Journal – me & mrs. jones

reflections on shininess – a high-gloss tutorial.

February 5, 2013 by Mrs. Jones Admin

while mrs. jones adores and appreciates a low-lustre, matte look for painted furniture, sometimes the situation (or the client) calls for shine. not the gleam or sheen that comes with a waxed, rubbed, glazed or oiled finish, but a truly high level of lacquer-like glossiness.

there are only two ways that i know to achieve this look…both require an oil-based finish, and therefore a ventilated, dust-free work space and a lot of patience. these methods are at the farthest reach of the “ease of use” continuum that has chalk paint® on its opposite end. but when high-gloss is what you want, nothing else will do! so here goes a little break-down for you…

key to have on hand are the primer and paint (and possibly topcoat) of your choice – read on for more details! – sandpaper in grits from 120 to 400, wood filler or brushing putty, a japan scraper or putty knife, freshly laundered fabric drop cloths (the plastic ones attract dust via static and tend to scrunch up into your wet paint, plus the fabric ones are reusable), tack cloths, a vacuum, swiffer-type dusting cloths, a new air filter for your hvac system, and a very very clean brush meant for oil-based products.

first, this is the perfect time to switch your air filter out for a clean one…your furnace will thank you! then, make sure that the surface you’re painting is prepped and as smooth as possible. (because you’ll be sanding and priming, your piece will not need to be stripped.) fill any holes, gouges, or grain with wood filler or brushing putty. sand smooth with 120 and then 220 sandpaper. wipe down with a tack cloth to remove sanding dust. prime with a best-quality enamel underbody, such as the ones made by fine paints of europe or benjamin moore. sand again, moving to a finer-grit paper as you go, ending with a 400-grit rubdown.

when you are through sanding, wait an hour at least for all the dust to settle. (a longer wait is advisable, otherwise you will end up with “floaters” that settle in to your wet paint.) vacuum or replace your drop cloth with a clean, dust-free one, swiffer or wipe down your entire work area with a damp microfiber cloth, and put your doggies outside or in their kennel-condos. because you may have kicked up a little more dust moving things around, wait a little while longer, and then carefully go over the surfaces you’ll paint one more time with a tack cloth, removing every possible bit of grit. (when you take the tack cloth out of the package, unfold it completely and then gently bunch it up in your hand, re-bunching to expose a clean area every few passes.)

now you’re getting to the fun part…the color! you’ll be working with either oil-based satin finish enamel, such as benjamin moore’s impervo* (which will require a topcoat of high-gloss polyurethane), or fine paints of europe‘s hollandlac brilliant (after which you’ll be done.)

(when you’re looking at paint labels, the word you’re looking for in gloss is leveling. that means the paint, due to its solvent content, will even out or “lay down” and not hold any brushstrokes, giving a mirror-like finish. the high solvent content keeps the paint “open” longer so that it can level, but by making it much slower to dry, it’s much more vulnerable to dust, dog hair, and other little gremlins getting in to the wet paint.)

which to use? there is one important consideration: color. the high-gloss topcoat that you’ll need to use has a very distinct amber tone to it, and will dramatically alter lighter colors. if you’re using deep blue or green, or chocolate brown, or black, you’ll be fine using an enamel with high-gloss poly, and this has the advantage of being more readily available locally. but this topcoat over any lighter paint colors will result in a noticeably-yellowed finish. so, for lighter colors, i use fine paints of europe’s hollandlac brilliant. the hollandlac is expensive, but combines the two steps into one, and so saves you time (and the math works out about the same vs. buying both layers.)

if you don’t have a fpe dealer close by, just call emmett fiore, their colorist. he will send you the appropriate amount of hollandlac brilliant, tinted to the color of your choice. he and his cohorts are as fabulous as their paint, and can match any hue in any fan-deck. no other brand has the depth of gloss that fpe does. (and mrs. jones does not receive so much as an extra stir-stick for this endorsement of their product…having tried everything out there for gloss, this is my unbiased, un-compensated opinion.)

