. As a rule of thumb, stiff bristle is not suited to acrylic, due to leaving brushmarks. The Wooster, however, bucks this trend in certain paints. It is ideally suited to a product like Sikkens Rubbol BL Satura, because this product has a tendency to flow out flat like oil paint, because of its longer open time. Try it in faster drying coatings and you more than likely won’t have such good results. But the thing is, try it once in acrylic trim paint, and if it doesn’t work, use it for cutting in emulsion, where it really does excel.

All of the above manufactures are American, I have yet to try a brush from any other country that performs in acrylic like US made products. I’ve tried a few UK made brushes, but they just don’t perform to the standard required.

It’s an expensive process buying brushes and rollers for water based paint, just to try them out, but it will pay dividends when you know what paint works with what applicator(s).

Angled sash brush If you haven’t tried angled brushes, please do. Though widespread in the US, Canada and Australia, they are still seen largely as a gimmick here in the UK. Why? I don’t know, because they work superbly for pretty much everything, except large areas of flat panelling.

Rolling acrylic trim paint.

Don’t overlook rollers either. Often a roller can be used to lay the paint on fast, on window sills and flush doors, so they can be layed off with a brush. If you get the right roller sleeve matched to the paint, you may not actually have to lay it off at all. This won’t work with all paints, and tends to work when the roller is newer, but again it’s worth trying, even if you do it once and it doesn’t work.

The best rollers I’ve used for this are Wooster. Their Jumbo Koter 4” and 6.5” frames are great for acrylics, when coupled with the Micro Plush and Pro/Doo-z covers. In fact I’ve rolled many doors with a 9” roller in the right cover with excellent results.

Professional tips for using acrylic paint.

Don’t fuss! I’ve found that acrylic trim painting works better, the faster it is done. That means laying it on, tipping it off and leaving it. Don’t go back to it, even after 30 seconds, if you don’t have to. You may be able to still work it, but if you can’t, you’ll tear the surface, make a mess and have more work on your hands to sand it and repaint.

Wipe out runs If you have a build up of paint, it may pull back as it dries, and you’re titivating will again lead to more work. If the build up is bad and the paint has turned, wet you finger and lightly blend it in. Don’t touch it with a brush or roller.

Reduce cutting-in time Cutting-in will slow you down in your efforts to apply paint quickly, so avoid unnecessary cutting in. I do this by brushing the trim first, taping off and painting the walls last. This is standard practice in America, but still smiled upon here. “This guy can’t cut in, right? But it’s easier, because it’s less cutting in to other surfaces. I usually do cut the wall paint to the door frames, but always tape the skirting in case of overspray or drips.

Masking tape Use the lowest tack tape you can that will stick to the finished trim, but won’t pull the uncured paint off (a full acrylic system is susceptible to this, when just painted).

Don’t ever be tempted to use standard cheapo masking tape or parcel tape. I’ve tried loads of tape from Tesa, Kleenedge and Kip, but always come back to Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape. I find it gives the most consistent results. Pull this off as soon as you can, even if it means pulling it off and re-taping for the second coat. The longer it’s on there, the more chance you’ll encounter issues removing it and lifting uncured paint. Pull the tape when the wall paint is just drying. Pull it too soon and you could get emulsion sagging onto the skirting.

If you need to leave the tape on for longer, ie if you are spraying, or it’s a massive staircase and you don’t want to waste tape or do it again, or you are spraying the walls, you could do one of two things. You could paint the surface where the tape will touch with an oil based primer; Zinsser Cover Stain is best, before your water based primer, or use the oil primer as your entire first coat. I know I’m going against what I said using water based primers but using this method it’s unlikely that the tape will pull off any paint, as the Cover Stain sticks like nothing else I’ve tried (BIN is the same, I know, but it’s a pain to use) and acrylic paints adhere well to it.

Avoid brush marks If you are having trouble with the paint levelling, add a water based conditioner such as Floetrol.

