Can you add polyurethane to flat interior paint to get the gloss look?

One person here said Vickie didn't say if the poly she's thinking of using is water-based. Yes she did: water-based. Vickie also said she wants semi-gloss, but didn't say for what. Although this is commonly used in kitchens & bathrooms, maybe she wanted it for something other than walls. A lot of assumptions here. Also, a lot of guesses stated as fact. I made note of what Paula said as she's actually experimented with a few things and has had good results. I have some flat paint & I came to this page curious about adding WATER-based poly. I don't want gloss, I want something maybe a tad shinier than satin because it's my mud room. No matter the quality of flat paint, it is more difficult to clean. It's nature is to absorb, which would include fingerprints & any kind of spatters. My walls are very textured in the SW style, so any gloss highlighting imperfections would not matter. I'm going to go do a test right now. Be back when it's dry................ 4 hours later: Success! I mixed approximately 1 part water-based polyurethane with 5 parts paint. It went on perfectly and has now dried to a light sheen. Good luck to all wanting to give it a try.

~And thank you to the maker of this forum for offering all the fun emojis. Life's too short to not try & get a little fun out of most everything.

To all the naysayers. I came here looking for an answer similar to Vickie, who DID say she was considering a water-based polyurethane. I followed Paula's advice as she's the only one who wrote about actually trying to mix paints with various substances, not just hypothesizing. I mixed approximately 1 part water-based polycrylic (not urethane) with 5 parts flat interior paint. Perfect! Went on easily & dried to a nice sheen for my mudroom. No matter how high the quality of flat paint, it is still absorbent. Fingerprints & splatters often need to be painted over. My mudroom, bathrooms & kitchen are all done in satin or something between satin & semi-gloss. I get this by mixing the same color in semi-gloss with satin in equal parts. I have pretty heavily textured wall in the southwestern style, so there is no issue of highlighting imperfections. Good luck to all who try these ideas.

Spray paint over finished product with clear gloss enamel

Who doesnt want semi-gloss on all walls? Maybe she has kids, walls are horrible in flat. We use a satin or semi-gloss on every wall. If they are both water-based they should mix fine. My husband has been a painter for 25 years, dont let people scare you, lol. Take a little bit and do a test mix.

There is a company in Maine that makes cottage furniture. When the company first opened, I was in the paint shop and asked how they made their paint so tough. The guy in the paint shop said to mix water based polycrylic to the water based paint, 1 part poly to 5 parts paint. I painted my kitchen cabinets 10 years ago, using this info, and they still look great.

I have mixed water based polyacrylic for years & used basically the same formula mentioned by others

I have no answer but do appreciate everyone's input. I have the paint I want in flat but wanted to make it harder and less absorbent when it's dry. I'm definitely going to try adding some poly! Thank you

I came to this site looking for an answer a few months ago. I appreciate the advice of those who had tried it. I decided to mix my flat with the 1/5 ratio and it came out beautifully. I am pleased with the results and hope anyone else looking for this info, goes ahead and tries it.

I am in the same situation with 5gal of flat paint that I’d like to make into an eggshell. Planning on trying the 5 to 1 ratio but just curious as to what sheen of poly everyone is adding to obtain what sheen of finished product. It appears that satin, matte, semi-gloss, and gloss are all available. Thanks for whatever help people may have.

I have 5 gallons of flat paint that I’ve been using all over my walls and I want to do the kitchen. But flat would be hard to clean in a kitchen. What should I do? Mix it with a gloss Or add a clear gloss? Thnx!

I hate flat paint because it absorbs fingerprints and smudges like a sponge and I am always looking for a good deal on paint because it is so outrageously expensive and I buy the cheap oops paints and mix it up and add tint to get the color I want this so I picked up 10 gallons of oops paint at several different locations and I was disappointed that I didn’t end up with any semi gloss paint and I was stuck with a very nice beige paint that was flat and dry looking so I went to the big orange box and found some water born spar varnish thick deep gloss and mixed 2 gallons into my paint and I was impressed with a very nice sheen and I was able to use my beige oops paint and it looks great and if you ever want to flatten a semi gloss paint to a matte finish you can mix in some cornstarch a little bit at a time to make the sheen you want I used to mix paint at a little hardware store and the old lady who owned the store taught me the best tricks to get what I want without spending a lot of money

Yes you can add a waterborne gloss varnish to your paint to give you the sheen you want and if you need to flatten it out you can add some cornstarch to tone a semi gloss I don’t like the sheen of semi gloss paint and I don’t like the sheen of the matte finish so I tone down semi gloss paint with some cornstarch

I would NEVER waste money of flat or eggshell paint. It looks terrible and is usually difficult to clean. Latex-based semi-gloss is the way to go - much easier maintenance! If you HAVE to use flat paint, save it for the ceilings.

I don't have an answer, I just really love that people have been commenting on this post for the last 8 (almost 9) years lmao🤣

Quick Anser NO! If you do it will cost you more in time and money to rectify it!

I'd be skeptical that it would turn out well. You could mix a small sample and apply it to an inconspicuous area to see how it works. Probably best to apply the clear product as a top coat. Either way, I'd do a test patch first.