Hello all! Things are progressing well in my office these past few days. I recently…
The Trouble with White Furniture
Over the past few months ~ OK, it’s been more than half a year ~ we’ve been decorating the dining room. There is actually one item on the dining room to do list that is completed, but it’s not actually crossed off the list. Can you guess which item it is? I’ve actually shown it in pictures before.
It’s the buffet. It’s been on my list to pick out a color and paint it. I got it at a thrift store just after we closed on the house and was anxious to use it in the dining room.
So why haven’t I crossed it off the list?
Things seemed all fine and good. I even rub n buffed the hardware silver and we were moving ahead right?
Oh no. I made the largest of furniture painting mistakes with this piece ever. I mean, ever. I painted over the white with clear poly. Big mistake HUGE. So guess what happened to my pure white buffet?
It yellowed.
Oh yes, it yellowed. Not all over the dresser, only in parts where the poly was collected more than others. Like on the rounded parts of the doors. You can see a tiny bit here where I’ve already tried to sand it away.
*UPDATE* I checked and I did use Polycrylic on this piece, not Polyurethane. The polycrylic is not supposed to yellow or at least it hasn’t for some people. Maybe I have bad poly juju 🙁
So what exactly do I do now? I have to sand off the poly and paint it again, that’s what I have to do. A fun time right?
I’ve sanded all of it, but not 100%. I’m debating if I use a deglosser on it. I’ve already bought some. The thought of sanding this piece in my dining room makes me cringe. We’ve already installed the wallpaper and I don’t intend to get the room messy because of this thorn-in-my-side buffet.
Sigh.
So I have to figure out a plan. Wait until the weather is warmer so I can take it outside? Try the deglosser (which I’ve already bought), try something else? Just paint over it all? The poly is water based.
I did go get new paint already. I’m hoping that Ben can help me out. I haven’t tried this paint before but apparently you don’t have to seal/poly over it. I was hoping for a semi gloss but this kind doesn’t come in semi gloss, so I might test this out on a drawer and see how it goes.
So now I’d like to ask some advice. Tell me what do you do with your white furniture? What kind of paint do you use on it? Do you poly it? Do you leave it alone? Do you wax it? I’ve considered that too. Not sure what to do yet. Help a girl out. Me and my dining room will be forever grateful 🙂
*Update* I ended up sanding off the poly from the dresser and repainting it with the Benjamin Moore Advance paint in white. This worked really well. I did NOT put poly over the Advnace paint since you don’t have to, it’s meant to be a harder furniture paint. Another option is to put furniture wax on top of the paint to protect the furniture surface.
Here is the dining room project list:
Pick out a wallpaper for in between the wall slats
Order the wall paper and hang it
Select a paint color for the top half of the room and paint
Decide if we are painting the ceiling or not Nope, not painting it
Remove blinds and clean windows
Buy and put up window film
Find fabulous fabric for the window treatments. I got curtains from Ikea and hung those
Make curtains (if I buy fabric) and roman shades and hang them all
Make frames for mirror wall art
Buy frames (or find some) for other wall art I have planned
Decide which color to paint buffet and then paint it
Find new hardware for the buffet
Find lamps and shades for the buffet, repaint part of the new lamps
Decide on/find other wall art?
Pick out and buy a rug
Get a new chandelier
Other lighting? Mini lamp makeover is here.
Throw a dinner party to enjoy our new room!
P.S. This post nor my blog are not sponsored by Benjamin Moore Paints. I’m just hoping I’ve found the right product!
Oh no…..you have me worried now! I just put two coats of poly on my white bathroom vanity! I specifically chose water based poly because I read that it wouldn’t yellow. I sure hope it doesn’t or I will be one sad panda.
I’ll be checking back to read the comments from your readers!
Michelle from http://www.the236.net
Hmm… We poly’d our dining room table legs, and the clear poly dried slightly yellowed, but I kind of liked it… it matched our ‘distressed’ dining room chairs nicely with the slight look of age the yellowing provides.
If it were me? I’d probably do a light sanding to sand it smooth and then just paint over it all and start over. Not sure if the yellow of the poly would end up showing through the white paint though?
I did my research when I painted furniture white and the pros recommend to use Minwax Polycrylic, which is different from Minwax Polyurethane. I did and it did not yellow. I use it mostly on things that will have a lot of use like table tops or dresser tops. All white furniture with light use I use Minwax Paste Finishing Wax, which does not yellow either, as for my own experience.
