- How To Paint Cabinets With Chalk Paint
- Best Chalk Paint Brush For Cabinets
- Best Chalk Paint Wax Brush
- Paint Brush For Chalk Painting
- Brush For Chalk Paint
- What Is The Best Brush To Use With Chalk Paint
- Is Chalk Paint Good For Kitchen Cabinets
Many people like to paint their furniture on their own. Also, it is excellent thinking, and by doing this, you can enhance the look of your furniture. And maximum people like to use the chalk paint for this. We all know that chalk paint is developed around 25 years ago by Annie Sloan. It is a fantastic paint because to apply this you don’t need to do any preparations like sanding the furniture or priming the furniture. Just open the box of chalk paint and paint wherever you want to do. With this type of color, you can apply it on any surface.
But before applying this chalk paint, you need a fine paintbrush for it. Many people don’t recommend synthetic brushes for this task. Because if you want to paint your furniture with chalk paint, and also you wish to do this task very smoothly and without any mess, then do not purchase the synthetic paintbrush. The most common advice from the regular users and the experts is that use a natural bristle paintbrush instead of a synthetic bristle paintbrush. And also we recommend you invest your money to buy a natural bristle paintbrush because it works pretty well and smoothly. And because in synthetic brushes, you will generally get a synthetic fiber material. But in the Natural bristle, there is nothing artificial stuff. And because of this, the synthetic brushes have a lower tendency to shed as compared to the natural bristle paintbrushes.
Brossum Brush – Best Brush for Chalk Paint Wax. Brossum enters our list as a. Which sheen should you pick for the best paint for cabinets? Whatever you like. We recommend semi-gloss paint for cabinets because of durability. Chalk paint and matte finishes have their place on wood furniture. But for the daily wear and tear wood cabinets withstand, you need to.
My personal preference is to use a more durable paint than chalk paint for cabinets. Chalk paint has a lot of amazing qualities, but it isn’t known for being the toughest paint. I prefer General Finishes Milk Paint (which is actually an acrylic paint) or Benjamin Moore Advance Paint for cabinets. Rust-Oleum 285144 Ultra-Matte Chalk Paint for Indoors. Rust-Oleum 285144 will give your kitchen.
Table of Contents
- Best Buy Chalk Paint Brush Reviews
Best Buy Chalk Paint Brush Reviews
And to suggest you the best paintbrushes, we have included ten best choices by the regular users and experts in this post. There are lots of confusion when you are going to purchase a paintbrush for chalk paint. To remove this confusion, we have something special for you at the end of this post. At the end of this post, we have provided an ultimate and brief buying guide that you should need to read before making any buying decision about the brush for chalk paint.
1. Brossum Large 2-in-1 Round Chalk and Wax Brush
It is a round head paintbrush. And not only an ordinary paintbrush, here you will get natural bristles. Because of these natural bristles, you can do the furniture enhancements in your style and very entirely.
We all have always owned this piece of furniture that required some revitalization for years. Perhaps this is a retro item that you would like to restore, maybe spruce up. For doing this, the Brossum brush is necessary. You can make beautiful stuff by the brush of Brossum and enhance the look and feel of the furniture. Seriously You’ll be aware of yourself with every quick and perfect brushstroke. You’ve accomplished it. Now your neighbors are going to love your furniture. Everyone who comes over your house will know what an incredible job you have done. It’s all because of your imagination.
Here are no synthetic bristles. You need a natural bristle brush for this rustic, chic look. There are thousands of natural hair bristles in this brush that are ready for use with wax or color and designed for maximum bristle retention with ridiculously high-grade epoxy glue hours of easy painting. With a smooth ring, the brush Brossum holds a breeze all over the wood. The design of this brush is excellent that can fit effortlessly into your palm, and each brushstroke feels so comfortable. It has an ergonomic handle.
And you can easily use this brush for two primary purposes. The first one is, you can use it with the wax and the second is with paint. And because there are tons of bristle present in this brush, that is why it will ensure the full coverage of color.
2. 1st Place Chalk & Wax Brush
And if you are looking for a perfect set of brushes, then this one perfectly fulfills all your requirements. Because here you will get three paintbrushes with natural bristles. But every brush’s work is slightly different from each other.