(*putting a high-gloss topcoat over an acrylic or latex enamel has not been successful for me…but i would love to hear other thoughts on this! i’ve always ended up with a base coat that crinkles up once the topcoat is applied. heartbreaking, and worse – starting over! )

with a clean brush (i love the shortcut from wooster…but this is a chance to break out your best purdy or omega, too) and thoroughly stirred paint, lay the color on, avoiding excess brushing but finishing each section or surface with long, smooth strokes. a brush that does not carry enough paint to the surface will result in a skippy, orange-peel looking finish, but over-loading your brush causes “sagging“, so take care to get a nice, moderate amount of paint on just the tips of your brush bristles…dipping the bottom 1/2 inch into the paint should be just right. as you apply paint, brush from an unpainted area back in to the wet paint you’ve just put on…this is important, so that you won’t over-brush the paint or thin out what’s on the surface:

when you have finished, clean your brush with the barest amount of mineral spirits possible, leave the room and don’t come back until the next day. i’m serious about this – you’ll just stir up dust by walking through, and the piece will look so beautiful you’ll want to touch it…don’t. the products you’re using will require at least an overnight dry in between coats…walk away.

once the paint is completely and thoroughly dry, give it a light sanding with 400-grit paper. (in our memphis humidity, drying can take up to 72 hours before you can safely sand again.) this will smooth out any little mistakes and will give the second coat a little “tooth” to hold on to. once again, wait for the dust to settle. vacuum or swap out your drop cloth, run the swiffer pad around, and wipe down the piece with a tack cloth.

apply a second coat of paint, same way. if you’re using hollandlac, once your piece is dry, you’re done! if not, now you’ll follow the same instructions as above for your topcoat: light sanding with 400, clean up all the dust, tack the piece. with a clean, dry (no solvent/cleaner dripping out) brush, apply the high-gloss poly, taking care to make sure that you’re covering everything smoothly and evenly. clean your brush, and step away overnight. you may need to repeat these topcoat steps…use your judgement when everything is dry. if you’ve missed places or it needs more protection, add another coat.

so, a quick review: sand & fill, clean & tack, prime. sand, tack, paint. repeat. repeat again for polyurethane topcoat.

now, put the hardware on, put the drawers back in, and enjoy!

thank you, mr. christian!

October 18, 2014 by Mrs. Jones Admin

i am forever indebted to jonathan christian of signworks, graphic designer and sign wrangler extraordinaire. after putting together a great-looking design for the exterior at the new shop that would meet the strict standards of both the center and the city (and mrs. jones’s budget!) he and the intrepid cat glosson marched our municipal approval through, got the materials ready in no time, and had their crack crew there to install everything early on the morning of our grand opening.

i owe you, jc!

from glum to glam

January 13, 2013 by Mrs. Jones Admin

this cute but time-worn nightstand is making the transition from a grandmother’s attic to a a very stylish 9-year-old girl’s room. before any of you mahogany/walnut/cherry-lovers out there rush to judge mrs. jones, please keep in mind that this piece was in dire need of refinishing…and isn’t it better to have it back in use, rather than hidden away in a hot, humid attic? i truly think so…but know that there will be other opinions. (which i hope will be kindly expressed.) all that aside, here is the before:

my lovely client requested a high-gloss silver finish to work with lillian’s grown-up new lilac and gray bedroom scheme. (on-site photos with the cute back-ordered crystal knobs have been promised.) in the meantime, here is the pre-delivery after:

this piece required a little sanding to smooth out the surface. as you know, with a glossy finish, the smallest imperfections are magnified…that little speck of something or another can end up looking like a boulder. so, sanding and tacking away all the dust and grit is really important.

i primed first with stix, a great water-based undercoat, and then painted on two coats of modern masters’ metallic in silver.

