Re: Melamine primer

I've been looking at re-painting some melamine units and furniture

>to freshen them up, but I am horrified at the price of the primer. > >Does anyone know of a substitute which might work? It looks rather >like some sort of PVA based goo, and I wonder if just using a PVA >mix might be as effective? > >Has anyone ever used this stuff before and what could be used >instead? If used, can a normal gloss be painted on top, or does it >have to be some specialist paint? > >My sister-in-law used this primer on some bedroom units and then >painted them with normal eggshell, and this looked fine to me. >

I needed to do a similar job and did some experiments.

On all test pieces, I lightly abraded the surface and degreased as recommended.

I used a standard primer, a melamine primer and a multipurpose primer (OPE or some such name) that claimed to work on anything.

All were applied according to the instructions and then overcoated with a sand effect paint as one option and an F&B eggshell as the other.

A week later, I did tests with a light wipe to clean and a heavier scrubbing, plus scratching with a finger nail to see of the paint would come off.

The special multipurpose primer was totally useless. More than a light wipe had the paint coming off. The standard primer was reasonable, but a heavy scrub took it off, as did the fingernail.

The melamine primer worked well, standing up to all the scrubbing, and I had to scratch with a screwdriver to mark it.

So, I think that it depends on the durability that you would like to have.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall
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Yes, ESP melamine primer (don't use International's)

If you want a substitute that won't work, feel free to experiment with PVA.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

The sheds have it - e.g.

EAN: 5010988026836 at B&Q.

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Reply to
Andy Hall

This is odd. I remember now that it was ESP that I tried that I didn't get to work at all well, whereas the melamine primer worked the best.

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Reply to
Andy Hall

I do suspect that preparing the melamine surface by abrading with a sander is important, as is degreasing.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

Of course. I - that is he - always prepares any surface well. I insist :-)

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Hmm. I'm doing some repair work on the old car, and the smoother you get the primer the better the top finish. Degreasing is of course crucial.

Reply to
Dave Plowman

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