Latex Paint - Tacky/Sticky finish days after painting - Solutions?

[schooner]

I painted a birch plywood desk work surface with latex CIL SMART3 WASH & WEAR Kitchen & Bath paint

(at the suggestion of the HD paint guy) as he said it would give a durable washable finish. The surface was first lightly sanded and primed with Kilz2 and then two coats of black latex.

The issue I am having is that the paint surface seems to remain tacky/sticky when items are placed on it then moved later. The surface is dry to the touch but items do stick after a few minutes. From reading I understand this may be an issue with latex paints and known as blocking. It has only been 3 days since the final coat was put on so perhaps it is just an issue of waiting longer for drying?

Is there anything I can do to get rid of or reduce this beyond repainting? Will it go away after a week or so or will it remain for the live of the paint? What about waxing or using talcum? Since the is a semigloss black finish I wonder if talcum would cause a mess. For wax what would be the bets to use?

Any other suggestions?

[JGS]

I think what you are seeing is "blocking". Very common with latex paint. Some people have reported having the problem for as long as five years. As paint can take up to a month to cure (not just dry) you might want to wait that long before you give up and strip or refinish the item. Sorry, JG

[dadiOH]

Home Depot strikes again.

The tackiness is because the paint isn't yet dry and won't be for another month or two. Eventually, the sticky goes away. You can make it go away now with a coat of water base polyurethane varnish. Which would also be a *much* better finish for a desk than latex. I'd think talc would work but not good on black. Don't know about wax, maybe. Johnson's Paste wax is a good one.

[schooner]

Thanks, that is about what I thought. Hopefully it will go away, I just need a short term solution I guess for the next month or so as I do need to make use of the surface.

Will a polyurethane finish go directly over the current surface as is? I'm a bit concerned about how well it might stick as the current paint has Teflon in it for easy cleanup. If so how long does the polyurethane take to dry before it could be used?

Perhaps wax is my only real easy solution for now. Anything specific to look for in a wax for a latex surface such as this?

[J. Clarke]

[J. Clarke]

It may or may not go away. Give it a couple of weeks and see what happens. Looking at the paint you used, it's from Imperial Chemical Industries, it's got Teflon and ceramic microspheres, it's won several awards, so I don't think that the quality of the paint per se is the issue. Was the piece above 70F and the humidity below 50% when you painted? If it wasn't, then try warming the room and keeping it warm for a week or so. May be too late but it won't hurt anything.

If you decide to try waxing it, Butchers Wax and Johnson Wax are both good, silicone-free products with a long track record. If you can't find either of those, go down to the local bowling alley and ask them what they use and where to get it and it will probably be OK.

If you want a quick and permanent fix, find a paint store (not a store that sells paint, but one where paint is their primary business) that has a good brand of waterborne polyurethane, get some mixed in the color you like, and overcoat with that. Should be able to get several coats on in a day and the next day it should be ready to use. Make sure you tell them what you are about so that you get the right primer and sealcoat.

[schooner]

Thanks. The temp was around 68-70F, was painted in my basement which is very dry and humidity is fairly low. I also ran the dehumidifier on full the days they were painted and the day after as well. Perhaps I should just keep it running full in the room with the painted surface.

From what I can see about the paint it is suppose to be good quality and fairly durable, it may just be that it needs more drying time is all at this point. I have a few things on it now (LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, lamp) as I need to use the surface but will try and keep most of it clear as long as possible. Nothing is sticking yet to the point it is removing paint, it just seems very tacky when anything is moved and I don't want to mark it up if I can avoid it.

[Larry Blanchard]

Despite what others have said, the tackiness NEVER goes away. It just takes longer and longer for items to stick. I've got some storage cabinets that are about 10 years old and if I leave something sitting on them for a month or more they stick.

My suggestion would be a barrier coat of dewaxed shellac and then poly or varnish over that. If you use super blonde shellac and water based poly it shouldn't change the color much.

