I'm refinishing all the woodwork in my home because the original oil-based paint has yellowed and darkened. I'm going to use a satin latex paint. I've read that adding Floetrol to the paint will help it level out so as to avoid brush marks. Has anyone actually tried this and been successful? If so, what mixture ratio did you use?
Thanks,
Jean
I use it and love it. Follow directions, and tweak from there. You just have to fiddle with it until you get it right. I find that I use a little more than suggested. It works great, for me, anyway, and reduces brush marks and roller stipple. Be careful, because you will tend to put too much paint on with the flatter appearance.
Don't thin the whole gallon. Just what you want to use. That way, if you get it too thin, you can add some of the thick undiluted paint to bring it back up. If you thin the whole gallon, and overthin, you won't be able to do that.
Steve
By the way a great way to paint doors is to take them off, put 2 nails in the top and bottom and lay it across 2 saw horses using the nails for support. You can do all your painting without dry time.
Most paints say don't add anything, some say you can dilute upto x percent. Floetrol tells on their product the maximum you can dilute. I have use Floetrol on walls at less than 10 percent and it seems to improve the quality significantly but my walls are a medium knockdown texture so smoothness of paint is really a factor.
I recently painted my new doors and old woodwork with a gloss latex and decided not to use Floetrol as the paint said not to add anything. Used both a roller and a brush. It is impossible for me to get a finish free of brush marks with latex, but I'm not a professional painter.
I suggest that you mix a cup or so of the paint with 10 percent Floetrol and apply it on a very smooth finished test board to check the smoothness and to see if there are any color changes.
You still have dry time if you have 7 doors and only two saw horses. :)
Thanks for the info and advice ...now I've got a plan of attack for all those darn doors!
Jean
All the latex paint cans I've seen say not to thin the paint unless using a sprayer, but Floetrol isn't a thinner (according to their blurb), instead it is a "conditioner" (whatever that means). So I was guessing that I could ignore the paint manufacturer's statement if I use Floetrol. Am I wrong?
Some oils yellowed but a warning unless you clean the trim and sand it real well, it is likely never to bond right, many times ive seen latex over a hard oil trim that came off with your fingernail. If it is a quality old smooth finish then only oil can get that again, Penetrol in oil or Floetrol in latex help, both made by Flood. The smoothest finishing paint is Benjamin Moore satin Impervo, expensive but the new formulations dont yellow as much . Latex may be easier now but dries to quick to level and get real smooth, and bonding issues can make stripping it off in a few years necessary, unless you spend alot to prep.
Be sure to sand it all down very well, you'll need to scuff up the old oil paint to give the latex some bite.
I'd be asking at a real paint store about using the correct primer or deglosser to make sure you get good bond to that oil.
They all say that. But in many cases it does need to be thinned to a workable consistency. Floetrol works well. I'd bet you'll want to thin the paint a bit as well.
Good advice
Anything you add to the paint that isn't paint is a thinner. Yes, Floetrol is a conditioner but it thins the paint, so it is also a thinner. You can't ignore what the paint manufacturer says, but you don't have to believe or follow it.
By now, you know all you need to know, you just need to test it.
Prep doesn't take a lot of time, depending on whether the door is flat or a panel door. One just needs to do it right. Wash with Trisodium phosphate (or maybe a substitute), wet sand with
220-400 grit wet or dry paper and rinse off. Don't need to sand a lot, just keep washing the paper so that paint doesn't accumulate on the paper. Maybe a lot of time if one is impatient and thinks that 15 minutes per door is a lot of time.
In my project to repaint all the house's woodwork, I've just completed refinishing the baseboards (lotsa little ledges and curves). And like you say, I spent more time doing prep work than in the actual painting. If I had only known about all this before I started the project ....sigh
Jean
Floetrol is a *retarder*, meaning that it makes the paint dry more slowly. The primary benefit is that you can keep a wet edge longer. To a first order, Floetrol doesn't *thin* the paint.
Thinning the paint (with water) will make it level better. If you do this, do it only slightly (
Go buy more saw horses. :-)
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