This will keep the open time longer and help the flow out of brushmarks. Use as directed, but don’t be scared of it. If you intend putting a capful in a litre of paint you may as well not bother, as it will do nothing. People are put off by the price, but think of it this way. If you have 6 litres of paint and you add a litre of Floetrol, you now have 7 litres of paint. Don’t see Floetrol as a waste of money. It does work and it’s worth trying.

Spray acrylic top coats For the very best finish with paint, acrylics in particular, don’t overlook spraying. If you haven’t sprayed paints before, this will seem daunting. And it should, because it is. But if you have the work to do it and the finances, it will open a lot of new avenues work wise.

I speak from personal experience, so I know a lot, if not all, of the problems associated with spray painting. But I also know the benefits. Be aware that buying the equipment will be just the start of your expense, but more of that in the next article Spraying acrylic trim paint.

This is a guest post from Ron Taylor, a professional painter and decorator working in the Midlands. In 2004, Ron took the plunge ahead of the rest of the UK pack, and he is definitely now an authority on acrylic paint and brushing, rolling and spraying acrylic paint in this country. He uses acrylic paints on all his private residential work. He can be contacted on………..07905 895502 ron.taylor3@ntlworld.com

Using Acrylic Trim Paints: Brush, Roller & Spray

In fact, digging deeper, he is quite a star decorator in Preston and Lancashire, and a shining example of a truly passionate craftsmen who set his sights early on to do the very best decorating work every time.

20 years ago, I went self-employed. Thought I knew it all, but looking back, I knew nothing!

What he did realise though, from the outset, was that if he wanted a secure and successful long term business to take him through the inevitable cycles of good and bad economic times, he needed to be the best.

Graining and marbling in Preston

One step Jason took was to learn graining and marbling from the late Bill Holgate, a modern-day master of the craft.

Jason has since completed a string of specialist decorative work, from marbling a church altar, to pillars in a hand painted kitchen, to complete marbling of a room.

And by a long and winding twist of fate, Jason travelled to South Lakes and oak grained a damaged door that Bill Holgate had done for the National Trust a couple of decades earlier.

Hand-painted kitchens in Preston, Lancashire

Jason’s passion for graining and marbling, and doing out-of-the ordinary decorating work, lent itself naturally to him specialising in hand-painted kitchens.

If you want to replicate marble or mahogany, you need a very smooth base to work from, so you better know how to use a brush properly!

That’s for sure. I picked up one of Jason’s marbled floor stands, it was glassy smooth.

Quick tour of a JS Decor hand painted kitchen

Why employ a specialist?

It is interesting talking to fellow kitchen painters, because the same themes come up almost spontaneously, again and again. One is: Why do homeowners with a nice kitchen shop on price, employing general painters who undercut specialist kitchen painters?!!!

If you compare the standards of a good general painter with a good kitchen painter, you will see a difference in the workmanship. It’s a string of small maybe insignificant details to the average eye, but in the end, they add up to make all the difference to any discerning client. In a nutshell, the value is in the attention to detail from the initial enquiry through to checking the handles and making sure the finished doors and drawers are all square.

And to nail it home, Jason gave me a couple of good tips, which I’d not really thought of before, underlining, to me, his drive to provide the best customer service. So if you like attention to detail, then homeowners from South Lakes to South Cheshire would want Jason hand-painting their kitchen.

Dulux Select decorator in Preston

Jason was introduced to me initially via Dulux Select decorator, Russ Pike. It turns out that Jason was one of the first to join the scheme in the 90′s, and is one of literally a handful of Dulux Select Fellows in the UK. (Fellows need 10 years membership, and at least 10 continuous years’ proof of a consistently high standard of work and customer service). And to add to that, he was a Dulux demonstrator, going all round the UK showing decorators how to do specialist paint effects.

They say that fame is fleeting, but I didn’t find that. I’ve had TV work, been on radio, asked to do presentations, demonstrations, and for the last few years, I have been writing a monthly column for the Lancashire Magazine. 35000 readers a month get tips on how to grain, or do lapis lazuli, or other decorating skills that I can pass on.

