Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Chalk Paint Does Not Cover Everything

I was hoping to share a little easy project with you this week but no such luck.  I started working on this table last Sunday.  I at least put it back together…a little crooked but whatever :)
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I just wanted to paint it Old White and wax with the dark wax to show off those legs.  Here is what it looked like after one coat of paint.
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Here are some shots after the second and THIRD coat of paint!!!
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So the whole point of using the chalk paint on this one was to avoid the priming step.  I wanted EASY.  Since Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint is said to need no primer and prep work I was a little ticked that I’d used up almost all of the remaining old white that I had on this to try to “cover” this one.  So, I emailed the “contact us” page at the company website.  And Annie emailed me back!  I was surprised she emailed herself.  She gave very helpful advice and I thought I would share with you guys. 

My Email…
>Message:
>Hi! I have used chalk paint on many projects and have had great success.
> I
>have had to use two coats of paint on most projects but I've always
>been happy with the finish with no primer. I recently started work on
>a small table that was in bad shape, old stain and some water spots.
>The original stain seems to have a red tint. I have used Old White on
>the piece and the red is bleeding through. I applied my third coat of
>paint tonight and the red is still bleeding through in various spots.
>Any advice? Is this typical? I really don't want to continue wasting
>paint if it is going to continue to bleed through. Just wondering what
>some thoughts would be, I can always prime and re-paint but I had hope
>to avoid all those steps with chalk paint.
>Thanks,
>April

Here is the reply…
Hi April
Occasionally I find a piece of furniture that this happens with and it was a particular stain that was used. No amount of paint will stop it and so I just get my knotting which is use to block the stain from the sap of knots coming through, and coat it al over. It is extremely quick drying so I use a pad of cloth to dab all over. Then I repaint and you will find it is fine. Knotting can be found in any ironmongers, hardware type store - get clear if you can , or buy clear shellac - it's the same thing!
I'm glad you have had success with the chalk paint before this!
Annie
>Annie Sloan Paint
>33 Cowley Road
>Oxford OX4 1HP
>England
>0044(0)1865 247296

Of course I emailed her back in thanks.  I didn’t want her to think I was unhappy because I love Chalk Paint, it is awesome stuff.  I had never even heard of knotting, but did a little research on the internet and it stops wood knots from bleeding which is kind of of what I thought after reading her email.  However, I don’t think that is what has happened to this table because there are no visible knots and it is way more splotchy.  I think I am going to spray prime it with Kilz on the top and try repainting.  If that still doesn’t work I’m throwing it in the dump….jk :)  I’ll just try shellac, that will stop it! 
Have any of you had any issues with chalk paint?  Or painting disasters lately?
April

2 comments:

  1. I have painted a dining chair, which had a dark varnish on it which was cracked and flaking. I rubbed down really well and applied the Chalk Paint. As it dried there were brown stains, which I can only imagine are from the original stain on the wood. I was wondering if I could use shellac directly over the chalk paint to seal it or would I have to strip it and start again. I was looking online and came across your blog. Do you know the answer?

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  2. Hi! Thanks for stopping by. I am not sure on the shellac, I had primer so I sprayed the whole piece with Kilz Primer and then painted and that did the trick! I think using the shellac would work the same.

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