Lamination on furniture gives it a more durable and glossy look, but it is not always the look that stays updated with our unique tastes. As your tastes change you will want to paint over laminated furniture to stay updated, but can you really paint laminate? Yes, you can paint laminate furniture and it is easy if you know how to do it! This article is going to look at 10 tips for painting laminate furniture with ease and as little frustration as possible.
1. Materials
Painting over laminate is actually somewhat easy and you don’t need a lot of materials for the job; you will need materials such as oil paint, paint brush or roller, painters ground sheet ( to protect against dripping paint), fine grit sandpaper, course sandpaper, and cleaning materials. The material basics are the same as if you were painting any other surface except that oil paints work better than latex for painting over laminate. You can also use water based paints, but I advise against using latex.
2. Sanding
Sanding is a necessary step for painting over laminate; what you are doing is putting grooves in the laminate to make the paint stick easier. Sanding also gets any rough patches out if there happens to be some worn material on the furniture. When sanding make sure you use a facemask or work in a well ventilated area.
3. Fine sandpaper
You will want to use fine sandpaper for sanding laminate furniture opposed to using course grit.
4. CLEAN
After you finish sanding you need to make sure you get all the dust off the furniture before attempting to prime. You will also want to get any stains or marks off the table before you attempt to paint it; however often times a dark paint color can take care of this for you. You basically want an even surface to paint.
5. Laminate is hard for paint to stick to
Although it may seem obvious you will quickly learn that laminate is an awful surface to paint because paint has a hard time sticking to it. You want to use an oil base paint after sanding the material with fine grit sandpaper for best results.
6. Krylon Fusion Paint
Spray paint is a great alternative for painting laminate furniture; Krylon Fusion paint is great because the surface does not need to be sanded, and it is made to bond with plastic. This paint can be found in most hardware stores and in most paint departments at home improvement stores.
7. Primer
If you still choose to use oil base paint you have to first put down a primer (not the case if you use the spray paint). You will want to use an oil based primer for best results; what you are doing is making the paint stick to the laminate when you get to that step.
8. Paint!
For best results after sanding and priming is to use oil based paint with a roller on the furniture. The laminate may take several coats to get the desired color and effect. From experience using a roller is easier to use a brush as the paint sticks to the surface better. When painting, make sure you work in a well aired out and ventilated area as oil paint is toxic to inhale.
9. The after product
Painting laminate furniture will not get you amazing results; you may get decent results but nothing amazing. Do not be discouraged if it did not come out perfect as painting laminate hardly ever does.
10. Tips to remember
Painting laminate is not easy, and will not always get stellar results every time. Using the Krylon spray paint designed for plastic is the easiest method of painting laminate furniture. If you choose to use a primer and oil based paint then make sure you do not skip the standing step with fine sandpaper. Ask a paint associate at your local hardware store as to what the best grit sandpaper would be to use, I recommend over 200 grit.
Sources:
Personal experience working for a hardware store for multiple years
www.krylon.com
http://www.blurtit.com/q634730.html
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/club/board/thread/24936/