What kind of paint as well as what brand of paint did you use? I started with fresh wood, stained it, sanded it down, painted with white chalk paint, sanded down and then used polycrylic and my table turned yellow a day later. I put 2×4 boards on an old dining room table to have a country looking table.
Hi Kate,
The paint that I used under the polycrylic was a Behr latex paint. The polycrylic is what yellowed it, but I put that on because the paint wasn’t enamel or meant for furniture specifically.
I’m surprised yours yellowed. It might be because you put paint on top of stain. You can put latex on top of oil but not oil on top of latex paint. It won’t stick. I try never to mix them, either I use both oil primer and oil paint or latex primer and latex paint. But oil paints are getting more hard to come by because companies are making different products that are latex and hold up as well. That’s because oil paint has so much chemicals in it.
Wood is tricky to paint too because of the grain and moisture in the wood, even if it’s not supposed to have it, it often does and that comes through the paint.
I would try wax instead of poly over chalk paint next time. Or use an enamel paint made for furniture. I hope that helps you and you can fix your table!
The yellowing problem is not due to the Polycrylic …I have never had a piece yellow after finishing it with polycrylic and I paint a lot of white. The problem is that you were painting bare wood without sealing and priming it first. When you don’t seal the wood first the tannins bleed through and it won’t matter how many coats of paint you use it will eventually turn. A quick fix for this would be to get some Zinsser CLEAR shellac in a can. Put two thin coats right over your your current finish allowing each coat to dry for a day (or atleast 8 hours). Lightly sand with 220 grit sandpaper after each coat and wipe off all dust then let dry for 2 days. I like to throw a white stain blocking water based primer over that to allow for better cover and less coats off paint ( bullseye 123 all purpose prime is good. Give it an hour to dry and lightly sand then repaint and finish with polycrylic crystal clear in satin. Problem solved. You always need to seal the bare wood so that the tannins don’t bleed through. But make sure to allow adequate amount of time for shellac to completely cure before priming or painting or it may cause the paint to crack and peel. Good luck!
I have painted an MDF dresser in white enamel paint after sanding it down right to the wood. I did not prime the piece so I am wondering what sealer to use to finish the dresser with? I am unsure if there are any tannins that can possibly bleed through when working with MDF. Thanks for any tips!
Hi Brooke,
Primer would have been a great layer to start with, since there are types that block stains. No top coat will achieve this. The enamel paint should hold up. If you get bleed through, you might have to prime over the enamel and then paint it again. But hopefully not! MDF is generally a stable product and shouldn’t create bleeding. I hope this helps!
I made the mistake of not using any kind of Shellac and this info is good to know. Next project will be spared! Thank you so much.
Hi Daniel,
Many thanks for all these tips. I’m pretty sure I did prime this piece, as I do that with all of my furniture. But I have not used a clear shellac to seal furniture before, I’m glad to learn about that.
Thanks again, I appreciate the info!
I have just refinished some kitchen cabinets that were originally stained. I stripped and sanded them down. Cleaned them with TSP. Primed them with two coats of kiltz primer sanding in between each coat. I then painted two coats of Behr Premium paint and Primer in antique white. Let them dry over the weekend then gave them two coats of polycyclic in water base with satin finish. The second coat started to yellow and I can’t figure out what happened. Not sure if it was from the humidity. I have used this many times and have never had a problem. Any suggestions on what caused it?
Hi Kim,
Sometimes yellowing happens because of the wood underneath, regardless of what it was primed with. Some people say shellac primer can prevent this, but I haven’t tried that. I would have skipped the polycrylic and just used an enamel paint over a primer on the cabinets. Maybe you can sand off the yellowing and touch up the spots if you can with the paint/primer. I hope this helps.
Thank You!!!!! Questioned answered!!!!
I was stressing out painting with different paints and my furniture kept turning yellow!!!
Now I know to seal the wood first!…
What kind of plycrylic do you use??
I used rustoleum white chalked paint on some dining chairs (no sanding or priming beforehand). I’m trying to figure out what to seal them with! Do you think the polycrilic will yellow? I’ve done about 3 coats on each chair already
Hi Sandy,
I have used poly on top of darker chalk-like paints, but I haven’t used poly over white chalk-like paint. I would try some on a chair and see how it holds up if you can. I hope this helps you!
This link was my starting point to painting my first piece of white furniture:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/02/how-to-paint-furniture/
Sorry, Jessica. I can’t help you out here, but will be seeing what your other readers have to say. I also bookmarked that YHL link a while ago that JMK shared, but haven’t had the opportunity to try the Minwax Polycrylic yet. But her feedback is noted 🙂
Good luck!
