Can You Whitewash Laminate Furniture

Purchase or create the whitewash mixture.

Can you whitewash laminate furniture.

You can distress wood laminate or metal easily by yourself to make your furniture unique. This video tutorial shows the simples steps it takes to successfully paint over laminate or pl. While the project does require paint with a chalky finish and sealing wax you can finish the rest. Once it s dry gently sand the surface with a 220 grit sandpaper.

The piece won t be sand able. Whitewashing furniture creates a gentle distressed or antiqued look by simply applying whitewash or watered down white paint to your furniture. Distressing is a simple process that makes newer furniture look antique by manually adding wear and tear. You can tell a piece of furniture is laminate if you look closely and see that there is a thin coating on the outside that is made of plastic.

Whitewashing used to include the use of caustic lime to corrode the top layer of wood giving it a rustic chalky appearance. It is possible to whitewash painted furniture but it takes time and the steps vary depending on the look you want to achieve. Because it s often somewhat glossy looking and important to sand it down until the finish is very dull before priming. When mixing your own a 2 1 ratio of latex paint and water will create a very thick layer of whitewash while a 1 1 and 1 2 ratio result in successively thinner mixes.

Laminate furniture isn t ideal to paint however if there was something i already have that needs a facelift it s definitely much cheaper than buying new furniture. These days we don t have to be that harsh to create whitewash finishes. You can even whitewash faux wood if you do the proper amount of preparation. Furniture with laminate or plastic can be painted and updated.

Whitewashed furniture is popular in country or cottage style homes and decor. You can buy this ready made as wood stain or white wash pickling or make your own by mixing paint and water. Veneers are thin and easy to sand through and that can be a problem if the piece has dulled with age. Next apply an oil based primer with a brush or roller and wait 4 hours for it to dry.

Then apply a coat of an acrylic latex paint with a brush or roller using short even strokes. It s all too possible to damage an older piece of veneered furniture if you try to refinish it. It s easy to skip the sanding step because sanding is a drag but it s especially important with laminate.