Is there a way to paint melamine without VOCs?

blizeH

Hi, we're painting the nursery and my wife has been reading up about VOCs which as much as possible we'd like to avoid.

We've found a Ronseal paint but it says it has high VOCs so that's out. I've seen videos on YouTube suggesting to sand it, then use primer and satinwood - sounds ideal since we already have plenty of both, but it also says you have to sand the melamine first and looking around it looks like that's a big no-no due to the toxic chemicals used in melamine being really bad to ingest (for adults - probably much worse for babies!)

The little one isn't due for a couple of months so we're happy with low VOCs also, but ideally want to avoid anything high like the Ronseal. Does anyone have any recommendations please? Thank you

troffasky

How much sanding are we talking here? Can the item(s) be taken outside to sand them?

Wear a dust mask whilst sanding. I was going to recommend one but I can see that they're now selling for 3-8x what I paid a year ago so it's futile :-(

GDB2222

I am not going to recommend this, because it may damage the furniture, but one possible way round this is to sand the melamine wet, using wet and dry paper. The dust then forms a wet sludge that you can wash off. 

Spinybif

Use esp,  wipe on, leave 5 minutes, wipe off, leave 90 mins and paint. No sanding. Works brilliantly on any surface.

Easy Surface Prep by Owatrol

GDB2222

Spinybif said:

Use esp,  wipe on, leave 5 minutes, wipe off, leave 90 mins and paint. No sanding. Works brilliantly on any surface.

Easy Surface Prep by Owatrol

I have heard good things about ESP. However, you should check the VOCs on the data sheet.
https://owatrol-international.com/media/ften_esp__088889500_1143_18092014.pdf

Spinybif

Thing is once dry, unlike paint doesn't give off VOCs. Just leave window open while it dries. Once painted over job done.

blizeH

GDB2222 said:

Spinybif said:

Use esp,  wipe on, leave 5 minutes, wipe off, leave 90 mins and paint. No sanding. Works brilliantly on any surface.

Easy Surface Prep by Owatrol

I have heard good things about ESP. However, you should check the VOCs on the data sheet.
https://owatrol-international.com/media/ften_esp__088889500_1143_18092014.pdf

Thank you! It looks like 'low VOC' is anything below 50g/l, and the ESP is 29g/l so it should be good

Spinybif I think you're right about it not being a big deal once the paint was dry, but looking around online it seems like some paints can still emit VOCs for years after they've been applied so I figure if we can get something with low (or no) VOCs that'd be better.

sol2017

How about Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 as a primer? Not tried on melamine but works great on all sorts of surfaces. 

blizeH

Thank you! I didn't realise the Bulls Eye 123 was ultra-low VOCs but that's definitely a great option - there are some paints which just go straight on without a primer but they're really expensive... so maybe the 123 primer is a good option

john.h

https://bedec.co.uk/bedec_products/multi-surface-paint/