after another sanding and wipe-down, two coats of high-gloss polyurethane went on, for the depth, shine, and durability that lillian’s mom asked for. the poly does have an amber tone to it (which in some environments may deepen over time) but i really like the way it mellows out the silver and warms it up a little. it’s tricky to use this topcoat over light paint colors, but over metallics it gives a nice softening effect. i think that the brighter look really plays up the cute details on this piece.

sneakity-peek-peeks

January 3, 2013 by Mrs. Jones Admin

previews of a few of the custom pieces in the works right now (though the final touches aren’t on yet, so i hope you’ll check back for more details soon.)

here is the before of a set of chinoiserie nightstands and dressers which my lovely client snagged at an estate sale in all their 1970’s yellow-and-red faux bamboo glory:

she asked to have them done in white high-gloss, which calls for only one thing: hollandlac brilliant.

which means, of course, an excellent excuse for a phone conversation with my colorist crush, emmett fiore at fine paints of europe. {sigh.} he is a smooth-color-talking hugely-hue-knowledgeable dreamboat, and i adore him. in just a few days, a litre of her choice of benjamin moore’s white dove was on the doorstep, mixed in the only paint i know that you have to touch to see that it’s not still wet. after no small amount of prep work (sanding, removing some yucky old sticky estate-sale stuff, filling grain with putty, using an enamel underbody, etc.) here is a glimpse…

my client has an excellent eye – these are going to be knockout in her guest room.

the final piece on deck right now is a “granny’s attic” special, being glammed up for a teenaged girl’s room…before:

here is a peek at the after:

she chose a glossy silver finish, which i’ve done here with modern masters’ silver (over a prepped surface, primed with stix) and then benjamin moore’s high-gloss polyurethane as a topcoat. (so, yes, you really could bounce a basketball on it.)

all the final photos, plus tutorials on both of the high-gloss finishes shown here are coming shortly – please drop by again.

china cabinet do-over

February 1, 2012 by Mrs. Jones Admin

it’s not all put back together yet, but here is a sneak-peek of a “groovy” (my lovely client’s word) china cabinet – a must-use bequest from her mother-in-law. despite its grooviness, the piece is very practical, and has pretty lines and is the right scale for their dining room. not to mention the whole mother-in-law angle. anna baskin lattimore wisely suggested a high-gloss paint job as a fix. here it is before:

and after:

edgecomb gray (benjamin moore’s #hc.173) is on the inside, and diplomat gray (pratt & lambert’s #33.21) on the outside, both mixed in hollandlac brilliant, with thanks as always to the wonderful emmett fiore for his expertise.

(we will have a final “after” very soon, once the shelves are back in and arranged, promise.)

here is a snippet of the fab chair fabric in the foreground:

armoired & dangerous

December 17, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

here is a pair of recent projects, both armoires (or clothes-presses, or chifforobes, or wardrobes…please choose your favorite terminology)(but not a favorite piece – i hope you will like them equally well!) and both done in shades of white, but that is where the similarities end. so, here we go with a little compare and contrast exercise.

my lovely client wanted hers, a pretty reproduction pine press, to be very soft and antiqued. here is a before and in-the-works (including her inspiration shot):

this was a perfect opportunity to break out some of my new annie sloan chalk paint. after a light sanding and cleaning (we removed the old wax and sanding dust with citrus solvent), two coats of annie’s old white were applied, followed by her waxes – clear and then tinted. the chalk paint goes on beautifully without priming, even over the knots, and leaves some yummy texture. a little buffing, and it’s done (though not re-assembled or in its new spot yet):

this second one is a vintage mahogany chifforobe, that, though cracked, still has plenty of distinguished service to offer. it is for mrs. jones’s own bathroom…one of the first pieces we bought as newlyweds. found at a local junque shop, it was missing its mirror, which i replaced with brass chicken wire. it has been in a bedroom (with gathered fabric behind the wire) hiding all kinds of things for years. before:

early in our bathroom renovation brainstorming, selena pulled a tear sheet of a vintage-era bathroom furnished with a fancy chest-on-chest dresser that had been painted in high-gloss white. in translating the look to our project, she immediately zeroed in on the armoire as a candidate for re-doing. perfect size, perfect storage…brilliant! i called emmett fiore, and he sent some hollandlac tinted to benjamin moore’s glacier white (# oc.37) on the next ups truck. after sanding the surface lightly and wiping it down with a tack cloth (but leaving the crackled varnish alone), i used enamel undercoat followed by two coats of the lac. here is the after, and some details:

i love the effect the glossy white has on the old varnish underneath – kind of mock croc.

the old wire locker baskets (now holding soap and washcloths) are from one of my favorite etsy shops, haven vintage.

still to come: all the deets on the new bathroom & laundry room…but here at least you can see one the fab thomas o’brien sconces that selena chose, along with the flooring and subway tile she tracked down for us. her (genius!) idea to mirror the long wall opened things up in a dramatic way.

like mother, like daughter

October 11, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

here is a pair of before and afters done recently for a lovely client and her precious daughter. she had the desk made for ellie, a budding artist, who is in the process of big-girl-ifying her bedroom. the small side table (one of a pair) was a brilliant find my client made at a local junque shop. both mother and daughter were after a little gloss and glam for their pieces.

for ellie’s desk – a little worried about those knots showing through – i primed with zissner’s stain-blocking primer, smoothed out the cracks and gaps (but let the grain still show) with wood filler, and then sealed the bottom, inside of the drawer, and all other unseen surfaces with clear polyurethane. (it’s key to do this on a new piece – to seal every surface – to ensure that some parts don’t absorb more moisture from humidity than others, causing warping and/or cracking.) after base-coating with modern masters’ silver, i topped it with a high-gloss polyurethane…ellie can now createcreatecreate, and her desk can be scrubbed clean. she chose a pull from my grab-bag of hardware: a sparkly, rhinestone-studded number from anthropologie, to complete the look.

my client was looking for a way to add a bit of shine and light to her beautiful living room, which is full of soft, deep colors and surfaces. she earned a gold star on her chart by researching and choosing a color…i love a delightfully decisive client who shows up with her own sample pot! the bottom of the table was stamped and marked:

does anyone know how to interpret? anyway, to get the gloss she wanted, i called emmett fiore at fine paints of europe. he (obligingly, of course…he is not my crush for nothing, you know) mixed some hollandlac brilliant in her choice of behr’s cornerstone 330e.2. after cleaning and sanding the curvy little table and doing a little repair to the filleting around the top…

…i primed it with fpe’s enamel underbody and then applied two coats of the paint. she asked for a tiny bit of gilding wax rubbed on to some of the edges as a finishing touch.

as i was working, the combination kept reminding me of something…i finally realized it is our (old paris 2nd empire?) china, collected and given to us by my lovely mother-in-law, the original mrs. jones.

beyonce vs. the bon-bons

September 20, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

after several recent inquiries (both polite and pointed) mrs. jones feels it necessary to take a moment and do some ‘splaining. first, i would like to express my gratitude for the fact that so many of you check in, read, and care…i am thankful for the support and kindness and feedback that comes in the form of your comments and emails.

that said, please understand that this little journal is several things: a means for me to share my inspirations, to put a spotlight on notable events and work by friends and collaborators, keep you up-to-date on current inventory on etsy and elsewhere, and to show you some current projects. however, it is not meant to be a complete record or real-time time-sheet of all the work being done. when there is a gap in posts about projects, it may give the impression that mrs. jones is parked on the sofa, gobbling up downton abbey re-runs and bon-bons. in reality, i am (gratefully) as my pal sally says, “busy like beyonce, girl”.