Because the shape of the brush head varies in every piece of brush, the first brush is a normal one, where you will get the round head, and it is full of natural bristles. While in the second one, you will get a flat head, and the third one comes with the pointed-head. And as per the shape of the brush head, the purpose of use also vary.
Where you can use the round head for standard paintwork, and on the other hand, the flat-headed paintbrush is helpful in a thin coating of chalk paint. And if you want to do some excellent paintwork, then the third paintbrush is only for you. With this pointed paintbrush, you can use it for filling the breaks of the furniture with wax, and also you can use it to draw something on your furniture as well.
So, if we tell you in one line, then the quality is excellent. And you don’t need to worry about the looseness of the natural bristle in these chalk paint brushes because here you will get a dedicated metal cover for this situation. And this metal cover works pretty well. It is a guarantee that after the long term uses, these brushes will never disappoint you.
3. MODERN ART SUPPLIES – Chalk & Wax Paint Brush
If you are looking for a paintbrush for milk paint of clear wax to paint or wax your furniture, then these two sets of brush will help you in this situation. Here you will get good quality brushes that come with natural white bristles.
The first one is a round-headed paintbrush with a small size. But don’t worry about the bristle’s tendency because the manufacturers did there job very correctly. And you will not be going to get any problem with this small-sized brush.
There is one more paintbrush present in the box. But this one is in an oval shape (Not round-headed). And because of its oval shape, you can cover more area as compared to the round-headed paintbrushes. With these paintbrushes, no matter what kind of work you are doing, it will help you to complete that work correctly. But furniture painting also depends upon the person as well.
Here you will get the excellent quality’s wooden handles that are correctly joint with the head of the brush. And if you want to use it for a long term use then here you will get a metal cover on natural bristles. This metal cover works as a protector for brush bristles. And because of this cover, you don’t need to worry about the falling of hairs. It can easily hold the bunch of bristles that are attached to these paintbrushes.
The company claims that you can use these brushes on any surface even without sanding the furniture. Because these brushes are very lightweight, so you can easily hold these brushes without any problems. The design of the brush is specifically for some purposes, like painting the doors, chairs, and tables. And after you are complete your painting or waxing work, now its time to clean the brush. Seriously, if you have a synthetic bristle paintbrush, then this process is going to be stringent for you than painting and waxing. But here you don’t need to worry about it because here you will get the natural bristles. And the cleaning process is also as more comfortable as the painting.
4. Chalk & Wax Paint Brush by Tatler & Tatum
On the next spot, we have included a round-headed and average-sized chalk paintbrush. If you don’t want to purchase any kit of the paintbrush, and also you don’t have enough money to buy a piece of equipment, then this brush is only for you. This chalk paintbrush is very inexpensive. So, everyone can easily buy this round-headed paintbrush because you need to spend only half money as compare to expensive paintbrushes.
And don’t underestimate this chalk paintbrush. Because it is inexpensive, but it will do the paint job done excellently. And for your batter painting experience here, you will get a bunch of natural bristles. The bristles are very densely present on the head of the paintbrush.
Along with the natural bristles, you will get here an excellent build quality that will never be going to disappoint you. The material of the handle is wood. So, it will last longer than any other plastic handles. If you don’t want to invest too much time in painting the furniture, then you need to buy a perfect brush for this task. And this chalk paintbrush can help you a lot in this case. Because of its round head and natural bristle, it can cover more area as compared to other synthetic paintbrushes. And also, you will not be going to be disappointed in the case of cleaning this chalk paintbrush. Because here you will get natural bristles, that is why the paint can’t stick on them. And this can make the cleaning or washing process more comfortable as you thought.
Along with all the features, This chalk paintbrush has higher ratings on online stores. So, we can say that it is quite a popular paintbrush in the market. And the company giving you a 30 days moneyback guarantee also. So, go with this paintbrush without any hesitation.
5. MAXMAN Chalk & Wax Paint Brush
And if you don’t want to get bothered with heavy and large chalk paint brushes, then this kit of two paintbrushes is only for you. The primary and most important feature of these brushes is lightweight and small size. If we are right, then these are the smallest paintbrushes on our list.
