Forum Topic

Anyone good at DIY? Metal paint driving me mad!

Evening Brentfordians! If you don't mind I need to pick your brains.. I was very kindly donated a table and chairs by my stepfather's mother when she moved back to America, however they're black metal and my kitchen is white/cream.Not I problem I think to myself - I'll just paint them.. About here is where it started going wrong..I figured I'd need to put a primer on first because I was going from dark to light, so I bought a dulux primer for wood and metal (white) and a dulux paint for wood and metal (cream) to go over the top.I put the primer on about 48 hours ago and it's still wet! I don't know what I've done wrong, the tin says it's meant to dry in 6 hours! I followed the directions, the only thing I didn't do was 'sand the surface', I assumed that was just for wood because you can't really sand metal. :/Any suggestions of how to rectify this problem would be greatly appreciated, my very small kitchen is now entirely taken up with loads of bits of table/chair and I've ruined about 5 separate items of clothing from brushing against them trying to make cups of tea etc!Anybody know about paint/DIY? Seeing as I clearly don't!Thanks gang :)

Stephanie Kitsune ● 5910d5 Comments

Thanks, if it's not dry tomorrow I'll start again in the evening.Maybe I should just try a patch without the primer and see if it covers, I have enough to do about 3 coats in the cream paint. This primer malarkey is a great big pain in the bum!

Stephanie Kitsune ● 5910d

Do as Richard say and give it a bit more time. If that doesn't work clean it off as much as you can. Primer is the first coat on anything, and not necessary on already painted surfaces, but I can see that you wanted to cover the black. Acrylic primer/undercoat covers better than oil so maybe that would work underneath, and it dries quickly. However, if you use that do key with a fine paper first. 'Wet and dry' (grey) fine paper should do it. On my grey metal filing cabinets I just cleaned with white spirit then used Dulux eggshell without primer.

Becky Bell ● 5910d

Will do :) thank you very much guys!So to clarify, you think I should clean the sticky failed primer off with white spirit, give it another once over with white spirit, sand it (any particular sort of sandpaper or will anything do?) and then try again from scratch?Wish I'd just used spray paint now!

Stephanie Kitsune ● 5910d

"I don't know why the primer is not drying if it's intended for metal."But metal primer is designed to be applied to bare metal, not old paint.  I agree with Becky, a good clean with white spirit would have removed any surface grease or polish.  Also sanding would have taken the gloss off the old paint and given a better surface for the new paint to adhere to.I suggest giving it another 24 hours, and if it's still not dry, strip it off with white spirit, and start again.

Richard Jennings ● 5910d

Hi. When I've painted metal I've simply used Dulux Eggshell without a primer. It's been very successful - my filing cabinets are still an acceptable turquoise after fifteen years. I appreciate that going from black to white might be difficult and I don't know why the primer is not drying if it's intended for metal. Do you think there could be some chemical or polish on the metal? I would have cleaned the legs with white spirit first to remove grease, etc.

Becky Bell ● 5910d