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Painting help

18 years ago

I bought two pieces of 'wooden' furniture, basically they're that particleboard with a white laminate type of finish on them. I want to paint them but they don't accept paint well. My idea is to antique them to match the vanity in my bathroom.

I tried to primer a bookcase of this same material once and it was nearly disasterous. I actually have several pieces of this type of stuff that I want to transform, but I'm not having much luck.

Sanding it lightly causes the laminate to come off, it's really more like a laquered paper than a true laminate. Any other suggestions? I'm on a roll with my bathroom and want to make this new stuff (GW finds that the retail stores dump off cuz they're dinged, but still fine) look old and rustic.

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Comments (7)

sweets98
18 years ago
I think what you have are made of melamine (is that spelled right?). Almost anything I've used I have been able to paint on it one way or another with primer and paint but I haven't tried this type of finish yet.

I have heard that they make special paint for this type of furniture...even heard Debbie Travis talking about it last week on a show. So maybe try the hardware and see if they have it?

Good luck!
firemansmom
18 years ago
I have painted on it too several years ago and its still holding up, I got a primer that said it was for painting over laminate and it worked great, It was made by Behr (sp) kinda spendy but well worth it.
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neetsiepie
Original Author
18 years ago
Excellent! Thank you for the tips.
myback_garden
18 years ago
I was just browsing the forums(am usually on the Hypertufa forum) and read your post.You can use a product called KILZ or Zinsser. Both products are available at Home Depot in quarts or gallons. They are solvent(oil) based and will adhere to any surface..as well you can then paint over them with a latex(water based paint)Dry time is approx 30 minutes to touch and approx 1 hour to put on finish coat
sweets98
18 years ago
Just be careful because not ALL of Kilz is oil based...they make several different types. I usually use the water based and it works fine on everything but like I said, I haven't tested it on melamine. It "should" work though because it seems to work on everything else!
dgo1223
18 years ago
I use the BIN 123, and it worked perfectly, you just need to clean the item well, I used 2 coats of the primer and 2 coats of a good quality paint, then 2 coats of acrylic poly. It is now hard as a rock, and looks great.

Just make sure it says it is a bonding primer. Also, it does not have to be the oil based, water based is fine and does not stink.

Best to let it cure for several days before using the items.
neetsiepie
Original Author
18 years ago
Ahhh...more tips! Thanks. I talked with a kid at HD and he also mentioned using a bonding primer. I tried to paint a bookcase with KILZ but it was water based and I had to apply SEVERAL coats, and it scratched off later. That was really disappointing.

I think I'll try an oil based, it might have more grab.

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