I have small wooden box made with basswood, sanded and painted with
white Acrylic paint I want to protect against scratches, dirt, and
being cleaned. The paint is "Delta Creamcoat" white, Blanc, semi-
opaque I got at Michael's artist supplies. It comes in a little white
bottle of a few ounces. I thinned the paint with water and applied
several coats to avoid brush stokes. It looks good but the paint seems
to wash off easily with water so I'm wondering what I might add to
protect the paint from being washed off or scratched. I don't need a
shinny finish, a dull smooth white is fine, but I'm worried if the box
is cleaned with water or Windex, or somesuch, the paint may come off
or get scratched.

I read some articles indicating some sort of wax may help, or possibly
a coat of varnish. I'm doing some experiments now with a scrap piece
of wood and some "Delta Creamcoat" water based varnish but it hasn't
dried yet. Seems like a water based varnish would have the same
problem.

What about car polish? I have some turtle wax "Finish 2000" that could
be tried. Or maybe just some regular wax from a candle?

Any ideas?

-Bill

Bill B wrote:
I have small wooden box made with basswood, sanded and painted with
white Acrylic paint I want to protect against scratches, dirt, and
being cleaned. The paint is "Delta Creamcoat" white, Blanc, semi-
opaque I got at Michael's artist supplies. It comes in a little white
bottle of a few ounces. I thinned the paint with water and applied
several coats to avoid brush stokes. It looks good but the paint seems
to wash off easily with water so I'm wondering what I might add to
protect the paint from being washed off or scratched. I don't need a
shinny finish, a dull smooth white is fine, but I'm worried if the box
is cleaned with water or Windex, or somesuch, the paint may come off
or get scratched.

I read some articles indicating some sort of wax may help, or possibly
a coat of varnish. I'm doing some experiments now with a scrap piece
of wood and some "Delta Creamcoat" water based varnish but it hasn't
dried yet. Seems like a water based varnish would have the same
problem.

Regular water based paints/varnishes aren't water soluble after drying just
as oil base paints/varnishes aren't paint thinner soluble after drying.
That is because both undergo a chemical reaction as well as solvent
evaporation. There are exceptions...watercolor "paints" for example.

Any surface coat can be scratched,

--

dadiOH
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"Bill B" wrote in message
...
I have small wooden box made with basswood, sanded and painted with
white Acrylic paint I want to protect against scratches, dirt, and
being cleaned. The paint is "Delta Creamcoat" white, Blanc, semi-
opaque I got at Michael's artist supplies. It comes in a little white
bottle of a few ounces. I thinned the paint with water and applied
several coats to avoid brush stokes. It looks good but the paint seems
to wash off easily with water so I'm wondering what I might add to
protect the paint from being washed off or scratched. I don't need a
shinny finish, a dull smooth white is fine, but I'm worried if the box
is cleaned with water or Windex, or somesuch, the paint may come off
or get scratched.

I read some articles indicating some sort of wax may help, or possibly
a coat of varnish. I'm doing some experiments now with a scrap piece
of wood and some "Delta Creamcoat" water based varnish but it hasn't
dried yet. Seems like a water based varnish would have the same
problem.

What about car polish? I have some turtle wax "Finish 2000" that could
be tried. Or maybe just some regular wax from a candle?

Any ideas?

-Bill

look for spray varnish or lacquer in the same place you got the original
paint.

On Jul 15, 12:02 pm, "charlie"
wrote:

look for spray varnish or lacquer in the same place you got the original
paint.

Mind that you get a water borne acrylic. There are artists sealers
that are water based and used specifically for sealing as the stay
clear.

If you put solvent based on the latex it will stick well, but since it
is white, it will almost certainly discolor it (yellow, amber) it.
And as with all solvent based products, it will only get more of an
amber hue as it gets older.

Robert