so, just to clarify, here are the parameters: projects are featured here only…

if they are something new, interesting and/or instructive ie: the black-or-linen-white-distressed-with-raw-umber-glaze that is fun, classic, and represents a good portion of my bread and butter is, i think, not what you want to see over and over. the minute there is a new technique/product/color to share with you, a question to answer, or a good before & after, it will be posted.
if there are at-least decent photographs to accompany the post often, when i am done with my elements of a project, walls are not dry, pieces need to be re-assembled, furniture must have some other sort of finishing (like upholstery or hardware) or is being loaded onto a truck to go to its new home. all of which means there is no chance to take good pictures. a lack of photos makes an entry absolutely no fun. and we are here to have fun, right?
if there is permission given by the designer. much of my work comes through talented decorators with whom i am so lucky to be working. implicit in the deal is that they have approval on any photographs to be used. naturally, there are many times that a piece or a room is deemed not ready for its close-up: x, y, or z must be delivered/arranged/hung/installed/completed before an image may be captured…and often, that unfortunately leaves me without an easy opportunity to make an on-site visit and take final photographs.
and, finally, 3a: when my lovely decorators are seeking to have work published, i am simply not at liberty to share photos here. the design blogs and glossies (understandably) prefer an exclusive look at projects being submitted to them. stealing someone’s thunder, or even a tiny bit of their lightning, is just not nice. (ironically, this means that some of the prettiest, most interesting work i do doesn’t end up here, or at least not until after-the-fact…but i would never not honor this commitment to my designers.)

so there you go. hopefully, this makes sense to those of you who asked, and clarifies the process for all. and now, moving on! since every post needs an image…here is 4-month-old skipper, who is trying hard to learn to be a good studio dog like ginger grant. a german short-haired pointer is, by her nature, a little less well-suited to napping on a dropcloth like our little dachsie, preferring instead the den-like situation she finds under my low saw-horses. or putting her paw into paint. but she is making progress.

houzz about it?

September 1, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

due to the kindness of lovely local designer anna baskin lattimore (who, like all of my favorite designers to collaborate with, generously shares her inspiration and spotlight – i am so grateful!) one of my pieces was featured on houzz by shawn gauthier (she of houzz and lonny.) re: everyday items going glossy and glam…

so here is one final peek at my raspberry-lacquered cocktail table, which now resides happily in a chic chicago living room, via the etsy shop:

mail call

July 18, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

with the young joneses away at camp, mrs. jones has been optimistically checking the mailbox…alas, no notes yet. (and, now that we’re looking at it, a fresh coat of paint on the box while they’re gone might be a good idea.) but a couple of great product & process questions have arrived via the comment-box here, and just in case you may want to know the answers, too, here you go:

first, regarding this railing project, from my friend deborah at the beautiful blog boxwood terrace: did you just rub the wax onto the railing and then seal it? i have a boring wood banister/balustrades–basically round dowels–on my staircase and wonder if I could duplicate the look…?

answer: using gilt wax (in this case, over black paint) is even easier than that. for that particular look, i applied small amounts of each color, putting it on in streaks with my fingers. then, using a tiny bit of penetrol on a soft brush, blended them just a little. when the wax is good and dry, a quick buffing with an old t-shirt hardens the wax and seals the finish.

next, a query on these glazed curtain rods, from lori: i plan on doing a similar finish (prime + paint + glaze) on an old dining room set. because the furniture will be high-use, i’d like to use a hard oil-based paint; will it need to be flat/low sheen in order to properly accept the glaze? i’d like the high-sheen look of your white corner chairs with glaze in the nooks and crannies…but don’t want the inevitable yellowing that would come with a polyurethane topcoat.
any suggestions or guidance is much appreciated!

this answer requires a bit more detail…: high-use furniture can indeed benefit from oil-based paint, but the newer acrylic enamels are truly durable, easier to work with, and (obviously) more environmentally friendly. and when you’re going to apply a wax or topcoat, having that oil-based finish does not matter nearly as much. just remember that preparation and the right primer are key for durability.

