Little Greene paint - for woodwork

ChilliBob

Anyone tried the Little Greene paint for woodwork? The satinwood, or, especially the eggshell? And the intelligent all surface undercoat?

Planning on taking a custard coloured bedside table to mud azure green! 

liberty_lily

We've used Little Greene external and internal intelligent eggshell several times at our current house and now actually prefer it coverage-wise to Farrow & Ball. Haven't used their all surface undercoat (yet!) though so can't comment on that.

I used their 'Heat' on a pair of previously dark blue/grey bedside tables and was very pleased with the result!

Help1234

I also prefer the eggshell to Farrow and Ball. Haven't tried undercoat.

ChilliBob

Ah nice, that's good to hear. I've only used modern emulsion from F&B and I have found Little Greene intelligent emulsion far superior.

Has the eggshell had much abuse to it for you to test how durable it is? I mean we don't intend on abusing our bedside tables but was do have a five year old and a baby (who usually spend all night in our bedroom!) 

ChilliBob

Help1234 said:

I also prefer the eggshell to Farrow and Ball. Haven't tried undercoat.

Cool cheers!

I'm trying to decide between eggshell (our desired finish) and satinwood (trading a bit more sheen for more durability.. But not sure how much more for the sheen compromise! 

Gavin83

I too prefer the Little Greene paints to F&B. We’ve painted a couple of wooden elements with intelligent eggshell and they’ve worked out well. We painted the following vanity unit (and panelling) using intelligent eggshell and it worked out fine:

The whole thing is coated in Polyurethane varnish though to improve the waterproofing properties. Had I just gone for paint I might have preferred the extra durability of the satinwood.

I haven’t bothered with the Little Greene undercoats though. Mainly to save money we went with a basic undercoat. While I obviously can’t compare I’ve been impressed with the results and I’m not convinced spending the extra would have provided any further benefit.

White wood, ceilings and bathroom walls were painted in different brands. 

ChilliBob

That's beautiful, thanks for sharing. Oh and my wife zoomed in and started gushing about the soap he he.

What was your technique if you don't mind me asking?

I !!!!!! intending on sanding down to key the surface, rough to start with getting smoother to say 240 grade.

Applying paint coats with a decent wooster synthetic brush and a short nap roller (some red wooster one).

Yours looks sprayed or something! I can see why you shared it, I'd certainly do so, very nice. 

Varnish wise, what did you use? My wife had a bee in her bonet about doing some play room furniture next with sliding wicker crates full of toys - so that will 100% get abuse! 

Gavin83

ChilliBob said:

That's beautiful, thanks for sharing. Oh and my wife zoomed in and started gushing about the soap he he.

What was your technique if you don't mind me asking?

I !!!!!! intending on sanding down to key the surface, rough to start with getting smoother to say 240 grade.

Applying paint coats with a decent wooster synthetic brush and a short nap roller (some red wooster one).

Yours looks sprayed or something! I can see why you shared it, I'd certainly do so, very nice. 

Varnish wise, what did you use? My wife had a bee in her bonet about doing some play room furniture next with sliding wicker crates full of toys - so that will 100% get abuse! 

Thanks for the nice comments!

My wife bought the soap. Sadly it’s now run out and it’s filled with some cheap stuff from Tesco but it’s an illusion anyway! It was nice but a lot of money for soap.

In terms of technique nothing special. Sanded it smooth with various grades of sandpaper, although I didn’t go as low as 240. Then slapped on an undercoat which I believe was Zinsser BIN rather than a Little Greene one. Then after that 2 (or 3, can’t remember) coats of the Little Greene Intelligent Eggshell. Then a coat of the Polyurethane varnish.

I can’t remember the exact varnish I used but I can dig it out if you’re interested. It’s certainly hardy and it does keep the water off, although the water does stain it. It’s easily cleaned off though.

Also it wasn’t sprayed, it was applied mainly with a roller, plus a brush to do the difficult to reach bits. I’d quite like a spray gun but that’s on the ‘to buy’ list.

I also can’t take credit for the painting, my wife did that. I just built the thing.

ChilliBob

Great team work then! Brilliant stuff. 

Yeah i intend to use Bullseye 123 as my base, then one little greene undercoat then two top coats.

Looking forward to the finished product, just need to do all the blasted sanding now! 

FreeBear

Gavin83 said:  I’d quite like a spray gun but that’s on the ‘to buy’ list.

You'll also need a compressor - It is worth getting one with a high CFM rating along with a big air reservoir. Once you've sprayed everything in sight, you'll start looking at other air tools. An air hammer plus chisels is very handy, and much lighter to use than an SDS drill for smaller jobs. An orbital sander would be next on the list followed by a right angle drill. Maybe a die grinder and small angle grinder later in the week.... Oh, and you'll want long curly hoses and an even longer extension hose.

Gets expensive