PAINT BLEEDING - midcentury table

 

 

Does everyone remember the little mid century side table I picked up a few weeks ago thrifting?

The plan was to spray it in a high gloss oil base white, however this was also the perfect opportunity

to show you ASCP can create a perfect white finish and teach you a little trick of mine.

 

 

Lets talk about bleed ...

I am referring to the strange browny red marks
that you might encounter while painting vintage furniture.

***

Your best defence to this problem is to understand what and why this is happening.

What it is are OILS (tannins) leaching into your water based product and changing the color.

Why is because the wood in these areas are exposed and raw letting the oils come out.

The Solution is quite simple ... you need to block/seal these areas locking in the tannin oils.

 

What I do is wax and repaint.

Wax is a good barrier against the oils and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint adheres to wax!

 

Alternatives are oil based paints, primers, and shellacs.

I know many ppl use Zinsser spray shellac, which I have used in the past to seal knots.

Not all woods bleed equally, pine for example generally doesn't give you too much issue

except for the knots. I find oak pretty easy going but mahogany can be just as bad as a red

shirt being through into a wash load of white under garments.

 

On this side table the original finish had been scratched and was starting to lift and flake off.

Consequently once my first coat of pure white started to dry there were bleed spots all over.

 

*** OH THE HORROR!!! ***

 

If you look closely on the above photo you can see the entire face of the

drawers had a streaky bleed. In the upper right hand corner you

can also see a heavier line of bleed where it had been scratched.

 

Here is another area with heavy bleed, the bottom of a leg had

been banged around and the original finish was compromised

exposing the raw wood in tiny spots.

 The same thing will happen if you sand an old finish and expose the raw wood.

When I am dealing with heavy bleed it sometimes takes 2 or 3 applications of wax and

paint before it completely diminishes, but in the case of the drawer faces it was one coat

of wax and a second coat of paint. I prefer using Minwax for this problem.

 

 

NOTE:

TREAT THE PROBLEM AREAS ONLY!

and

LET YOUR WAX DRY (60 mins) BEFORE REPAINTING!

 

You only have to treat the bleed you do not have to redo, repaint, re wax every inch of your project. 

 

For example I had bleed coming through at the 3 seams where the angled trim attached

to the top but the rest of the surface was fine. I only waxed and repainted the seams.

 

***** 

I hope this information helps you understand the problem so you can also solve it.

 

 

 

 

This Pure White mid century side table is listed on the SHOWROOM page with price and dimensions.

 

The zebra drawer lining is removable.

 

 

 

 

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