Coo-Var Shellac Prime All Review – Adhesion Primer

This is my Coo-Var Shellac Prime All review, and I hope you find it useful.

Prime All is a shellac-based adhesion primer which is suitable for most surfaces. It is also a very effective stain block on anything from nicotine to water marks and knots in woodwork. Interior use only, I’m afraid, and the recoat time is around four hours. You can buy this product online, or from any Crown Decorating Centre. Click here to see online prices.

I was sent 5 litres of Coo-Var shellac-based Prime All to try and test for a product review. Now with all the product reviews I carry out on various products for many companies, I always test these products vigorously in a working environment. Not in a laboratory, but day-in, day-out exposure to meet the needs of the end users such as myself. If for any reason I find fault this is always reiterated in my product reviews. Now the Coo-Var shellac based prime all has many different uses as it offers multiple solutions for various situations.

Coo-Var Prime All as a Primer

Firstly, I’ll start with it as a primer for all new and bare wood including knotting, being shellac-based. I was faced with some beautiful 6-inch natural timber skirting boards, which, to be honest, are rare as many opt for the pre primed MDF now.

Not this client. They prefer the natural aesthetics and the Shellac primer was suited to this task perfectly. Following a thorough shake at my local supplier’s, I set to work on priming this bare timber.

The first thing I really noticed with the Coo-Var product was the overall consistency of the product. It felt thicker than a well-known rival which is Zinsser BIN. The Coo-Var Prime All felt more like a traditional water-based undercoat. This meant it passed through the brush beautifully and the lay-off was sublime!

Now I have seven frames and roughly 45 metres of skirting to prime and I tell you one thing I loved every minute of using this product. I was confident in the finish it would produce and decided to go the whole way with this sample. Knots were overpainted accordingly, and the finish was solid. The scratch test was passed within hours of application and I knew I had a solid base for my topcoats.

Prior to the painting I had to use an awful lot of caulk as unfortunately it is a period property and it does not benefit from well, I’ll say flat walls. One of the single most frustrating things for a decorator in my opinion is the cracking of caulk. I overlapped the primer just shy of 8 mm onto the wall to cover the caulk also. Could this prevent the water-based topcoats from cracking?? It certainly did! I love this product for priming.

Coo-Var Prime All on Stains

Again I had the perfect situation, another client the following week had a dried water-stained ceiling following a plumbing disaster. Coo-Var Shellac Primer put to the test again. This stain was quite severe and large therefore I applied 2 coats of the shellac-based primer to the stain and surrounding areas. Followed by two coats of Vinyl Matt in white, it was as if it never existed!

Coo-Var Prime All the Adhesion Primer

Lastly, I thought I’d try the Coo-Var as an adhesion primer over varnished woodwork. This is a proper test, as not even an oil-based undercoat adheres to varnish.

Prime All does, though! One advantage of using a shellac-based primer over varnished timber is that it will stop tannins bleeding through and spoiling your paint finish. Just prep the timber as normal, then apply a generous coat of primer.

The Coo-Var Prime All works brilliantly for this. It adheres well, leaves no brush marks and is surprisingly easy to use. It is much easier to apply than any other product of its type that I have used. Oh, and opacity is fantastic too!! Click here to see current prices.

Summary

FAQs

What is shellac-based paint used for?

Shellac-based primers are problem-solving products. You might use them to adhere to difficult surfaces like melamine or oil-based gloss. You might also use a shellac-based primer as a stain block.

How long does shellac paint last?

Shellac-based paint doesn’t last very long on the outside of a building because it’s too brittle. But it’ll last as long as the house if you use it indoors.

How long to let shellac primer dry before painting?

Shellac primer is touch-dry after five or ten minutes, but you should wait 45 minutes before painting over it. This is to give the solvent long enough to evaporate fully.

How to remove shellac-based primer?

Methylated spirits will break shellac-based primer down. Wear rubber gloves, get a cloth, pour some spirit on the cloth, then start wiping at the primer. It should come off with a bit of elbow grease.