Chalk painted chair seats and now cracking! What did I do wrong?
by Taylor
+8
I’ve never used chalk paint - this was my first ‘mini project’ and I wanted to try painting the seats on my dining table chairs instead of recovering them in a fabric.
I finished two days ago and today I already noticed tiny cracks all over one of the seats. Any ideas what I did wrong? I dipped my brush into water And then into paint before applying the paint. I also had bleed thru on stains the first two coats so I bought some Kilz pray primer and then had to do two more coats to cover that.
Im not sure if it was too many coats or if I did something wrong in the application (I.e not enough water, not enough paint, sanded too much, too little, etc.) I sanded between coats and applied a creme wax because that’s what I was told to use at the hardware store.
Thanks! (sorry if this was long!)
If paint is applied over wax, it separates. When applying a faux finish to a wall, wax is used to preserve the finish as the last thing applied. I've never heard of using a wax between coats on a fabric that needs to be flexible. Since it's already cracking, I'd try to crack it as much as possible to see if it's going to flake. If not, you've got a very unique seat. Some mistakes can turn out great!
Thanks for the reply! I applied the wax only at the end. . you’re right though - if it doesn’t chip it may not look too horrible lol and it was days of work to worry about undoing. I can always use chair covers if it gets bad.
Have you ever used chalk paint on upho before? I’m wanting to see if I did anything wrong since I had a few other things I wanted to try it on but if it’s goinf to crack again I don’t want to hahaha
thanks again!
Wood expands and contracts so this is probably the reason although I can’t tell you the answer.
Sounds to me like you've got too many coats on, since I'm a professional painter I haven't used commercial chalk paint but the directions from Annie Sloan recommends you water down her paint by 1/3c to 1 Tbsp of water for first coat. Don't see any directions to dip a brush in water, never heard that one. Here are her tips... http://littlevintagenest.com/top-10-chalk-painting-tips/
Personally, I would still use a primer first, this gives you good coverage and adhesion, I use Kilz for furniture.
If your going for a country look you go for the chippy or crackle finish.
I read or watched a you tube video about painting fabric. The person used
Fusion spray paint. She used the same color, got a wet rag and worked the color into the fabric for full coverage. That's all I recall. It was cool though and she painted a velvet sofa. You could probably find it on You Tube.
Glue does this.. should've never used the spray paint.. your best bets to sand down and repaint unless you like the crackle look!!
Are the cracked seat the ones you have sat on? If so, sit on the others in turn , so they all get the aged look! Then if you wish you can accentuate the look by using a shoe polish on them (rub on and wipr off so the colour goes into the cracks) or do the same with a metal (Gold/Silver etc. Wax). I would embrace the look as do the Japanese!
Here are some ideas that might help https://chascrazycreations.com/diys/re-purpose-up-cycle/furniture/