Furniture painting advice please!

[leightx]

Ok - I'm trying to paint an unfinished desk, and I keep getting brush marks. I sanded and primed it first, then sanded again until perfectly smooth. For painting, I've tried a brush (obviously), a small white foam roller thingee, and those cheapo grey sponge brushes. Is there anything that I can use to get rid of the brush marks? It has 2 coats of paint now (plus 1 coat of primer). Am I just being unreasonable in expecting a smoothly painted desk? HELP!!!!

[sneezles]

What type of paint are you using?

[sneezles]

I'll just give ya what I know...

1) Brush has to be compatible with the paint. Latex paint is only compatible with synthetic brushes. Oil base can use synthetic or natural.

2) Always paint with the grain of the wood, no criss-crossing like on walls.

3) Darker colors may take more coats.

4) Paint may be too thick or you may have too much on the brush.

5) When sanding between coats use a 220 grit and then use a tack cloth.

6) You may be applying too much pressure to the brush.

[leightx]

Well, I painted with a glossy off-white latex paint (Behr, from Home Depot), since that's what the paint guy recommended. This is my daughter's desk - she's 5, and I wanted something that would be easy to clean. I was painting it outside and the paint was drying pretty fast b/c it was so hot - could that have been the problem?

Would putting on a coat of polyurethane help at this point? Another coat of paint? Sand it once again? It's certainly not terribly bad, just a little annoying.

Thank you!

[sneezles]

Originally posted by leightx
Well, I painted with a glossy off-white latex paint (Behr, from Home Depot), since that's what the paint guy recommended. This is my daughter's desk - she's 5, and I wanted something that would be easy to clean. I was painting it outside and the paint was drying pretty fast b/c it was so hot - could that have been the problem?

Would putting on a coat of polyurethane help at this point? Another coat of paint? Sand it once again? It's certainly not terribly bad, just a little annoying.

Thank you!

I'd lightly sand and probably do a couple of coats of polyurethane. It will help to level out the surface. Be sure to use a water base so it's compatible with the paint. And it will amke cleaning it that much easier.

One other thing, you'll have to let it cure for at least 48 hours (I think) before you "varnish".

[Beth]

You could try sanding and one more coat, but put it on early in the morning and you can use a damp brush -- even add a little water to the paint if it has thickened up while open in the heat. Putting polyuerethane on a white desk could lead to yellowing -- or chipping. For a kid's room, I'd put at least three coats on it anyway. And like Sneezles said -- make sure the brush you are using is for latex.

Oh, one other thing you can do is alternate directions -- paint the first coat with the wood grain, second coat across the first, then third back with the wood grain and keep it all going one way -- right to left or left to right. Once it's painted, don't go back unless the paint is very wet and/or you dampen your brush.

[BeachBum]

DH and I just painted some new trim work we had installed in our house. We used an oil based acrylic that we got at Sherwin Williams. I'm mentioning this only because there isn't a brush stroke on anything we painted. DH and I were so surprised!