Top 5 Tips for Working with Metallic Paints

Top 5 Tips for Working with Metallic Paints

Metallic Paints are amazing – they add a gorgeous shimmer and shine to virtually any project and are perfect for surfaces such as walls, ceilings, furniture, fabrics and more! Our focus on quality, durability and beauty has made our Metallic Paint Collection the world leader in water base metallic paints. While working with them throughout the years, we’ve experimented with and gathered the best metallic paint tips for you to ensure gorgeous results. Want the deets? Let’s dig in!

TIP ONE: KNOW YOUR OPACITY

Metallic Paints can either be sheer, semi-opaque or opaque and it’s important to know the coverage differences and the cool effects you can create with each. Sheers are not meant to be used as a solid coat finish as they are a translucent paint used to create beautiful decorative finishes over another metallic paint color or over a low sheen acrylic or latex paint. If painting with metallics, Opaques will take two coats and Semi-Opaques take three. Experiment with all the sheens to find your fave treatments for your projects!

TIP TWO: TINT THE BASE

To help add depth and richness to your end result, start with a base of an acrylic primer or a low sheen acrylic latex paint tinted to a color close to your metallic paint color. Be sure not to use too close of a color as you might miss an area and not catch it until after you’ve wrapped up. Follow up with the recommended coverage of our metallic paints for a luxe finish.

TIP THREE: USE THE RIGHT ROLLERS, BRUSHES & SPRAYERS

A good quality synthetic bristle paint brush, such as from Purdy, Wooster and Corona, all work well with our paint. Our Metallic Paint Roller or a 1/2″ synthetic nap roller works well for rolling on a wall or ceiling – but first make sure you rinse and dry your roller prior to use to help remove any loose lint. The addition of the Extender for Rolling when working on large surfaces or in warm or dry climates helps rolling the paint tremendously. Our Extender is made specifically for our metallic paint in order to maintain the shimmer of the finish and we do not recommend using standard latex extenders.

If spraying, use either an HVLP or Conventional Cup Gun Sprayer to apply metallic paints. For the smoothest application of paint, this is the way to go. For even further information, we have general settings on our Metallic Paint Technical Data Sheet.

TIP FOUR: CUT IN AND TAPE FOR SUCCESS

To prep your wall with tape, start with a low tack painter’s tape. After taping, you will cut in the wall a few feet at a time instead of the whole surface. (While a smaller wall is more forgiving, cutting in the entire area of a large wall first will result in framing the edges, which will show a difference in the finish.) Working with a wet edge is important to help eliminate roller edge marks as well. Following this rule for each coat is best. We have an excellent How to Roll with Metallic Paint video that shows you the process visually.

If you are taping over a fresh coat of metallic paint, give the paint at least eight (8) hours to dry. If there is a lot of paint build on the taped portion at the end of a project, merely lifting the tape will lift the skin of the paint and affect the finish. For a clean edge removal, we recommend using a straight edge with a razor blade to cut the tape line.

TIP FIVE: PROTECT YOUR WORK

If you are applying metallic paint on an exterior or high traffic interior, you will want to protect your beautiful work. What about if you need ‘scrub-ability’ on kitchen areas, bathrooms, cabinets, doors or resisting the work of little fingers? For all, we highly recommend top coating with our MasterClear® Protective Clear Topcoat after the last coat of Metallic Paint has been allowed to dry for 24 hours. MasterClear® is made specifically for our metallic paints to maintain the color and metallic shimmer of the finish – most topcoats will dull the metallic shimmer. Who wants that?

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These top tips have been culled through years of experience and working with metallic paints. We hope our love and use of our metallic paints can help you achieve amazing results. If you have any questions (or top tips yourself!), click on the comments to reach us. Be sure to pin these top tips to keep the inspiring ideas close by for your next metallic paint project!

Photo Credits

Original article and pictures take modernmasterscafe.com site