paint-wise, for a project like this, i especially like benjamin moore’s aura line, but can also highly recommend behr’s “premium plus” interior enamel. whatever paint you use, an eggshell, satin, or semi-gloss surface is best for glazing. flat or matte finishes tend to “grab” too much glaze and give you a shorter working time. and, of course, oil-based glaze will adhere to either oil-based or acrylic paints, while acrylic or water-based glazes only work over waterbourne or acrylic base coats.

now, as far as a topcoat, you are absolutely right about the yellowing – a problem with oil-based varnishes that simply can’t be avoided. on lighter colors when a very high shine is required, i use fine paints of europe’s hollandlac, or two coats of bowling alley wax over the painted finish, buffed to the highest sheen possible. for deeper colors, where the amber color in the varnish won’t be a factor, a coat or two of benjamin moore’s polyurethane in high gloss does the trick. (i have not found an acrylic high-gloss product that is anywhere near good enough…if anyone out there knows of one, please leave a comment! the acrylic topcoats dry very quickly, leaving ropy brush marks, while the oil-based formulas have time to level out, giving that mirror-like gloss and – just as crucial – depth.)

remember when applying a high-gloss finish, every little flaw will show, so again, your preparation is key. using a fine-grit sandpaper (280 or 400) followed by a throrough vacuuming (with your brush attachment) and then a careful going-over with a tack-cloth before you topcoat, and in between every coat, is super important here for a good result. you’ll also want to make your workspace as dust-free as possible, and turn off your fan and hvac system while you’re working, and until the piece is dry, to prevent any dust floating around that might mar your finish.

feeling confident that you all will be better correspondents than my children: please send photos of your projects when they are done, i can’t wait to see how beautifully your things turn out. good luck!

hold on

July 14, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

one of my favorite trends in newer homes is having the stairway snuggled into the “friends & family” part of the house, instead of building a huge entryway around it (not that there is anything wrong with that, either.) at my lovely client’s home, due to a miscommunication, the pretty custom railing for this stairway received a plain coat of glossy black paint, giving a finish more suited to an outdoor fixture. designer anna baskin lattimore requested a quick fix, to warm it up and mellow it out. using gilt waxes (available at your local craft emporium, or in the toolkit) in spanish copper alongside european gold, the task was easily accomplished in a morning (while the young joneses allegedly chipped away at their summer reading):

it’s not a “hey! look over here!” kind of finish…more of a subtle kind of thing. you know what i mean.

oh, and here’s a before:

painted into a corner

June 11, 2011 by Mrs. Jones Admin

here is a before and after of a pair of solid, pretty old corner chairs. now, before you rush to judge mrs. jones as a (gasp!) mahogany-maimer, please consider the situation: the chairs had been damaged and repaired over the years (there were several places that couldn’t be matched to the original finish) and anna baskin lattimore’s lovely client wanted a whole new look for them.

to get the “are these still wet?” high-gloss finish that anna required in this particular shade of pale gray, i called my colorist crush, emmett fiore, at fine paints of europe. he can match any paint color from anywhere in their hollandlac formula. incredibly, you can get the kind of delectable color talk he offers without paying per minute on a 900 number…it just thrills me to hear him whisper sweet nothings say: “pratt & lambert antique white? no problem, i can shoot it off the chip for you” or: “we’ll just add a bit more ochre.” really, it feels a little naughty. is it getting warm in here? wait, where was i? right, the chairs…before:

and after:

will work for food.