Jason Walker and JS Decor

This is just a brief summary of a 25 year career of a master painter and decorator in Preston, serving from South Lakes to South Cheshire. I highly recommend Jason to homeowners who want the best work. You will pay more than the average decorator charges, and he always has a lead time of a few weeks, but it’s worth the wait and you can expect excellent value for money from a specalist like Jason, who has dedicated himself to perfecting his trade.

Painter and decorator Preston

This was a brass handle from an oak sideboard I am rescuing. It was in a right state. I’m sure Brasso would have done the trick, but who has time and the inclination to use that sort of product, when a 10 minute soak in an eco friendly glorified lemon juice will do the trick.

And when you have this amount of furniture to glitz back up, Krudkutter wins every time.

Soak in a tub for 10 minutes or more, rinse out under the tap with a little help from a kitchen cleaning pad and this lot was finished in about 40 minutes. Softer on your hands than CIF.

Unfortunately Krudkutter products don’t fit furniture but they clean all sorts. Primarily for painters, a soak in Brushwash or Original gets the last remnants of water based paint from brushes.

When professionals use work products at home, you know they have some merit. Kitchen painter, JS Decor used it to clean most of their Longridge paint store; Russ Pike used the gutter cleaner – very skeptical at first, but he said it made light work of years of fungus and blackening on his plastic gutters to bring them back to new. The Graffiti cleaner removed a gallon of oil-based masonry paint from a tarmac drive, and so it goes on.

Krudkutter is the California state education department go-to eco cleaner, and in the UK it is easy to get hold of from Krudkutter UK online.

If you have any experience of Krudkutter products, let us know. And Im sure if you ask nicely, they will send you a sample to prove for yourself how useful it is.

Krudkutter for cleaning brass

Tips on preparing pine, oak or laminate – bare, waxed, lacquered or painted before.

Insights into painting a flat solid finish in oil eggshell, acrylic eggshell or chalk paint, to a top professional standard.

There is a lot here, but I have only just scratched the surface in terms of possible finishes and effects and use of colour and spraying… so if this is your thing, and you want to keep ahead of the game, subscribe for free email or RSS updates.

How to paint pine furniture

Painting pine furniture
Till I compiled this page, this article was the most read summary on the internet about painting pine! A lot of people have contacted me about their successes, having followed the advice.

Paint fitted furniture
Transform a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen or drawing room with a professional paint finish.

How to paint laminate
A common question is How do I paint my laminate wardrobe, laminate kitchen, laminate end panel, laminate cornice. Here’s how!

Painted chairs
These can be fiddly, but quite effective when painted.

More tips on professional furniture painting

Q&A about painting pine
Feel free to contact me with questions about topics not covered here.

Table tops, work tops

Table tops
Should you paint, wax, or varnish a pine, oak, or mahogany table top or any surface that gets wear and tear?

Langlow Patina
This polyurethane gel is my preferred sealer to protect worktops and table tops, hand rails.

Polyvine
They do a range of pretty tough and easy-to-apply clear sealers. I use two mainly: Decorators varnish for sealing water-based paint and a wood varnish for sealing bare wood with a water clear finish. Dulux Diamond Glaze is pretty damn tough, but please don’t use it over paint unless you really know what you are doing, and even then, Dulux will never back you up if you have a problem.

Annie Sloan chalk paint

Annie Sloan
Chalk paint is a really good alternative to oil or acrylic eggshell if painting furniture. I love the simplicity of the process, OK it is labour intensive and there are several knacks to master if you want to offer a professional service, but the results from early on will blow you away, assuming the French / Swedish look is your thing!

Chalk paint is for boys too
Enuff said!

Annie Sloan works for pro painters

My first impressions of chalk paint

Best paint for pine furniture

Paint options for furniture
This will give you a pointer in the right direction about which paints to start and finish with.

Blackfriars Problem Solving Primer
This is re-branded Classidur Universal primer. Pros will know what I mean when I say “Load up!” A low odour water-based primer is comparable to Zinsser BIN in performance, thick enough for an undercoat, and is at least half the price of the same paint in an original Classidur tin.

