alternative to primer?

lindseykim13

I have a couple of small furniture items i want to sand down and paint, a table and magazine rack. Do these need to be primed first and is there a cheap alternative? as short of cash.

phill99

White watered down emulsion will prime them. 20% water to emulsion. make sure all of the old varnish or paint is off first.

misgrace

You could try a product called 'dulux Supergrip' its water based and white, you paint this on stained wood, mdf, or even if you want to go from varnish to white, this will give you the adhesion for your other coats to grip, its quite thick so you can slightly water it down and it will go further.
If you use ordinary oilbased or even emulsion it wont stick to the existing finish, and you will get chips, or marks that show the existing stain/wood, plus its false economy.
By using 'supergrip, or even Zinsser Bin' this will hold fast on the existing finish, then you just paint as normal, I would suggest that you use oil/solvent base as your finish coats

Dippypud

Sand items if required, wipe over with sugar soap solution to get rid of any grease residue.

Rinse and allow to dry, paint with a 20% solution of any colour emulsion paint, matt finish is best, try not to use 'silk' or a 'vinyl matt'.

This will do for a primer, if the finish you want is better / smoother, then re-sand and re-paint. Then on to top coat.