Hello! Today post is all about white paint, and a new product review which will help you out the next time you grab the can of white!
Have you ever painted something white and had it turn pink or yellow?!? Who knew, but white is the HARDEST color to paint. In fact, just knowing how. many. coats. I’ll have to use when something goes white, I usually avoid it all together. But with a new trick I learned that takes the guesswork out of bleed through and a new product, I’m not nearly as afraid of white.
You can almost bet you’ll have trouble painting white over any wood with red tones in it. But there are a few other woods and finishes that bleed too.
This is what this chair looked like after one coat… if I just kept adding paint, it would just keep bleeding through.
Here’s how I finished the chair after I used my new go to primer for stain blocking.
Affiliate links included to help you find what I’m recommending.
General Finishes just came out with their Stain Blocker and it is AWESOME! It’s not smelly, it’s water-based so it won’t ruin your brushes, and when blind tested against several other primers on the market it won hands down!
On this chair I used the primer and finished it off in Antique White Milk Paint.
This trunk was tricky, I didn’t think it would be a problem, but after the first coat, I saw the dreaded bleed. So I went back to the primer and it did the trick just perfectly. This is the Stain Blocker and Snow White Milk Paint.
Here’s my latest project, another trunk. As soon as I saw this one I knew it would be trouble (Tucker is sniffing it out too). See the red tones…. tell tale sign.
But, here’s a new trick I learned, an easy way to test your piece for bleed through BEFORE you even crack a can of paint. No need to use primer if you don’t really need to right?
The Satin Blocker is a little pricey, but honestly most good primers are. And this little can (it’s a quart) was used for all the projects pictured in this post, so it covered a double headboard/footboard, 2 trunks and a rocking chair. Not bad.
Here’s the trick, you have to follow the directions… follow directions. This primer needs 2 coats! The first coat pulls the stains out of the wood, the second coat seals them. Don’t cheat and say it doesn’t work.
Here’s what one coat looks like…
Here’s the second coat. Once dry you are ready to paint! You’ll still need 1-2 coats of paint (Snow White or Antique White) to get good coverage – but at least you know it won’t turn pink!! It is still distress-able even with the primer.
I’m off to finish up this trunk before it’s headed to it’s new nursery.
No fear next time you need to paint a piece white!
Happy Painting!
Jenni
