dadiOH wrote:
RicodJour wrote:
dadiOH wrote:
RicodJour wrote:
Matt wrote:
I have a new interior door and I have some new acrylic paint
from Lowe's. Whats the best way to paint it so that there is
a smooth finish?

I bought a fine brush, but I don't have the technique down
so that I can lay the paint smoothly. I also used a roller
that paints it evenly but doesn't leave a very smooth surface.

Fill the wood surface if necessary
Brush, not roller
Thin the paint a bit
Do not rework the paint - lay it on, brush it out, move on
Several thin coats
Sand between coats

You're a regular whose advice and expertise I respect so I am being
neither facetious nor rhetorical whan I ask, how do you sand it?
I've never encountered a latex finishing paint (other than flat)
that would react to sandpaper in some manner other than gumming it
up.

I think it's all the granola in my diet that keeps me regular.

I prefer to use popcorn

I see no reason to discriminate when it comes to roughage.

It also might be a
problem with the sandpaper you're using.

Aluminum oxide preferred but he only thing that provided semi-useful
results with latex was wet sanding with silicon carbide.

You want to use the whitish sandpaper - that's the stearate coating
which is essentially a lubricant and keeps the paper from clogging.

There may be some misinterpretation of what is meant by sanding. The
sanding is meant to knock down any nibs and smooth the highpoints of
any brush strokes.

That *might* be it. To me, "sanding" means abrading until the entire
surface becomes uniform; i.e., sand down to the lowest low (within
reason and without cutting through) then apply the next coat.

There was a possible clue to the solution in another post of yours in
this thread; namely, the word "acrylic". My experience with latex
paint and sanding has been so bad over the years that I avoid that type
of paint except for areas such as walls. I really don't know if that
experience includes 100% acrylic latexes or not. I'm going to buy a
small can and see.

Thanks for the response and links.

No problemo, dadiOH.

Latex paints come in a lot of flavors, and the cheap ones aren't worth
dipping a brush in, much less your time. But latex has come a _long_
way in the past decade or two, and I expect it will continue.

Check out Fine Paints of Europe's web site if you want to see some
truly high end paints. They have some waterborne finishes that are
killer. Prepare for sticker shock.

R