Anyone ever used chalk paint to paint molding?
Anyone ever used chalk paint to paint molding? I'm repainting all the molding in our house and it's a pain because I have to prime it first and then I still end up having to put three coats of paint on top of that. Would chalk paint take less coats and skip the primer step? And if so would I need to use wax afterwards? Thanks.
2 answers
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First, I'm going to say I soooo feel your pain about priming and painting moldings. I did that 4 years ago when we bought our house and it felt like I painted at least a million miles of moldings, plus I had 13 interior doors to prime and paint too. Second, I'm going to be honest and say I have no personal experience with commercially made chalk paint, only homemade, but I am not a fan of the homemade version. In my opinion, I don't think you are going to save as much time as you think you will with chalk paint. I think you would likely have to use at least 2 coats of chalk paint, wax and then buff...basically 4 steps. It took one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint to cover my oak moldings and doors...just 3 steps. I also have serious concerns about chalk paint holding up for the long haul. Chalk paint alone has a very flat finish. It definitely needs to be waxed to protect it. It easily distresses or chips without wax. The wax also gives it some luster/sheen, which you expect to see on moldings. Door frames and baseboards generally get grungy and need frequent wiping or vacuuming. I question how much you could scrub (or even gently wipe down) chalk paint before it needed to be waxed again. Cost is going to be another factor. One quart of chalk paint is almost as expensive, or more than most companies charge for a whole gallon of latex paint. The chalk paint waxes aren't cheap either. How many quarts of chalk paint and containers of wax do you think it will take to do all your moldings vs. maybe 1 gallon of primer and 1 gallon of paint? Personally, I would invest the time in priming and painting with a good quality latex semi-gloss paint now and you probably won't have to worry about painting moldings again for many years. I'm not so sure that will be the case if you use chalk paint.
![Shari]()
Shari
on Jan 18, 2014
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Thank you so much for the great response! Good information. Hadn't thought about all those things. So I guess it's time to quit being lazy and continue to do it the way I have been doing it. Have an awesome day.
![Susan Matchett]()
Susan Matchett
on Jan 18, 2014
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