Cd Cd Fine Paints of Europe Process and Tips (Brushing/Rolling)

Overview:

I wrote this process to share what I have learned recently when trying to achieve the perfect finish using Fine Paints of Europe Hollandlac Brilliant 98 paint (FPOE for short). Typically, I would spray this paint, but that’s a very different process. This information was difficult to come by, and so my hope is to share what I have learned and save some headaches for others.

Supplies Needed:

  1. FPOE products only no substitutes:  mineral spirits, primer, paint, brushing putty ( for hiding deeper wood grain if needed)
  2. Regular mineral spirits for cleaning only
  3. Tack cloths at least 6 (2 for priming, 2 for finishing, 2 for contingency)
  4. Microfiber towels
  5. Tyvek suits (2 for each finish coat process)
  6. Crock pot (to heat paint and keep warm during the painting process. This avoids paint cooling down too quickly upon application to avoid brush strokes or orange peel)
  7. Food thermometer (digital display)
  8. Paint strainers
  9. Plastic cups (thick enough to sit in hot water.  I use paint mixing cups you can get at the hardware store)
  10. Soft craft brushes (I get mine at Michael’s for $7.99). Two brushes in each size (why two? in case one falls on wet floor or is otherwise contaminated during painting).
  11. Chip brushes (for use with brushing putty only)
  12. Foam rollers (Wooster 6-inch – lint-free helps, but cleaning is still necessary)
  13. Hand-held shop light for close view to see missed spots and debris
  14. Painters tape
  15. Roofing underlayment for booth floor
  16. Optional but very helpful:
    1. Shop vac
    2. Sander, which can connect to a shop vac

Steps for FPOE painting:

Step 1: Preparing the furniture:

    1. Remove all hardware
    2. Clean all surfaces well with TSP.
    3. De-gloss if necessary
    4. Fill dents and cracks with wood putty.
    5. Sand with 220-grit sandpaper
    6. Vacuum with a shop vac
    7. Submerge a microfiber towel in a bowl of mineral spirits and wipe down your furniture.  Wipe dry with a clean microfiber towel.  Do this 3 times.
    8. Tack.  Only when there is no residue from the paint on the tac cloth are you ready to move on.

Step 2: Apply Brushing Putty (to fill in wood grain if desired):

    1. Thin 5% with FPOE mineral spirits and brush onto furniture (before priming). It helps to smooth it with a large smoothing blade, like what is used to smooth joint compound, or you’ll be sanding for days. Don’t sweat the brush marks; you’ll be sanding them off.
    2. Paint w/ FPOE brushing putty
    3. Sand brushing putty 220
    4. Apply Bondo
    5. Sand 320 grit

Step 3: Priming Your Furniture

Some words of wisdom…. I’ve learned the hard way that trying to prep and prime/paint on the same day may be taking on too much.  It’s best to separate these activities to avoid getting impatient and rushing the process.

    1. Thin primer 10% with only FPOE mineral spirits.
    2. Strain the primer: pour from the can through a paint strainer into a plastic container (you’ll strain it again in the booth just before you paint).
    3. Mix for 5 minutes.
    4. Warm the primer in the crockpot. It thins the paint naturally and makes it easier to work with. Use a food thermometer to measure the temperature.  Set on warm for 30 minutes before painting.  Heat the paint to around 90 degrees and keep the paint within 20-30 degrees of the room temp (which should be above 60 and below 90). You’ll keep the paint in the crockpot while painting so it stays warm (and thin) while painting.
    5. Apply 1st of 2 coats of primer, sanding between 220/400. Preferably done in a clean booth with adequate lighting.   There may be debris on the surfaces, and now is the time to determine the cause to prevent headaches when preparing for the finish coats. For me, it was debris on the foam rollers…ugh.
    6. For primer only, re-prime burn-through spots (where primer was sanded off inadvertently).  Don’t skip this step…the finish paint won’t cover satisfactorily, and it’s not worth the heartache to find out that you need to sand off the finish coat and prime again …oh, and a second coat of finish paint will not fix it either.
    7. Follow prepping in steps 5-8 in Step 1 between all coats of paint and primer.