Because of the small size of these brushes, you can reach and paint the tiny spaces of your furniture where the large chalk paint brushes can’t do the painting and waxing in small areas. But these small paint brushes allow you to paint and wax in a perfectly and very finely. The overall size of both paintbrushes is around 5.7 inches. Because these paintbrushes are small-sized, that is why you can’t cover or paint a large area. To paint a large area with these brushes, you need to spend a lot of time to do it. But for excellent work, these are perfect. The first brush comes with a round-headed design that allows you to paint a thick layer, and on the other side, there is a flat-headed brush also present that can help in painting of thin-layer.
Also, you don’t need to compromise with the bristles in these small-sized chalk paintbrushes. Here you will get an above-average density of natural white hairs. And with this type of tendency, you can efficiently work fast and correctly. And at the time of the cleaning of these bristles, also you don’t need to compromise with anything. Cleaning of these bristles of these brushes is also the same as other premium brushes.
Other than these features, you will get the wooden handle with these chalk paintbrushes. That is tightly attached to the bristles. And there you will get a metallic cover also to protect the natural bristles of the paintbrush.
6. Vintage Tonality Pro Chalk & Wax Brush
Again on the next spot, we have a kit of chalk paintbrushes. In this kit, you will get three different types of chalk paint paintbrush. The first paintbrush is oval. With this oval headed chalk paintbrush, you can efficiently complete large projects because it can cover a large area of furniture in very little time. That is why it is suitable for long and large projects.
On the other hand, in the box, you will get a round-headed paintbrush also. With this paintbrush, you can paint in a thicker layer. Because there are many times, we need to wax on over furniture in very thick layers. For this, you can use this round-headed paintbrush, and it will be going to do the job correctly.
And there you will get a point-headed chalk paintbrush also in the box. With this type of brush, you can do some detailing work. For detailing work like filling the tiny cracks with wax, painting some letters or design on the furniture, and much more.
Other the shape and size, here you will get good quality bristles with these paintbrushes. These bristles are present very densely in the head of the brush. So don’t worry about the fall of the brush-bristles. And for more protection to the bristle, the company provided a metallic protecting cover on hairs.
Also, here you will get the premium quality handles on all chalk paint brushes. And the weight of the paintbrush is not too heavy as compared to other paintbrushes. And with this type of paintbrush, you can paint on any kind of surface. Overall it is an excellent kit of paintbrushes, and also this kit has very high ratings on the online store.
7. US Art Supply 2-Piece Multi-Use Chalk Paint Brushes
Again we have the small-sized paintbrushes on our list. These are very lightweight and premium looking chalk paintbrushes. So, in terms of holding them for a long time, you are not going to disappoint with these brushes. Here you will get two chalk paint brushes with different shapes. Where the first one is round, and the second one comes in the oval shape. Because of the forms of these chalk paintbrushes, you can use them for various purposes.
The round-headed paintbrush is perfect for paint in thick layers or for waxing on furniture. And the oval-shaped chalk paintbrush is ideal for covering large areas and for general cleaning. But it depends upon you that what purposes you are going to use it.
It will be better if you use these brushes for wooden furniture like chairs, doors, and tables. And because here you will get the 100% natural bristles, that is why this painting stuff is going to be more exciting and very easy as well. The natural bristles allow you to make every coat very smooth and perfect. And the width of the brush head is quite impressive. Apple store on macbook pro. And because of the high amplitude of the brush head, you will get more natural bristles on its head. Also, the hairs are very tightly present on the head. So, you can expect a long term use from this type of chalk paintbrushes.
Along with all the main features of these brushes, the cleaning process is also going to be very easy for you because of natural bristles.
8. Brietis Premium Chalk Brush
If you want a chalk paintbrush with that, you can cover a larger area as compared to other chalk paintbrushes, and then this one is only for you. Here you will be going to get a large brush head. Because of this enormous head, you can easily paint or wax in a vast area in minimal time.
