On Thursday, August 22, 2013 10:30:21 AM UTC-4, Robert Macy wrote:
Ok, guys, here's the challenge: What to do to prevent brush strokes. And,

don't tell me roll it on, because that just makes the 'brush' strokes

different, less controllable, and a giant mess if not careful.



I don't know what you mean by that. Rollers don't leave brush strokes.
They can leave roller ridges, but with a good paint and decent technique
it isn't hard to avoid. If you're painting areas where a roller can
be used, I don't know of any pros that would use a brush, except to cut-in
first. Because they leave a more consistent, mark free surface over
areas where they can be use is one reason why they are used.







Problem: After painting, the wall looks like corduroy! Using 'high

quality' paint from Dunn Edwards. I'm fighting brush strokes like gang

busters! Perhaps, it is because the paint is a bit tacky within 10

seconds, and 'dry' to the touch within a minute !! No wonder the paint

can't flatten BEFORE it's dry!



Actions to date:

I added Floetrol, from Home Depot. That, just changed the color a bit.

and cost a lot. Seems like coating the wall with Floetrol and a little

paint.

I added Glass Cleaner,

I've never heard of adding that to paint.





cheap from Walmart, Not bad, getting closer.

Almost works.

Have not tried adding a bit of distilled water, yet.



What does Dunn Edwards say to add. All the latex paints I've
used say they can be thinned with water if necessary. It's kind
of interesting you'd put glass cleaner in it, but for water
you want to use distilled?

If the paint is too thick, then it will not have time to flow
correctly for the brush or roller marks to disappear. And if you're
having these kinds of problems with that brand right out of the
can with new paint, I'd go to another brand. I've used Benj Moore
recently and right out of the can, it's thick but it definitely
flows fine and doesn't leave marks.

On the other hand, I used some oil based Zinnser stain killer
and it did have the problem you're talking about. Being oil
based I didn't have anything to thin it with and managed to get
through what I needed to do. But I know what you're talking about.
It was drying so fast that the brush marks barely had time to
settle out.






Background:

Consider the Dunn Edwards paint left by the painters circa 2010 - use

sparingly, keep for perfect matching, call it Paint A

Also, consider the 'new' Dunn Edwards paint same color, but they admit to

'slight' change in color nomenclature, call it Paint B.



Smell of Paint A is pungent, rarely have to stir it in its 5 gal bucket,

and NEVER leaves a paint stroke. That stuff comes out FLAT!



Smell of Paint B is pungent [but different], have to stir each day before

use, and ALWAYS leaves paint strokes.





Need a solution:

What I need is a 'wetting' chemical that makes/allows the paint to go

flat BEFORE it dries.

Should I add Jet-Dri?