I am building a bathroom cabinet from MDF which will get water splashes on from the shower . I have been told by this group to use yachting varnish to coat before painting.
Will gloss or emulsion do alright and will I have to prep the varnish any way to accept the paint. ?
Varnish will seal the surface so primer shouldn't be necessary. I would rub the varnish lightly with fine grade abrasive, then apply undercoat, rub that with fine grade abrasive, then finish with gloss. Emulsion is not very water resistant although you can get bathroom/kitchen emulsion that is supposed to be more moisture resistant than ordinary emulsion.
I put a babies changing cupboard made of MDF in our bathroom. First undercoated with slightly thinned undercoat to basically seal MDF surface, then two coats of mix and match emulsion (to match bathroom walls you see....) then rollered with one or two layers varnish to seal. I thought it wouldn't last being in the bathroom and being widdled on etc by babies etc, but survived two offspring getting it wet and other numerous spillages without any sign of MDF getting damaged. I revarnished the joints after moving house and is currently being used by my brother and his smallest.
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