schooner wrote:
I painted a birch plywood desk work surface with latex CIL SMART3
WASH & WEAR Kitchen & Bath paint
http://www.cil.ca/en/brands_smart.html (at the suggestion of the HD
paint guy) as he said it would give a durable washable finish. The
surface was first lightly sanded and primed with Kilz2 and then two
coats of black latex.

The issue I am having is that the paint surface seems to remain
tacky/sticky when items are placed on it then moved later. The
surface is dry to the touch but items do stick after a few minutes.
From reading I understand this may be an issue with latex paints and
known as blocking. It has only been 3 days since the final coat was
put on so perhaps it is just an issue of waiting longer for drying?

Is there anything I can do to get rid of or reduce this beyond
repainting? Will it go away after a week or so or will it remain for
the live of the paint? What about waxing or using talcum? Since the
is a semigloss black finish I wonder if talcum would cause a mess.
For wax what would be the bets to use?

Any other suggestions?

It may or may not go away. Give it a couple of weeks and see what
happens. Looking at the paint you used, it's from Imperial Chemical
Industries, it's got Teflon and ceramic microspheres, it's won several
awards, so I don't think that the quality of the paint per se is the
issue. Was the piece above 70F and the humidity below 50% when you
painted? If it wasn't, then try warming the room and keeping it warm
for a week or so. May be too late but it won't hurt anything.

If you decide to try waxing it, Butchers Wax and Johnson Wax are both
good, silicone-free products with a long track record. If you can't
find either of those, go down to the local bowling alley and ask them
what they use and where to get it and it will probably be OK.

If you want a quick and permanent fix, find a paint store (not a store
that sells paint, but one where paint is their primary business) that
has a good brand of waterborne polyurethane, get some mixed in the
color you like, and overcoat with that. Should be able to get several
coats on in a day and the next day it should be ready to use. Make
sure you tell them what you are about so that you get the right primer
and sealcoat.

--
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--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)