Protective coating for acrylic painted surface?

[Bill B]

I have small wooden box made with basswood, sanded and painted with white Acrylic paint I want to protect against scratches, dirt, and being cleaned. The paint is "Delta Creamcoat" white, Blanc, semi- opaque I got at Michael's artist supplies. It comes in a little white bottle of a few ounces. I thinned the paint with water and applied several coats to avoid brush stokes. It looks good but the paint seems to wash off easily with water so I'm wondering what I might add to protect the paint from being washed off or scratched. I don't need a shinny finish, a dull smooth white is fine, but I'm worried if the box is cleaned with water or Windex, or somesuch, the paint may come off or get scratched.

I read some articles indicating some sort of wax may help, or possibly a coat of varnish. I'm doing some experiments now with a scrap piece of wood and some "Delta Creamcoat" water based varnish but it hasn't dried yet. Seems like a water based varnish would have the same problem.

What about car polish? I have some turtle wax "Finish 2000" that could be tried. Or maybe just some regular wax from a candle?

Any ideas?

-Bill

[dadiOH]

Regular water based paints/varnishes aren't water soluble after drying just as oil base paints/varnishes aren't paint thinner soluble after drying. That is because both undergo a chemical reaction as well as solvent evaporation. There are exceptions...watercolor "paints" for example.

Any surface coat can be scratched,

[charlie]

look for spray varnish or lacquer in the same place you got the original paint.

[nailshooter41]

Mind that you get a water borne acrylic. There are artists sealers that are water based and used specifically for sealing as the stay clear.

If you put solvent based on the latex it will stick well, but since it is white, it will almost certainly discolor it (yellow, amber) it. And as with all solvent based products, it will only get more of an amber hue as it gets older.

Robert