Step 4: Booth prep for finish coats

There are some great videos out there for building temporary paint booths.  I built mine following some of the info in the link at the bottom of this blog. These steps cannot be skipped when applying the finish coats.  At this point, your surfaces are all primed, sanded, cleaned, and ready for the finish coats. After all the prep work you’ve done, you don’t want to be sanding too much more due to debris and risking burn through.

    1. Vacuum booth walls and floor
    2. Line floors with roofing underlayment and tape seams.
    3. Run air cleaning  (HEPA)  fans for several hours in the booth before painting.
    4. Before painting, turn off fans and wet the floor
    5. With a fresh Tyvek suit and booties on, load furniture into the booth (Never have furniture directly on the floor ).  I use milk crates I can stack.
    6. Here’s a checklist of things to have at the ready to bring into the booth (this will limit running in/out of your clean booth to get forgotten items, creating an opportunity for debris to get into the booth and onto your painted surfaces.  I can’t tell you how many times I forgot to take off the fresh booties when stepping out to retrieve something I forgot!)
      • Bright handheld shop light
      • A fresh Tyvek suit and booties (for finish coats before entering the booth)
      • Tack cloths
      • Strained paint in a plastic cup
      • Paint reservoir cup/paint tray to pour hot paint into
      • Lint-free rollers (two in case you drop one on the wet floor) and applicator handle.
      • Two brushes in each size you’ll be using, soaking cup of mineral spirits (why two? in case one falls on wet floor or is otherwise contaminated during painting)
      • Crockpot
      • Paint strainers
      • thermometer
      • mineral spirits
      • painters tape
      • microfiber towels

Step 5: Painting the finish coats…Finally!

    1. Measure the temperature of the paint with your food thermometer, and if it’s between 80 and 110 degrees, you’re ready to start painting.
    2. Tack the surface.
    3. Take paint from crockpot, wipe water off cup with microfiber towel (to avoid water drips into the paint), pour a small amount of paint through a strainer into the paint reservoir (cup or tray) you’ll be putting the roller and/or brush into. Keep the amount of paint to a minimum so you’re always painting with warm paint.
    4. Work with small areas at a time and keep a wet edge as much as possible.
    5. Use the shop light and shine the light from the side to see missed spots and debris. As you move to new areas of the furniture, be sure to tack before putting a roller or brush on it.
    6. Have tape ready and pick out debris before moving on.  See tips below in troubleshooting.
    7. Wait at least 24 hours before recoating.  Sand off sags and drips from previous coats.  A 3rd coat of Brilliant 98 is not advisable.  If there are issues, sand off the previous coat.

Step 6: Booth cleaning (for finish coating steps…not necessary for priming):

    1. Remove all contents from the booth
    2. Remove roofing, underlayment, and milk crates.
    3. Hose off milk crates
    4. Vacuum booth floor walls
    5. Pull down the zippers to seal the booth
    6. Run the HEPA filter/fan before moving to the next step.

Troubleshooting:

Contaminated paint:

    1. Water in Brilliant 98 can’t be used.  Be mindful to avoid any water getting from the crockpot into the paint.  If water gets in the paint…stop.
    2. Inevitable Debris
      • If you observe a lot of debris in the paint, stop. Wipe off the paint with the mineral spirits and microfiber towel asap, and figure out where it’s coming from before painting again. It avoids waiting hours for it to dry, only to sand it off.
      • Be prepared to pick out debris.  It’s always going to be there, even in the cleanest environments. For wet paint, I use the tip of the brush to scoop out debris, wipe the tip of the brush on a piece of painters tape, then brush over the area to smooth out the divot.  This is why the paint needs to remain warm… brushing over cooler paint leaves deeper brush strokes or worse adds dragging marks. If you’re keeping the amount of paint small as suggested, you can add some hot paint to the existing paint to warm it before brushing over divots.
      • Orange peel: There could be many causes, but it will show up on every coat applied afterward, so it must be sanded off.  You know it is gone when there are no shiny spots on the surface after sanding.  Be careful sanding near edges to avoid burn-through, which, as mentioned before, will require re-priming.

Cool video on building a paint booth: Building a temporary paint booth with PVC