whitewash 101 on previoussly finished furniture

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if i would lightly sand with 180 grit

wipe with tack cloth

prime with oil based zissner cover-all primer sealer TINTED with universal tint(burnt sienna) adding a little japan dryer to help flow out....this oil primer will assure good adhesion to old finish that is to this point unknown, the tint will give you the under color of wood at the same time the oil primer will prevent any "raising of the grain" and other problems assicocated with applying waterbased latex paints to wood furniture

then a glazing liquid paint(water based) from ben moore line(is clear faux paint to acheive the distressed brushed out look familar to most as "whitewash"

now the top coat of white heavly brushed out , applyed with 6 inch stain brush. brushing in the direction of grain. before this top coat is set-up i may if i feel like add more distress marks with 36 grit sandpaper at edges and corners and work it over with some scratches from a screwdriver or similar distressing tools

finally a clear coat of satin water based polyurathane to protect from future damage

the oil primer seals the wood and old finish from all the new paint, even though if you notice we switched to water based products after the primer it will not raise the grain as the oil primer is doing its intended job

also if you notice the primer was tinted with universal tint, in this case burnt sienna but you could use anycolor yof your chioce

it could all be done to a mantle over the course of a day although the actual working time as probally 1 1/2 hours the rest is drying time

the oil primer dires in 1/2 hour, glazeing liquid about 1 hour the top coat about 1 hour and the water based clear polyurathane also dries in about 1 hour

the piece will look "whitewashed" and the finish besides looking like a display piece from a museum will last for decades

so you see rocketman and others useing proper methods and materials great advice can be given to homeowners and there results will be a conversation piece everyone that comes in the house will ask about

belive it or not people actually do what we tell them to do here at this site, well most of them do anyways. if the advice we give is faulty and there results are poor there stuck living with ugly fireplaces in living rooms across america is a bad reflection on bobvilla

i happen to be qualified to give good advice on a wide range of subjects simply becuase i do this kind of stuff for a living. i am a licensed contractor with a great handyman business. i love what i do, i respect my materials, tools and the advice i give to others. this is a recepie for success

there are subjects i dont touch here on the board, simply because i am not upto date on the subject and dont want to cause harm or confuse the "customers" here

if i do post on a subject you can be sure that i am correct and whatever i tell is 110% guaranteed moneymaking advice that puts food in my kids mouths

i dont just type because i like to see my name on web sites

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