EEK! This is why I haven’t used poly, I did use Polycrylic by Minwax and only applied one very very thin thin coat of poly to our buffet in our dining room.
Since then I only use high gloss or semi gloss paint and just apply layer after layer and let the paint cure for 24-48hrs after the final coat to harden
Good luck wit the new paint you bought
We put Minwax Polycrylic over newly painted white kitchen cabinets and it turned yellow also. Fortunately we only used it on the drawer fronts before we realized it was yellowing. What a nightmare!
I put paste wax on my kitchen cupboards which I painted then put early American stain on it for the antique look….I paste waxed the cupboard… it took the finishing off so, I got a roller and put polycrylic on it…it’s working out good…..the cupboard that were done with the paste wax should I sand them all down again or can I put this polycrylic on it on top of the wax?
Hi Anonymous,
Yes you should sand down the cupboards so whatever you are putting on will stick to it. The poly and wax are both finshes, so I would use just one, whichever you prefer. You also usually put just a stain or just paint something, not use both. I hope this helps.
I had a similar experience. I used a very light coat of Minwax Polyacrylic (because it is suppose to dry clear and not yellow), but alas, it did cause some yellowing. For the chairs I have put it on, I don’t mind it that much because it adds to the aged, distressed look, but I would not like it on most other pieces.
For your project, I’d have a glass of wine, then the next day (I don’t drink and paint, who knows what could happen LOL) I would try the deglosser first. then use the new paint. I prefer sanding, but I completely understand not wanting to do that inside. Good luck!
Hi Jessica,
I was just researching about applying the polycrylic over a piece of white furniture. I’m so glad I checked out your site! Have you considered sanding the edges with 120 grit and using a dark stain to distress? Shanty2chic has some good finishing ideas. Might be worth a look. Best of luck, whichever route you take with your buffet. Val
I know this was a year ago, but what did you end up doing and what are your thoughts??? In the middle of painting kitchen cabinets, and the poly looks bad. Wanting to sand a bit and paint and just not use poly, but not sure if that will stick and if I need to prime.
Hi Karyn, I ended up getting an enamel paint for the buffet instead of using latex paint. The enamel is more durable and doesn’t need a coat of poly, which worked out great. It’s definitely something you should look into for your cabinets. I got Benjamin Moore’s Advance enamel paint. Hope this helps!
When you used the enamel paint, you didn’t put a protective top coat? Wax?
Hi,
When you use enamel paint you don’t have to use a top coat, since enamel is made to be durable for furniture.
Thanks for this post- I just finished two large pieces for our living room (sanded, primed with two coats, painted three coats) and applied the Miniwax Polycrylic. It turned yellow in the creases and other areas- so sad!!! I’m glad you found a solution that worked. Thanks for the help 🙂
Hi Leigh, Glad this was helpful for you!
I’m jumping in on this project posting quite late, but am VERY curious as to the varied outcomes of commenters using a finishing wax over painted surfaces. I have a can of it in front of me now that I am hoping to use on some newly painted white kitchen cabinets/cupboards. I, too, have been greatly disappointed w/ the yellowing of the polyacrylic in past projects & was NOT going to use it in my kitchen. One commenter above had good results, another said it pulled the finish (paint?) off of the project piece. I’d love to hear more from those of you who have used it. I remodel/redecorate homes (including my own) and am always trying new things to improve results. FYI: I’ve learned far more by experimenting and by reading about others’ successes & failures than asking advice from employees of such places as Lowes & Home Depot. It’s all about actual, hand-on experience, in my opinion!
Hi Shellie,
Good questions. At this point, I always use enamel paint when painting something white (Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint) and I use Annie Sloan soft wax in clear on the tops of those pieces I paint white. I let it cure/dry for a month before I put anything on it too. I hope this helps you!
Hello,
Has somebody used varnish on top of white chalk paint? I tried Minwax Poly and it yellowed as well, so now I am thinking about using americana varnish… I think I can get it on line, and it comes in flat and satin. I like using wax but I am painting some stools and they will need a harder protection. Any comments on using varnish? What kind?
Thanks,
Cristina
Hi Christina,
I have not used varnish, but recently polycrylic on top of white chalk paint and it did yellow like your project. Maybe you can try it on a test piece of wood or something before you put it on the whole piece?
