Thread: finishing acrylic gloss on doors

Only ever tried using acrylic enamel once........never again.

I recollect a professional painter telling me that most paints require perfect climatic conditions - not too cold, not too hot and, in particular, the right humidity (humidity measures the amount of moisture in the air - it does not have to be "sticky" to be humid). Perhaps it is too cold to be painting with acrylic?

Does the paint can provide directions as to the right climatic condition conditions?

In the past, I have received good advice from Dulux's Technical Service Department (Telephone: 132525). Follow the prompts and eventually you will get to speak to a technical person.

In the past, I have got very good results using Rota Cota's "Perfect Finish" or "Dream Finish" brushes (Bunning, Mitre 10 etc.). Expensive though.

HTH


Mike

Hi Dan,

I have been experimenting with Gloss Aqua enamel to try and get a smooth glossy surface like oil enamel without the yellowing.

The technique which generally works best for me is to spray the door up in oil based enamel first to a nice smooth shine - wait 3 days or more for the enamel to gas off then lightly spray a thin coat of Aqua enamel over it. Dont fine sand the enamel. Spraying is the only way for a large surface.

It is best to lie the door down when spraying. A light coat will dry with as smooth and pure a surface as oil enamel - but if it goes on too heavy then you get dulling down in patches etc.

Hold the gun about 50% furthur away from the work and try a misting approach. You should be able to see individual droplets just coming together then stop. after a couple of minutes the droplets will run together and it should dry to a nice uniform shine.

I use the same pre enamel technique for skirting and architrave now , except I use a paint pad to wipe a thin coat of aquaenamel over the surface.

Hope that helps

Doog

Hi Dan,

I'v got an old Queenslander house, the sort wher you need a hammer in one hand a saw in the other and a paintbrush hanging out of your bum just to keep 'em looking good. But I would not swap!!!

Done an awful lot of painting etc over the last 20 years or so, and to get that nice smooth finish is a bit of a trick. It takes time and patience - have not used spray, and this is how it works for me.
Presuming you are down to bare timber.

1. Do your best to find a dust free environment
2. Final sand on timber 240 grit
3. Oil based primer
4. Oil based undercoat
5. Let dry thoroughly, lighly sand back with 240
6. Oil based undercoat
7. Sand back with 240 and have light on an agle to see if all pores etc are filled and you have a perfectly smooth surface. If not another undercoat and sand back. Keep this up untill you get that perfectly smooth surface
8. Top coat. With the Aquaenamel I would certainly use Floetrol in the recomended dosage. Use a good quality synthetic bristle bush and put on thinly. Always finish your brush strokes in the same direction, with a very light touch.

When using acrylics, to get a good finish it also helps if you pick the weather right, not too hot and not too dry as the paint has a tendency to go 'off' in the brush. I'd also wait until the temperature is over about 16

It's a long slow process,and you have got to kid yourself it's worth the effort. I think it is, especially when people make comment about how good it looks.

Have fun!

Colin Howkins
Graceville Qld

Doogie, do you use an airless sprayer or a normal spray gun?

For spraying Aquaenamel I use a normal gun and thin the paint about 10 %. Best results occur on cooler and less humid days. I have found that with Aquaenamel the longer the paint stays wet on the surface the more likely it is to dry to blotchy shine levels.

today I finally found a recipe for ultra high gloss enamel / glass smooth type finish that doesn't yellow!! I'm going to try it out and see if it works. If it works I'm gonna go into the paint business LOL!