Mythic multi purpose primer
Mythic is another fantastic “foreign” primer. Over oil paint, I think it flows faster and easier than any other primer. 2 coats over knots, sealed. Practically no odour, zero VOC zero toxins yadda yadda. A favourite.

Oil based eggshell or water based eggshell
What to choose?!! Since 2010, the oil based options have shrunk, and in most cases quality and / or usability has dropped, but thanks to companies like Little Greene and a stack of oversees manufacturers, that isn’t the whole story, thank goodness. Equally, the quality of acrylic eggshell has been sky rocketing. Decisions, decisions.

More about oil based eggshell

Farrow and Ball paint
I don’t have much time for this company. I did, pre 2010, but since they have been developing their new eco ranges, their marketing clout has gone through the roof, the consistency of paint is down, while consistency of insisting that everything is fine with their paint, and all issues are USER ERROR, has risen exponentially. It’s not that you can’t get a good finish, but there are lot better options out there for a stress-free experience with beautiful traditional English heritage colours in reliable trade quality chalky and low sheen paint. (The full Farrow and ball soap)

Painted pine failures
When you don’t prepare pine properly it can get ugly.

Best brushes for painting pine furniture

The best paint brushes
It is all about finding the best brush for the right paint. These are best of class for today’s paints – available in UK. And this is some more indepth Paint brush talk

Wooster Alpha
The Wooster Alpha is one of the leading brushes in America, but thats because it has been designed for US paints. It gets a bad rap when used with crappy UK paint. But for premium high acrylic content paint, it is a beauty – just not quite as beautiful as the Picasso or FTP.

How to avoid brushmarks in paint
Flawless finishes are the painter’s holy grail. It isn’t a total doddle, but if you have the concentration, will, plus the knack and a bit of help from your paint, it is not beyond anyone to beat the quality of the average painter down the road.

Best sandpaper for painting pine furniture

dust free sanding
There is no doubt in my tiny mind that Mirka Abranet is the answer to all painters’ and homeowners’ dreams, especially when you use their dust extraction system. The £50 starter kit is perfectly adequate for DIY and professional use. Sanding pad, abrasives and the hose stuck up a Henry, if you’ll pardon the expression, enables you to sand flat areas perfectly, quickly and cleanly for years to come.

sanding sponge.
On fiddly bits use a sanding sponge. You can easily make your own.

Professional furniture painters

You may not have the time, or the inclination or the skill to hand paint furniture or kitchens, but wherever you live, you do have some reliable names to call now.

I would trust any of these specialists to do my work for me. They are so good at their job, and passionate about their trade. having them in your home will be an event, not a trial! Hand painted furniture, hand painted kitchens…

How much does it cost to paint furniture? Exactly?

As I mentioned at the top, if you want to keep ahead of the paint pine furniture game, subscribe for free email or RSS updates. Thanks.

Paint pine furniture

Video to improve painting technique

If you have an iPhone, or smart phone with a video camera, set it up and video yourself at work.

Action!

Video of painting a door. Easy hey? Maybe. With the camera rolling, though, you will probably learn a lot about your technique and see how you can paint doors better and/or faster.

It should take about 7 minutes to brush or roll/tip a 6-panel door with acrylic paint. To do this, you need a smooth and well rehearsed technique, with minimal fussing. Look at Youtube video demoes, there is a lot of fussing going on. It is probably impossible to paint a door without the odd unnecessary flick, but if you lay off, unnecessarily, the same rail three times because you don’t paint doors in the right order, or you pull imaginary excess paint out of each corner of each panel half a dozen times, just in case, then a video of yourself in action will point out any such tics.

For instance, I think that this shows what to aspire to, in terms of efficient painting and quality.

Maybe the fast frame is exaggerating it a bit, but with the camera rolling, even this fabulous technique can be improved ie I see a tad too much fuss, laying off the panels. But otherwise, he is holding his paint right by his door in his Pelican, with a roller and brush to hand, working his way systematically down the door, minimal bending and stretching, no problem with keeping the wet edge going. Sweet.

Maybe by videoing yourself you can see how you waste time with conventional kettles, avoiding the handle, dibbing and dabbing, dabing and dibbing, or juggling 2 brushes. Or you can spot your unnecessary repeat strokes, laying off too many times.