I painted a piece of furniture a real pretty pale green. with.latex paint. I put polyurethane , think it was midwax, over the piece and it look beautiful. A few weeks later my beautiful piece was ugly. It yellowed . Had big spots in some areas that were worse than others……what a eye sore! I felt like crying. The can read that is was clear…..guess it meant for a little while. I Threw the piece out, it looked really bad. . Now I want to paint a table white and put decals on it. I plan to use a gel base paint but I want to protect the decals that I plan to put on it. Do I use polycrylic this time? What should I use? Hope you can help .
Hi June,
So sorry about your piece, that is too bad you had to throw it out. I’ve been using a better line of furniture paint, called Advance by Benjamin Moore. It doesn’t require a top coat of anything.
If you are going to put decals on the piece, test one out on a piece of wood you painted in your color and see how a top coat does. You may also want to try furniture wax like Annie Sloan’s wax in clear. Make sure you read up on how to apply it and buff it well, but it does work.
Or maybe you can stencil on something instead of use decals? I hope this helps you. Let me know how it comes out!
I suggest priming every piece of furniture that you plan on painting white. I use a shellac based primer before I put the paint on and then use polycrylic to topcoat. The water based topcoats have a tendency to “pull” up old finishes through the paint if it was not sealed first. In my experience using the shellac 1st paint 2nd poly 3rd I have not seen any yellowing with my white furniture. I also use chalk based paints or general finishes paints because there is no prep sanding required to get your paint to adhere to finished surfaces with out scratching!
This is exactly what I did and the poly turned yellow. First I sanded the piece, then applied white chalk paint, saw that it was bleeding thought so I applied shellac , then applied more chalk paint and sealed with Polycrylic- YELLOW :/
So sorry that happened to you. And i was told shellac was supposed to work. I think there is just some wood that cannot be painted white. I’ve seen it on projects others have done even with colored paint. Did you find a solution to this?
I went to two stores that carry Benjamin Moore Advance, and both recommended their Aura line, and advised against Advance due to yellowing. I am painting my cabinets white, and would like to know if now, several years after having painted your buffet, if you had any trouble with this. Also, can you recommend a primer? Thanks.
Hi, what did you end up doing with your cabinets? Going to do mine in milk paint but neec your wisdom for top coat.
Hi,
I ended up sanding off the poly finish and repainted the piece with an enamel paint, which does not need a top coat.
Varathane poly FLOOR FINISH ( crystal clear ) does not turn white paint yellow. for some reason the Varathane poly ( not for floors) turned white chairs i painted yellow but the one labeld floor finish did not 🙂
Is the floor finish different than their interior formula? Our Home Depot only carries the varathane crystal clear in floor finish satin but not the interior use one.
Hi,
Do you know if you can paint an oil based enamel over chalk paint? I had originally planned on painting something with enamel and someone convinced me otherwise. I REALLY don’t want to strip the whole thing and apply the enamel, but I don’t want to risk the poly turning my piece yellow, either.
I am so frustrated! I wish I’d listened to my gut.
Hi Jen,
I believe you can paint oil over chalk paint. When I’ve used chalk paint it became a good “primer”, although you wouldn’t really use it that way since it’s expensive. Are you able to try this on a small, flat part that might be along the side or back of the piece? Then you can always just sand off that small part. If you use a good enamel paint, then you don’t have to seal the piece with poly and it won’t turn yellow. I hope this helps!
Um…do you realize that you put the hardware on upside down???
Hi Paula,
I did know I put the hardware on upside down. It changed the look of the piece and gave the makeover more impact. Thanks for reading my blog!
Hmmm…so that’s why I like it so much! Didn’t realize it was upside down. ??. Looks great to me. Clever idea!
I recently painted my dining room set with white chalk paint and sealed it with minwax polycrylic. My table and chairs were not the same kind of wood as my hutch (the hutch is an old family piece in dark wood) and that difference shows through the final product. The table and chairs look great even with the polycrylic but the hutch yellowed. I believe it should have been primed first.
Hi Carie,
Unfortunately that happens a lot. I’ve had it happen to pieces I’ve painted. Primer can help, but sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe you can paint the hutch a different color so the difference is less noticeable.
So glad I found you all. I did paint furniture, which I primed first, then painted white. Then coated it with Polyurethane. So it looked fantastic. 2 days later, I put a few things on top. A few days after that I removed the things on top and where the things sat it was yellow, only in those spots that were covered. A different problem than others. But reading everything I probably should assume that it will all yellow eventually. What do you suggest. Just wish I had read this blog first… Hoping for a miracle.
