I want to tint Polyfila to fill hairline cracks so as to match the magnolia wall finish and thus postpone repainting for a while. I know it won't be perfect, but better than pure white Polyfila that will stand out like a sore thumb against the magnolia.
MM
You'd be better off filling with conventional white filler and overpainting when it's dry. If you're not painting the whole wall, then it's likely that whatever paint you use will show up (even if it's from the same tin as was used before), so I'd use a very small brush just to cover the minimum area necessary, rather than sploshing on, say, a half-inch overlap either side of the filled crack.
David
I would go along with that, apart from the use of a brush. A better way would be fill the crack/gap and then get a little watered down paint and use a piece of foam to dab along the filler. This way, the paint will not be 100 percent and you can feather the edges so they are not visible.
HTH
Dave
If you are using dry powder polyfila then just mix it up with the magnolia paint instead of water.
Yes, I had thought of that alternative, using the *small* brush. But I figure if I can get a pretty close match with the filler, I can postpone the paint job for now. Best of all would be a *dry* pigment than I could mix with the powdered filler before adding water. I have in the meantime found a colouriser product called Polyvine. Don't know whether anyone has any comments about using this.
MM
Ah! That's quite a useful tip, using foam. Excellent! I have actually already purchased two magnolia matchpots (Crown and Delux). Originally I thought of mixing some of the matchpot contents with the filler, but I'm not sure whether that would interfere with the filler's setting properties. A colouriser on the other hand would surely be neutral in its effect, apart from imparting the tint required.
MM
Will it set, though? (I suppose I could just suck it and see!)
MM
Yes it will but it sounds like it would be quicker to just fill and paint the whole wall
You haven't seen the size of the wall! We're talking acres...
Well, probably not quite that much, but it's a LOT of area to cover.
MM
Yes, its a simple effective method, used to do it when I was a litlun.
NT
For browns (and maybe magnolia) you can try instant coffee (clearly a tiny bit for magnolia!). "Test on an inconspicuous area first" as they say!
Just spotted this while shopping online for something else and thought of you!
Put some on a kitchen towel and watch the dye separate out.
That's the kind that stays flexible. Not suitable, I think, for a crack down a wall.
MM
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