Here you will get 2 inches of bristles on the head of this paintbrush. Because of 2 inches of hair, it can hold more paint or wax on it. So, you don’t need to dip it after one or two coats of paint. This feature will help you to complete your painting work in very less time as compared to other paintbrushes.
Not only this, here you will get 100% pure and natural bristles on the head of the paintbrush. These bristles are very densely present on the head of the chalk paintbrush. And also, for protection purposes there, you will get a metallic cover. And this metallic cover is capable of holding all the bristles for a long time even after regular uses.
Gta 4 activation serial number. Now let us talk about the durability and washing process. Because the full body of the brush is wood-based, so here you will going to get excellent durability. So, the strength is top-notch, and you are not going to complain about it. And the washing or cleaning process is also straightforward and easy to do. Because of natural bristles, this can’t hold the paint for a long time. After you complete your furniture painting work, just wash it through water, and the color will washout after this.
9. Abimars Chalk Paint And Wax Brush
Here you will get one inch and a two inches chalk paintbrush in the kit. Both paintbrushes are round-headed. So, you can easily use these paintbrushes to cover large areas. The round shape is here to provide better paint experience to the users. Because everyone knows that several benefits are present to using the round-headed paintbrush, in the round-headed paintbrush, you will get more hairs as compared to other shaped paintbrushes.
The bristles are also 100% pure and natural. And the bristle part tightly fulfilled, so you don’t need to worry about the paint holding or bristle falling. And to give extra protection here, you will get the metallic cover as well.
The only two down points are here. You will get ergonomic handles. The ergonomic handles are not as good as compare to wooden handles. But they can just work for you. And the second down point is here you will get the metallic plate is a bad quality that is here to protect the natural bristle.
Overall the product is right according to the price point. You can buy this paintbrush, which is very cheap as compared to the expensive chalk paintbrushes.
10. 4 pieces of Chalk Paint And Wax Brush By Abimars
Again we have chalk paintbrush by Abimars on our list. Everything is going to be the same, but here you will get four pice of chalk paints. The difference between these four chalk paint is only some millimeters. The first one has around 20 mm wide. And with this type of brush, you can do beautiful works like filling the small cracks and writing letters on furniture.
The second one is 30 mm wider from the head. And with this, you can approach the tiny parts of the furniture. The third and fourth are 40 and 50mm more full from the head. And you can use these brushes for painting or waxing a large area. And these brushes are not going to disappoint you in the painting work.
As we said, the only down points are the ergonomic handle and average quality metallic cover for natural bristle.
How To Paint Cabinets With Chalk Paint
So there we 10 Best Brush For Chalk Paint of the year, and now it is time to share a quick and ultimate guide that will give you complete knowledge of chalk paint brushes.
Chalk Pain Brush Buying Guide: What To Look for it?
Several points are present that everyone should need to keep in mind before purchasing any chalk paintbrush.
Size of Brush
It is upon you that what size of chalk paintbrush you want to buy. But before making any decision related to the chalk paintbrush, take a look at your requirements.
There are many purposes present to choose a perfect sized paintbrush. Like if you want to paint a table of a plain door, then you should need to consider the large paintbrushes. And if you are painting the chairs of other medium size furniture, then choose a medium-sized brush for this task.
And if you want to put some creative designs and want to write some letters on the furniture, then you should need to consider the smaller paintbrushes for it.
Shape of Brush
There are different shapes present in the brushes. So, the question is how you came to know that which one should perfect for you?
If you are working on a large project, then we and all regular users will recommend you to use round-headed or oval-headed chalk paintbrushes because these types of brushes can cover a large area in one coat as compared to a pointed paintbrush.
Best Chalk Paint Brush For Cabinets
And if you want to do some creative work on the furniture while painting, then you need to consider the pointed paintbrush for this task. And with these types of brush, you can fill the tiny cracks with wax as well.
Synthetic vs. Natural Bristles
If you are going to purchase the synthetic bristle paintbrush, then this is our duty to warn you. Because when you are buying the artificial chalk paintbrush, then you need to put extra effort into cleaning them. Because of the synthetic bristle, the paint stuck in it. That is why it is difficult to wash it.