Hi Linda,
Yea, hmmm. Can you try to sand out the yellow and reapply poly to those spots? You should let the entire piece cure for 2 weeks if you can and not put anything on top of it. It shouldn’t happen again, but if it does, you might have to remove the poly and either wax the piece or use a different paint. You could always remove the poly from the top and wax that part only. I’ve done that with some furniture like shelves and a dresser. Hope this helps.
I want to paint a medium stained dresser with white chalk paint and decoupage hydrangeas on parts of the drawer fronts. Can anyone suggest what topcoat will achieve the decoupage effect without yellowing my dresser?
Hi Nancy,
If you have a medium to dark base paint color on your dresser and then put the flowers on, a polycrylic should not yellow the dresser. You can try to use a product like mod podge, which is a type of glue. Here is an article about using it for decoupage.
http://modpodgerocksblog.com/the-7-steps-to-perfect-mod-podging-every-time
Hope this helps!
I so wish I would have found this blog in the past 2 days. I am remodeling my kitchen with used cabinets. They are from 4 different sources so I am painting all the insides AND outsides for continuity. I have paited them with an oil-based white by Behr and let it cure for 2 days now. Today, I applied the Minwax Polycrylic over it (because other blogs said it wouldnt yellow) and I don’t like the way it looks. I used a paint sprayer and it was so much thinner than the oil-based that I found it hard to control and ended up having to use a foam roller to clean up the drips. So now I run into this blog as Im looking for a different route strictky for the sheen and finding that the product DOES, in fact, yellow. I did apply primer to all the cabinets beforehand as well as sanded them down. So now I’m curious to know… should I just stick to the oil-based paint without even bithering to use a finisher and should I just go right over the polycrylic with another coat or two of the paint?
-frustrated
Hi Pattie,
Good for you for taking on such a large project. I would skip the poly step all together on your cabinets. Oil paint is made to be very durable and shouldn’t need a top coat. There are even furniture or enamel paints that will do the same thing as oil, since paint companies are trying to make their products less toxic these days.
Are you able to remove the poly and touch up those cabinets? I hope this helps you and I’m sure your cabinets will come out great.
I sanded and primed n painted my dining room table. Then varnished it. Only to realize after curing that the place matts looked beautiful until I removed them to clean n noticed my table turned a horrible ugly yellow. As well as the rest of the table in time.
Can I sand off the varnish, add a white stain blocker primer, paint with an antique white latex n then add a Mindset Shellac over the top n it NOT yellow? Please help. I had refurbished many wood pieces but never painted and made glossy for durability. So needless to say I would have thrown it away but my Mom passed it along to me and I really want this piece to b beautiful and last for my children and grandchildren. Any easy n inexpensive advice is needed BC I live on a fixed income but I am not scared of working to keep it beautiful. Thanks In advance. Mary Berry?
Hi Mary,
I would say you definitely have to sand off the varnish and repaint the table. They make many products now that are very durable so you don’t have to put a varnish or top coat on. I would avoid a top coat like this, especially since you are painting it a light color. I would use a paint made especially for use on furniture. Enamel paint is good for this sort of thing. Benjamin Moore makes one called Advance. It is water based and works well.
I hope this helps and good luck with your project!
I am so glad I found this post! I’m so annoyed. I used white chalk paint on a dresser, let it dry for a day, then sealed with polyurethane and it’s yellow. Now what? I’m going to sand and repaint, but should I maybe just not even seal it this time? I was thinking about maybe using Annie Sloan wax if I seal it at all. So frustrating!
Hi Christina,
This is rare that it would yellow over chalk paint. Was the poly oil-based or old? I’ve used Polycrylic over chalk paint and wax (which I don’t love). You definitely have to seal chalk paint since it is so flat, but here is another thing you can to. You can sand it with a really fine sandpaper, like 800 or so. That will seal the chalk paint and give you a neat look. When you are sanding off the yellowed poly, repaint a small area, let it dry and try the high numbered sand paper. I did that on a dresser and liked the look. I think it’s called burnishing. I hope this helps!
I just painted my daughters great great grandmas dresser with white chalk paint. I put water base polycrylic on the top to give it a sheen. The first coat looked great, per the instructions it said to do two or 3 more coats, sanding between each one. I sanded and put on a second coat. Yellow yellow yellow! I wish I would have seen this blog first. It’s so disheartening to put so much effort in to a special piece to have it ruined like this! I spoke with a professional before doing it and this is what was recommended. When I called in to the company who made the polycrylic they said I should have waited 30 days for the paint to fully currate (sp?). No where on the can or website did it say to wait?. When I called in again I spoke to someone else who originally said I shouldn’t have used the polycrylic and then told me I should have waited 14 days. I was reading that the minwax polycrylic does have an ember tint that can be pulled through so to look for polycrylic that has no ember additives. Back to sanding it down and repainting. This is my first project and I have learned so much by trial and error. Thank you for you tips!
