Although the majority of my time as a professional decorator is spent giving rooms a facelift, I done more than my fair share of furniture makeovers in my time as well. Some I’ve done with a brush and roller, some with a spray machine – a worthwhile investment for me, as I use it regularly for work.
If you’re new to furniture upcycling, or you’re more of a DIYer than a pro, buying a spray set-up is a big up-front cost; you could always hire one from Airblast Eurospray Direct and have them drop it off at your house. It’s great to use a specialist when hiring spray equipment because they can advise on the best machine to use based on the job in hand, your experience, and the products you’re using. Click here to get in touch with them.
Or, you could try using aerosols. It’s incredibly easy to do (we’ll explain everything, and there’s even a video demo at the end), and there’s a huge range of finishes available, from chalk paint to gloss black, to special effects like metallics, stone, concrete and even rusted metal.
The beauty of spraying is that you can achieve a perfect finish in a very short time (the prep will take longer than the painting!), and aerosols are so easy to use.
In this blog we’ll talk you through the tools and materials you’ll need and take you through a step-by-step process of how to achieve a professional finish.
Tools and Materials Needed for Spraying Furniture With an Aerosol
- Aerosol spray paint in your chosen colour and finish; some will need a separate primer
- Tools for removing any hinges, door handles, drawer knobs, etc
- Possibly masking tape
- Dust sheet to protect the floor and surrounding area
- Sandpaper
- Methylated Spirits and an old cloth
- Dusting brush
- Tack cloths
- PPE – gloves and mask. Probably not absolutely necessary, but better safe than sorry.
How to Spray Furniture Using Aerosol Paint – Step-by-Step Process
Prepare your workspace
Find a large well-ventilated space with no furniture nearby (or work outside if it’s dry and not windy). Cover the floor (and any nearby furniture that could not be removed) with dustsheets for protection.
Prepare the piece of furniture
Remove any doors or drawers (they can be sprayed separately), take off any hinges, knobs, handles etc, and mask any areas that you do not want to paint (e.g. insides of drawers).
Clean the furniture
Furniture often has polish or wax applied to it. Even if this isn’t the case, it will pick up grease from hands, and other contaminants, so it’s a good idea to give it a thorough clean to remove these, as they can stop your paint from adhering properly to the furniture.
Clean thoroughly with methylated spirits and an old rag. It’s best to clean first and sand second; if you sand first, you risk forcing grease or wax into the woodgrain during the sanding process, making it harder to remove by cleaning.
Sand the furniture
Abrade the surface with sandpaper to create a “key” to help the paint to adhere well and then clean again. You shouldn’t need to sand back to bare wood; the aim is just to take the shine off the surface, and “rough it up” at a microscopic level, to make it easier for the paint to stick to.
Once you’ve finished sanding, make sure you remove all the dust from the furniture – use a dust brush or vacuum to get rid of the worst of it, and then wipe down with a tack cloth to get rid of every last bit. You don’t want your paint sticking to the dust, you want it sticking to the furniture.
Prime if needed
If your wooden furniture has knots in, treat these with knotting solution or a shellac-based primer such as Fiddes Full Stop. If it has had a wood stain or a coloured varnish applied previously, I like to prime with a stain-block such as Zinsser Cover Stain, which not only provides excellent adhesion, it also helps prevent these stains from bleeding back through your paint.
Even if neither of the above scenarios apply, you will need to apply a primer with some aerosols; if in doubt, check the instructions on the pack, or with the merchant you bought it from, or the manufacturer’s website.
Spray the furniture.
Shake the can well, and spray a little first onto some newspaper or other waste material to check that there are no blockages in the nozzle. Then you’re ready to start spraying your piece of furniture.
Hold the can about 15-20cm (6-8”) away from the surface and spray in light, even strokes. Keep your hand moving all the time to avoid spraying too much paint onto a specific area, or you risk getting runs, drips and sags. It’s much better to do 3-4 light coats than to overdo it with too much paint.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t achieve perfect finish on your first coat, you only have to wait a few minutes and then you can apply your second coat, and so on. When your piece of furniture is finished and looking perfect, you won’t worry about whether it took 2,3 or even 4 coats; you will worry however if it has drips and sags all over it.
So light coats, with your hand moving whenever the nozzle is pressed, is definitely the way to go. When you’ve finished each coat, turn the can upside-down and spray onto some newspaper again, to clean out the nozzle.
Allow each coat to dry properly before applying the next. To be on the safe side, it’s a good idea leave it overnight after applying the final coat, before refitting any furniture, hinges, doors and drawers. This allows the paint to properly cure and harden, and minimises the risk of scuffing your new furniture on Day 1!
A Video Demo
Using Maston One
Mike Cupit paints a chair using Maston One
Best Aerosol Paints for Furniture
It’s got to be Maston. They’ve been in the UK for a few years now, and they’re a step above anything else I’ve used. You can buy Maston aerosols from Crown Decorating Centres, or there are a handful of online stores you can order it from.
Maston makes a huge range of spray paints, including the only multi-use 2K on the market, Candy Effect, a water-based version (Maston One), and a chalk paint. They’re all easy to use, reasonably priced, and the results are fantastic.
Final Thoughts
It may not be the “traditional” way of doing things, but using an aerosol paint like Maston One to paint your furniture is probably the simplest and most affordable way. As well as One, which is their water-based paint suitable for multiple surfaces, they also have an even harder-wearing 2K paint, and all sorts of fun finishes like metallics, stone-effect, concrete-look, rusted metal and so on. And if you try it and don’t like the look, it’s a very quick easy job to just spray it again in a different finish or colour.
FAQs
What tips and tricks are there to achieve a perfect finish with an aerosol?
The secret is to apply thin, even coats with the can 15-20cm away from the surface, and to keep your hand moving whenever the nozzle is pressed down, so as not to apply too much paint in one area. It’s far better to apply too little than too much, because you can paint over “misses” and “grins” with the next coat.
How long does spray paint take to dry?
It depends on the type of aerosol; it can be as little as 15 minutes. Check the instructions on the can for drying times, and/or the manufacturer’s website. Something like Maston One, because it is water based, dries in fifteen minutes so you can get the job done in no time. Remember to also check how long the paint takes to fully cure (to reach its optimum “hardness”), and wait until fully cured before putting doors, drawers, handles etc back on.
Do I need to sand before painting furniture?
Absolutely! But don’t aim to remove all the previous paint (if there is any); paint doesn’t adhere well to smooth, shiny surfaces, so you’re just trying to “rough it up” at a microscopic level, to provide a better surface for the paint to adhere to, and also to smooth out any minor imperfections in the surface. Skipping this important step is a risk, as it may reduce the adhesion of the paint. I’ve done tests with and without sanding, with and without various different primers, and the one thing that makes the biggest difference to paint adhesion is thorough cleaning and sanding.
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