CHALK PAINT™ By Annie Sloan – More Testing!

A couple of days ago I received a phone call from a customer who jokingly asked if there’s a support group for husbands whose wives are addicted to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I had a chuckle.  I can relate.  Using the excuse of product testing, I have been painting EVERYTHING (couch included).

Seriously though, before any product hits our shelves, someone at the shop has put it to use (or abuse).  There is a lot of helpful information on labels but reading sometimes doesn’t tell the whole story.  Actually using the stuff allows us to pass on any tips and tricks we learned along the way to our customers.

If you’ve been following along you know that a couple of weeks ago I painted our old leather love seat and chair with Chalk Paint™ By Annie Sloan.  It was a smashing success.  So a couple of days ago I decided that instead of buying new floor mats for the office I would just paint the old ones in Graphite and use Matte Floor Lacquer as a sealer.

Below are the materials that I used:

1 quart Chalk Paint™ By Annie Sloan in Graphite

1 quart of Matte Floor Lacquer

1 4″ paint tray

1 4″ roller arm

7″ roller pan

Like with any painting project, you want to make sure that you start with a clean surface.  Vinegar and water are great for most jobs but if you’re painting something that has a lot of grease or dirt (like kitchen floors) you might need either a product like Krud Kutter or ammonia and hot water (NEVER mix ammonia and bleach together – the gas is very toxic).

After years of driving our office chairs over the plastic mats you can see that they were in pretty rough shape and since I’m on a “refresh” kick around the shop lately, it was either off to the trash or off to be painted.  Since Graphite matches the black and grey in the rest of the shop (and I had some lying around) I painted two coats on with a velour roller.  When painting smooth surfaces pick a roller cover that’s not too fluffy for an even finish.  I decided not to use a foam cover since sometimes the rolling action makes tiny bubbles.

Each coat took about an hour to dry and two coats were enough to fully cover the scuff marks and worn spots on the plastic floor pads.  Since Chalk Paint™ dries REALLY flat, a sealer is necessary to avoid scuff marks.  Since this would be a floor surface with heavy foot and chair traffic, Annie Sloan’s Matte Floor Lacquer was the logical choice.  Even though it’s called a “lacquer” the formula is water based so there’s no smell and you can clean your hands and brushes with warm water and soap.

TIP:  Matte sealers have a flattening agent to get rid of shine but it’s heavy so over time it collects at the bottom of the can.  Generally, you NEVER want to shake a varnish or sealer (stir instead) since it creates bubbles but in this case I shook the floor lacquer for a full 10 minutes then let it settle for an hour before painting.

For application, I skipped the roller and put the floor lacquer on with Annie Sloan’s large flat brush.  I painted in a criss cross pattern to add texture to the sealer and make the finish more interesting.

Even though it looks milky – don’t panic.  After a couple of hours the floor lacquer will dry clear.

Water based paints dry very quickly but most have a 28 day CURE time.  This is how long it takes the paint to reach its full hardness and even though you can put your pieces back to use pretty quickly, I would hold off on using harsh cleaners for a month.

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HAPPY PAINTING!