But on the other side, if you are going to purchase the natural bristle chalk paintbrush, then you don’t need to mess up with cleaning stuff. Just clean the paintbrush with the water, and it will remove all the available paint inside the natural bristle easily.
Also, the density of the bristle matters a lot in this case. But we will suggest you go with a broader paintbrush because on a broader paintbrush you will get extra natural bristles.
Handle part
We suggest you do stay away from the plastic and the ergonomic brush handles. Because after painting there, you need to put more effort into cleaning the available paint on the handle of the brush.
Other then this, the plastic and ergonomic brush handles are not durable are compared to the wooden paintbrush handles. So, if you want to use your chalk paintbrush for a long time, then go with only wooden handles. And if you are working on a large of the extended project where you need to hold the paintbrush for a long time, then go with a lightweight option. Because maintaining a heavy handle for a long time can cause some pain in your wrist. So, always choose a premium looking, comfortable, and lightweight handle.
Final Words
In this post, you can see ten recommended choices chalk paintbrush. These are the top recommendations from regular users and experts. And at the end of this post. And for your convenience, we have provided a brief guide upon the chalk paintbrush.
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What started this whole thing was I wanted to start revamping my kitchen and the cabinets were the first item on my list. I was already set on sanding them all down and going with a dark brown, then I saw THIS photo…and my world was changed forever….I mean really, I LOVE this.
From this point on, I am going to refer to this photo as the dream cabinets. I love the gray with a hint of blue. I love the flat color. I love the heavy brush strokes. I love it all and I had to have it.
Let me show you some before and afters of my kitchen, then I’ll get into all my trials and errors of getting it done.
Since finishing my pantry, I was able to tear down the four cabinets that I had been using to store all my food in, which not only opened up the space, but also gave me four cabinets as dummies to test my colors on.
Man, I wish I were better at taking photos….I really just can’t capture how fabulous these cabinets look in person. The pictures make them look all gray, but everybody who has seen them so far has commented on the light touch of blue.
Alright, down to the process….
First thing I did was set out to try and find a color like the dream cabinets. Lighting has such a big influence on how colors turn out that I actually went through 9 different samples before finding one I liked. Most colors turned out too gray or two blue once I put them on a test cabinet, and I was being stubborn about finding a perfect mix. Another issue I had was the finish of regular paint, even though I bought them in matte…it just wasn’t flat enough! I never would have thought anything of it if I didn’t see the dream cabinets…but since I did, I was set on having that flat brush finish.
I went around picking brains for four days, asking everybody and their dog about their knowledge of paint and how to possibly achieve the dream cabinet final look. Finally! a co-worker said she saw a demonstration of this stuff called chalk paint and it had a real similar look. That was enough of a lead to send me into researching for an entire day and this is what I found:
- Chalk paint was invented by a women named Annie Sloan about 20 years ago.
- It is used wildly in the revamping furniture world because it has a very flat one dimensional finish that gives a great antique or aging look
- It requires no sanding, priming, or stripping
- It sticks to just about all surfaces inside or outside….metal, wood, plastic, porcelain
- It dries anywhere from 15 mins to an hour depending on the weather
- In most applications, instead of using a polyurethane to seal it, you seal it with a clear wax which hardens the paint once it cures.
- If you want to use chalk paint in an outside setting then you would seal it with polyurethane or polyacrylic
- Without the wax, the finish is very flat and chalky looking that is smooth to the touch. However, without the wax acting as a sealer the paint is so soft that it scuffs by just rapping your knuckles across the surface.
- No major stores sell AS products, but local designated retailers can be find online through a simple search
Sounds like pretty awesome stuff right? I agree. The downside is the cost….one quart is $37, and the clear wax is $25, oh then there is also the special wax brush recommended for applying the wax in an even fashion….that brush is $29. So right off the bat you are looking at a pricy project, and that’s if you don’t change your mind about what color you want to use.
Buuuut, while I was still knee deep in research I also stumbled upon a few different DIY chalk paint recipes. Now I’m not opposed to saving money if a product can be DIY’ed, but the last thing I wanted was some knockoff recipe that would be forcing me to refinish my cabinets in a few years time. If that was going to be the case then I would just pay the money for the real stuff and never look back. However, after reading review after review on them I decided that it looked like a safe bet, so I moved forward….