Hi all,
I am tackling a dining room table with white chalk paint. I painted it white (no sanding, or priming beforehand, because I was under the impression that was the beauty of chalk paint), then finished with a thin coat of minwax water-based polycrylic (recommendation from experienced painter) – one coat definitely yellowed my beautiful table. I am completely at a loss for what to do. I don’t really want to wax the table, as it will be a high-traffic piece in my house. I desire a protective finish, but need something that will not give an amber tint. I would appreciate any advice.
Rachel
I missed a paint spot and noticed it after o put the first coat of polyclyric. Can I sand the spot paint it snd re apply the poly to do The Repair?
Hi Jack,
Yes you can sand the spot and repaint it to reapply the poly. Hope that helps.
I wish I would have seen this post a few weeks ago!!! I just finished painting my kitchen cabinets with a milk paint. After cleaning and sanding them i applied the milk paint then used their recommended water-based top coat. They stated to use 3-4 layers of the top coat with sanding in between. However after completing this huge project all of my cabinet doors edges and corners have yellowed terribly!!! ): I have no idea what I did wrong….should I just sand, prime and try again with the Advance Benjamin Moore paint?? So frustated!! :/
This is what I want to use Varathane poly FLOOR FINISH ( crystal clear ) as I read it does not turn white paint yellow.
What did you do?
Hi, I ended up sanding off the poly and painting over it with an enamel paint that does not need a top coat. I never heard to use floor finish but maybe that will work next time.
I really wish I had read this post a couple of weeks ago, I gave my beautiful white table a 2nd coat of polyurethane today & when I checked, after dinner, I could have cried. It has pinky amber streaks all over it.
So now I plan to sand it all again, paint it with the Benjarmin Moore Advance, then cover the table top with a glass top.
So frustrating!!!
I’m going to paint an old dresser and turn it into a bathroom vanity, after reading all these comments I’m glad I read first. Can you advise me on whether I should use an enamel paint or chalk paint? My client wants white and I’ve not had any issues in the past with white chalk paint but because this is going into a room with lots of humidity I need some advice on types and protective coat.
Thanks you
Susan
Hi Susan,
Enamel paint is always good for furniture because it dries harder but chalk paint can work well too, it just needs to be sealed. I hope your project turned out well!
This is off the topic of yellowing. This piece is very pretty, but I’m just wondering if the handles were put on upside down on purpose to change the look a little.
I actually didn’t realize they were upside down when I put them on! They seemed to fit that way and so I left them for a change 🙂
I just bought a quart of General Finish Enduro White Poly from MKWood Studio on Etsy. After reading this thread I did not want to use anything but wax because I don’t want yellowing, but General Finish is saying there is no ambering with this poly. It is a dining table so a stronger more permanent topcoat would be good.
It will take I’m sure near a week for it to be delivered because a holiday weekend is coming up so the chalk paint should be nice and dry by then. But the plan is to paint one leg of the table and see what happens after a day or two, if there is no yellowing I will do the rest of the table.
I just chalk painted a dining table. I’m going to finish with General Finishes Enduro Pigmented White Poly . Hopefully it will work.
Hello,
I painted my dining table legs with white rust-oleum chalked paint then I put a polycylic minwax coat and it instantly yellowed :(. Now I,m trying to figure out what to do. I might end up sanding it again and painting it with some other white paint that does not need a top coat.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Yes that is exactly what happened to me. I ended up sanding it and repainting with an enamel paint that did not need a top coat. Hope your project came out well!
I actually found another solution. I used a foam brush with my minwax top coat and it worked perfectly fine, no yellowing at all. I think the trick is to have a very thin coat of top coat and I found that it is easier to get that with a foam brush not a regular one.
I’m repainting all my kitchen cabinets right now. Frustrating stuff. Thee years ago I painted them with a latex paint and put a couple coats of polycrylic. It slowly yellowed into a cream. I have some blue walls in there and it just looks awful next to the cream. Polycrylic is garbage. I haven’t seen yellowing like this anywhere else. I did some of the cabinet sidewalls in the same paint without polyc. They are still white. . . .