[J. Clarke]

Depends on the quality of the paint. If it's decent quality non-blocking latex then the tackiness does go away after a while.

[dadiOH]

Set your things on waxed paper.

[schooner]

Thanks, good idea with the wax paper. Would applying the wax as a short terms solution cause any potential issues do you think?

[Bryan McCormick]

The message from "schooner" contains these words:

Since it is a major brand, sugest you contact their Technical Service Department at the phone number given at the bottom of the web page (1-800-DURABLE (387-2253)) - they hopefully should be able to assist you to overcome the problem.

Phoned UK part of the company some years ago about a colour matching issue and had good response and advice from them which sorted my problem.

Regards,

Bryan

[schooner]

Would the wax possibly cause any potential issues or is it fairly safe to try?

[J. Clarke]

Only issue is that if you have to recoat it later you have to get the wax off--the ones I mentioned should clean off with mineral spirits and leave no residue. What you want to avoid is car wax with silicone.

[Ken]

If you do recoat , use Gereral finish Milk Paint, it is a High grade Furniture finish, water base, scuff sand with lite green Scotch Brite pad wipe with Naptha dry recoat, One coat should do it. Woodcraft.

ps It's not real Milk Paint.

Ken

[Joe]

Depends on the underlying issue. If the paint isn't dry it will take longer to fully dry with coatings on top. Wax paper or wax could leave impressions from heavy objects if the paint is still wet. Possibly use a de-humidifier and some heat. Others here seem to have more experience with this issue. I'd consider the paint defective, I don't have that problem with the paints I use. In my experience with paints, oil based take longer to dry but aren't tacky after 4 days of drying. Oil does take up to 30 days to dry fully, and I try not to apply further coatings before fully dry if project time permits. Water based can be non-tacky within 30 minutes, fully dry in

48hrs. I have limited experience, usually airbrush or art, I generally use shellacs and waxes on woodcrafts.

[schooner]

Thanks. It is not tacky to the touch like a semi dry paint soon after applying, it is just tacky when something of weight is placed on it for a few minutes. No paint is coming off, it just seems a bit sticky on moving the object.

[Joe]

Like I stated previously, not much experience.

Recent project - display cabinets for gallery/store. Original finish was wax over shellac, de-waxed, painted with oil-based paint. Not tacky with heavy objects after long periods of time. Sun exposure.

Past project - small dresser converted to shop cabinet, quick strip and sand, painted with latex paint, not tacky with heavy objects after long periods of time. Occasional damp, high humidity, garage. It was for the shop, I had free latex and I didn't care, otherwise I never would have chosen a latex for a high humidity location.

I had to look it up, never seen the problem. Wax or oil-based paint finish was recommended. I'm just guessing here, but the thinness of coats applied with the airbrush are probably why I haven't experienced it.

what I read the problems is one or more of; bad paint bad surface prep too thick of application

Try drying first then wax, otherwise after 30 days if the problem still exists I would strip and re-paint. Quick covering problems often doesn't work for me. YMMV

[J. Clarke]

Just for the record I can get a gallon of PolyStar or tinted Magnamax for about the price that Woodcraft charges for a quart of General Finish Milk Paint, and General Finish Milk Paint is another latex--it may be _good_ latex, but trying to fix a problem with a good grade of latex by overcoating it with a different brand of the same stuff seems to me to be counterproductive.

[schooner]

Just a follow up that I received from CIL directly via an email to support in case anyone was interested:

"Although the product is dry to touch - it will take up to 30 days for a paint film to fully cure.

Paints with high levels of colorants (such as a tinted black) it will remain soft for 7 to 10 days until all the water and other components have fully dried out of the paint film. It would not be uncommon for a freshly painted surface such as this show blocking as you noted.

I would suggest allowing the surface to dry at least 10 days before placing objects with a definite weight to them in the surface."

Seems the black tint may be leading to the longer cure time.