The recipe for making your own chalk paint is a 1:3 ratio of Plaster of Paris to any latex paint you want to buy. What I did was grab a plastic tupperware container from my kitchen since it already had measurements marked along the side, and took a sharpie to the first four lines so they would stand out when I was mixing. Any clear container would work, just grab it and draw four equal lines on it. I actually do not recommend using the same container I have here because of the corners it has. When trying to mix the plaster, it is difficult to get it all when it has so many small crevices to hide in. So if you can, grab something with a round bottom that will eliminate this.
Making your Chalk Paint:
1) Pour in Plaster of Paris up to the first line. Then grab a tablespoon and mix in about 2-3 tablespoons of water. Keep mixing until the graininess is gone and your plaster looks like sour cream.
2) Add paint till the mixture reaches the fourth mark, then mix again. With using a clear container it’s easy to look at the bottom to see if any is missed.
Important: Be sure to mix the water with the plaster before adding the paint or you will never get all the lumps to smooth out.
The color I ended up loving was called Evening Hush by Behr. So I spent $11 for a quart and $8 for the plaster, then went home and mixed up my first batch of chalk paint.
Cabinets:
1) Now it says everywhere that chalk paint doesn’t require any sanding, stripping, or priming. …I find that crazy, but I’m not going to complain because I have 23 cabinets, and 12 drawers to refinish. So the first thing I did was get a drill and start taking down the doors and moved them out to the shop.
Best Chalk Paint Wax Brush
2) Even though no sanding was needed, I still wanted to give the doors a good cleaning so I bought an $8 container of disinfectant wipes and damn near used the entire thing before my cabinets were clean. I would guess that these cabinets are the original ones from when the house was built…I would also guess from the amount of dirt I got off them, non of the previous owners ever gave them a scrubbing.
3) After wipping down the doors, I then came inside and wiped down the boxes and drawers.
Note: Currently I have light brown (ugly) contact paper lining the bottom of my cabinets, while the walls are a dark brown. I have not decided if I want to go gray with the inside or if I want to do an accent color. So for the time being, I left the contact paper and colors alone. This being said I did not remove anything from my cabinets. Since I was not doing any sanding, there was no point! I just moved everything back a little bit so that when I came through with a brush, nothing would get painted. So I literally took the doors off, moved thing back slightly, then went about the process. it would take me 9 days to finish my kitchen, but all that while I was still able to make meals and use the kitchen as I normally would. The only items I moved were the contents of the drawers so that I could paint the inside.
It was time to start painting, and reading online it looks like if I wanted to achieve that heavy brush stroke look like the dream cabinets that I needed to buy a chip brush. Lucky for me Home Depot sells them for $2. I started with the doors first, then moved inside to do the boxes.
Tip: When you are painting using chalk paint, don’t make a bunch of short back and forth strokes like you normally do using latex paint, instead make real long strokes. When I was painting a door, I would get paint on my brush, then start in the middle of the door and go all the way to the top then back down to the very bottom then repeat until it was covered, then just move to the side slightly and do it again until the door was coated. Start off with just some paint on your brush and get a feel for how much paint is needed. Chalk paint goes a lot further than regular latex paint.
4) When painting the doors, I started off painting the face then let them dry, then came back and painted the back. Since I was working on these in the evenings after work, I did one side one night then the back the next. if you are trying to do it in one day, leave about an hour dry time before flipping them over.
WilkerDon’t: With this being my first time using chalk paint, I wasn’t yet familiar with how soft the paint was before being sealed, so when I flipped my doors over I wasn’t overly careful and ended up scuffing up most of the faces in a handful of places. To prevent this, either paint then seal that side before moving to the other, or grab a shop towel or old T-shirt to lay down as protection to the paint. I prefer the latter option since I like to do one step at a time but either way will work.
Paint Brush For Chalk Painting
5) Next I moved inside and started painting the boxes
This chalk paint is wonderful! I was able to do my entire kitchen…the cabinet boxes and doors with just a quart of paint (about 4 batches of chalk paint). I only did one coat of paint on the majority of it with just a few areas that needed a thin second coat.
