Latex paint in the wood furniture finishing

Latex paint


Latex paint or water based paint is an aqueous paint that uses water as its main thinner. Although it is named as latex paint, but these finishing material does not contain latex in the mixture. This material is a paint made from acrylic resin or urethane resin that is mixed with mixture of pigment as its main ingredients. It will produce a paint finish or solid color finish in a finishing. Currently the latex paint is available in a variety of brands, and each providing a variety of colors, qualities and properties. The latex paint is especially made for decorative purposes on a wall since that the color uniqueness and variation is very important thing in this business.

Latex paint for wood furniture finishing.

The uses of this paint in the wood finishing is actually not too much. The material that was not designed to be applied on wood substrates make it rather difficult to be used on wood product. There are many finishing materials that are designed for wood finishing with better suited to the industrial wood furniture finishing are available. The colors produced by the latex paint is actually can be easily generated with the wood finishing materials such as base coat, enamel or toners. The uses of latex paint on wood finishing is mainly in the wood furniture finishing process that requires special effects that are easier to be obtained with this paint. Some finishing effects such as: texture effects, crackle, stippling, wash finish, etc. are easier to be made with the latex paint. Latex paint is thick and water-based material. This material can easily be layered according to the required thickness, can be easily removed or applied with specific techniques to produce some special effects. This paint also can be applied using special tools such as sponges, brushes, cloths and even other equipment such as paper and comb if necessary. This paint can be removed by wash off with water quite easily, or be added on if necessary. Since it is thicker and has stronger binder then glaze,  this paint can be applied on and formed to produce the special glaze effect with a thicker layer. The latex paint can  be used to produce texture effects with a variety forms and models. This paint  also has advantage to be applied on wood surface without layered with clear coating on it if needed.

The use of latex paint in the finishing for furniture is usually used in conjunction with other wood finishing materials. Latex paint is mostly used to make the special finishing effects and the desired color and then followed with the application of wood finishing materials such as base coat, clear coating or glaze. The latex paint combined with glaze will result in an interesting and dramatic antique finishing looked.

 latex paint for antique finish

Tips in the use of latex paint in the wood furniture finishing.

•  Provide adequate time for drying.

Latex paint is water-based finishing materials, so he takes a relatively long time to dry. Like the other water based materials, this material is also very sensitive to the weather conditions, especially air temperature and humidity. In the hot and dry weather it may dry quickly, but in the wet and humid air, it requires long time for drying. So make sure that we provide enough time to let the latex paint to dry especially if it is layered with quite high thickness. An oven may need to be considered when you use this material in lot of amount.

•  Choose the best paint materials in accordance with the needs.

The latex paint is actually purposed to be used as wall paint, so it characters and qualities made are more suitable for the application on the wall, not for wood or wood products. Each brand and type of latex paint can produce effects that could be very different when it is used in the wood finishing. Latex paint with more expensive price and considered as material with better quality may not be suitable for our wood finishing needs. Therefore, the proper selection is very important to find the latex paint that best suits to the desired effect and color.  We may need to do some trial to find the best suit material.

•  The application of this paint on M.D.F. should be done carefully.

This material is using water as its thinner. Therefore, the application of this material directly on the substrate that strongly absorbs water such as M.D.F. or particle board should be avoided. The water in this paint can go in and soak in the M.D.F. and damage the M.D.F. The M.D.F. board should be coated first with clear catalyst coating such as Polyurethane or Acid curing clear coating before layered with latex paints