Video to learn new decorating techniques

I was talking to my good mate, Russ Pike, a painter and decorator in Nottingham, about my plans to get into pinstriping. I’m thinking squirrel hair sword liners, but he mentions his Beugler Pin Striping Tool. To my shame, I had never even heard of it. Youtube to the rescue. This is one in action, and I want one. And having seen what is possible, there are no excuses for not getting the most out of that tool.

Youtube is now one of the leading resources for searching for info, and whatever you need to know, someone has probably made a video of it.

Video gives insights on how professionals can sharpen up their presentation on site

Another benefit of video for professional painters is that if you set up your video camera, you can see a couple of things through the eyes of your clients!

What do you look like when you are working.
Physically, we are what we are, but we do have control over our general appearance. The camera never lies. How do you look on site? Is that you in the smart Blaklader pants or are you the quasi-tarmaccer with your butt hanging out your scaggy painters pants, your work clothes plastered in paint? If, on the video, you see a tell-tale colour card of paint marks from the pocket to the knee of your pants, so can your client. Through the 3rd eye perspective of a video camera, you get to see your image, and act, or not.

Do you run a tidy site?
Rather than photos of work after a room has been put back together, walk round with a video camera when work is in progress. Do you have everything ordered and tidy, or is your work area a dusty filthy obstacle course? What do you think your client thinks?

Just a few ideas on how to incorporate video technology into your painting and decorating thinking.

The above thoughts were prompted by an article on decorators’ Smartphone usage by North Cornwall decorator Alan Iles.

These are the painting videos in my Youtube channel that you can look at. If you have any useful insights into video, please share them with us.

Tips about painting and decorating videos

I run Traditional Painter, a painting and decorating website that promotes best trade practice, best products and best decorators in the UK and around the world. I have found myself inadvertently promoting a service that I don’t believe in one bit, ie throughout the site there are links and references to TDS which now go through to Brewers.

TDS were genuinely the best decorator merchant to ever operate in the UK. Since they were taken over by Brewers, this is definitely no longer the case.

With a bit of jiggery pokery, most of those links to Brewers will soon come through to this page, but till further notice, can I suggest that visitors to my site who are looking for suppliers for the best products for a job, revert to buying online direct from the likes of Owatrol, Mythic, Little Greene. They won’t necessarily be the very best trade prices, but they will be fairer than most rates from Brewers, and it will keep those businesses profitable. And for sundries, look at various online sources such as Trade 1st and Decorating Direct.

Traditional Painter is not about promoting generic products in use since the 80′s, nor is it about justifying the high legacy infrastructure costs of established decorator merchants whose pricing policy is arcane and weighted heavily against the consumer.

This is the 21st century, online is king, but bricks and mortar can work for the best of both worlds. That was proven by a dynamic and lean TDS infrastructure with its mega high level of service and commitment to quality.

For the time being, I am going to look around for a one-stop shop that can offer the trade’s leading products at fair prices.

Once I have found a source that I am happy to recommend for the right reasons, I will update this post.

Traditional Painter alert about suppliers mentioned on the site

Paint colours for women too

Before we get too down on the blokes, (or dismiss the video as a total spoof) I have seen and heard equally baffling colour name psychology with the opposite sex too. Ingrid of Lilou Interiors was discussing options as part of a paint colour consultation.

How does that shade of brown appeal, madam?

Oh, yes, I really love “Cappuccino”.

Do you like this particular orange?

It’s OK, but I like the sound of that name better.

Seriously!

For my first in-house collection, if he isn’t persuaded by Butterfly Scarlet, flip the swatch to Chainsaw Red! Incy Wincy to Splat! Mocha to Mud!

Any other suggestions most welcome (May be submitted to the Colour Police for psychological profiling purposes).

Thanks to tweeting colour consultant Jean Molesworth Kee of The Painted Room, for the initial video link. Out of curiosity, did Farrow and Ball USA rename French Gray to Liberty Gray?

Paint colour names do make a difference