The next step in the process using chalk paint is to seal it with clear wax. Since I didn’t buy real AS chalk paint, I went online to see what wax was comparable to AS wax and found Minwix Paste Finishing Wax recommended, so I went up to Home Depot and purchased some for $9. Then also wanting to have an even finish I purchased a Wooster wax brush (although they call it a stencil brush) for $12.
6) After watching tons of videos and reading FAQs concerning the application of clear wax, I started to apply the clear wax to a couple of the door faces.
This is where I started having the problems….
I was worried after the first one because it looked like crap and I hated the look it gave the paint, but I moved forward doing about five of them before calling it quits. Each one I tried something different. Using less wax, rubbing off less, rubbing off more, putting it on in a different pattern….no matter what I did, I did not like the outcome. So I started researching different alternatives to using the wax. One thing was clear, leaving the chalk paint without any type of sealant was not an option. The paint just scuffs and scratches way too easy.
Reading FAQs about chalk paint, it says that if you are using it for an outdoor use, then instead of using wax to seal the paint, you need to use polyurethane. Bloggers say to use polycrylic (which is water based) so that it does not yellow over time. Well I figured since it was compatible with the paint, that I could use it regardless of the indoor/outdoor position.
So I sanded down the five that had wax applied, then repainted them, then applied the poly……and I hated it. The door on the left has the poly and the one on the right is just paint. In the picture there is only a slight difference, but looking at it in person it is drastic. Ok, so maybe not drastic drastic…but it was drastic enough to make me hate the color.
So I sanded the few I did with poly and re-painted them again then went to research what my other options where. I surfaced with two more options 1) using Mod Podge in a matte finish 2) using deck sealer. A Sherwin Williams suggested the Mod Podge and my husband suggested the deck sealer. Well I had some deck sealer already in the shop so that was where I headed and sure enough, it kept the color way better than the poly and was a heck of a lot easier to use than the wax.
Brush For Chalk Paint
7) I grabbed a couple foam brushes I typically use for staining and went to town sealing. It comes out looking milky but dries clear. I used a smaller size brush to make sure there wasn’t any build up in the corners. I put on 3 coats total.
In this last photo, the door is still rather shiny, but it dies down after it dries completely. I’m not sure why deck sealer would work better than the polycrylic because it too is water based, but I wasn’t going to fight it. It worked and it was so easy. I actually called Sherwin Williams the following morning to ask about any repercussions they could foresee with me using an exterior deck sealant on kitchen cabinets. The only halfway concern was that deck sealer was meant to go on a stained finish and not paint, so the rep was worried that it was drying on the surface and would flake off in years to come. I pointed out that chalk paint is super porous and thats why it is suppose to be sealed with wax. After hearing that, the rep said he didn’t think I would have any problems.
What Is The Best Brush To Use With Chalk Paint
Like I said, I already had this laying around so I didn’t pick this one over any others for a particular reason. I had a reader tell me she tried Thompsons because it is so much cheaper, but she didn’t like the results so she went ahead and bought the SW and ended up loving it. So again…I’m not sure why there is a difference, but you get different results from the different brands. Hope that helps.
So wether you use wax or poly or another type of sealer, I completely and totally recommend using chalk paint to refinish your kitchen cabinets. The painting was the simplest part in this whole project and it was super cheap with me using the DIY recipe.
Is Chalk Paint Good For Kitchen Cabinets
Total Cost: $50
Total Time: 9 days
**UPDATE – 1/17/14** I have been getting several emails asking how my cabinets are holding up so I thought I would add an update. They are doing great! I’m so pleased. Now what I do warn everybody with is to be real careful around the cabinets for the first couple of weeks after applying the sealant because the paint doesn’t harden until it fully cures. It took right at two weeks before I noticed I could hit my cabinets with my knuckle and it wouldn’t leave a scuff mark, but once it all cures and harden I haven’t noticed any marks scratching through the paint. Keep in mind, that I don’t have kiddos yet so they aren’t fully being tested like a household full will be. ; )