May 15, 2011 by stephanie

as long as chef wally joe is manning the saute pan, that is. set to open in just a few days (pending staff training, menu tweaks, and a liquor license) acre will be a most welcome addition to the memphis restaurant lineup. though mrs. jones’s involvement was limited to the ladies’ & men’s rooms, there was no way to miss the tantalizing smells coming from the kitchen this week as things got revved up. they aren’t kidding around about the emphasis on local cuisine…chef joe and his staff even have an herb garden planted right outside the kitchen door.

here are the bathrooms, before:

gwen driscoll designed the chic and cozy interiors, and i did my best to execute her vision for the bathrooms. first, she specified a particular geometric pattern for the men’s, suggesting a trellis or lattice-work:

(relying heavily here, of course, on the unfailing assistance of my laser level.)

then, in the ladies’: walls scattered with loose, wild gardenias and a pale pink ceiling covered in little gold…well…visitors.

some process notes: working with a palette of gwen’s custom colors, i used mylar to make the stencils for each of the elements, and then brushed in the little details. (i cut a second set of stencils from lighter-weight – but less durable – mylar sheets for the men’s room ceiling…gravity being an obvious issue.) (which worked swimmingly until getting too close to the halogen lights. for those of you wondering: mylar melts. relatively quickly.)

and glaze in a deeper shade of brown was stippled on to the ladies’ walls first, to give the flowers a softer ground on which to bloom.

you enter acre through a glossy sunflower-yellow front door, and wind through a series of small dining rooms and a beautiful bar in a fab mix of materials: reclaimed barn planks, silver gilding, ebonized wood, white leather, iron, industrial metal piping, slabs of the most gorgeous marble, and shimmery dirty-copper-penny tile…it all feels like a very tony treehouse. in back, tucked behind high stone walls and enormous boxwoods, is a beautiful, quiet patio where they’ll be serving cocktails and a bar menu. it will be one of the lovliest spots i can think of to have a meal.

i can’t march on without first thanking my clients and designers who have been so patient and flexible through the many scheduling upheavals as this project unfolded, and ann nordeen parker and amy moore from gwen’s studio for their support and direction throughout. and enormous thanks to dear friends (sally, margaret, cheryl, sarah, catherine) who checked in with coffees, turkey sandwiches, diet cokes, homemade gazpacho, and all manner of support. catherine was even game enough to take brush in hand and lend her talents! i am so very grateful to you all.

sweet white light

March 28, 2011 by stephanie

lovely clients of gwen driscoll’s had this collection of sconces and chandeliers that they wanted to use together, and so she requested a unified, updated look. here they are before:

and after being treated to the high-gloss version of benjamin moore’s white dove:

(i hope to have the installed “afters” to show you soon.)

waxing poetic

March 24, 2011 by stephanie

mrs. jones recently fielded a question on using wax as part of a painted finish (with standard latex/acrylic/alkyd paint), and wanted to share a little more information in case others might have the same query. wax (as you know) is a petroleum-based product, and so acts as a fantastic sealer and protective layer on top of paint. but because it is so, well, waxy, paints and glazes will not adhere over it, and so it must be your final layer (or act as a “resist layer”…more soon on this technique.) (and if you’re using chalk paint™ decorative paints by annie sloan, or miss mustard seed’s (or other) milk paint, please follow waxing instructions particular to those wonderful mediums, since the method is a bit different.)

it’s simple to use wax over paint to protect, add sheen, and give that old-fashioned furniture feel. for an application like this, i (obviously) love annie sloan’s clear wax…it’s butter-soft, has a very low solvent content, and is truly clear (to illustrate, see photo above, and read below.) minwax’s paste finishing wax is also a decent one if you need to put your hands on a more widely available choice. myland’s and antiquax are both excellent. the list goes on and on..anyway:

with paste wax, run the bristles of a chip brush ( the 2″ size is perfect for this, as they fit neatly into most can openings) over the wax, and then brush in quick, short strokes over the surface, following your painted brushstrokes, and bearing down to spread the wax evenly. you’ll feel the brush begin to “pull” as it runs low and needs to be reloaded. let the wax dry – depending on your humidity levels, this can take 20 minutes to 4 hours – and then buff/polish with a soft lint-free cloth, like an old t-shirt, folded to the size of your hand. (if you’re using annie sloan soft wax, you can use a firm-bristled brush or a cloth for application. wipe the excess wax back while it’s still wet, and then leave it to dry, buffing later, or even the next day.) for buffing, cut-up oxford cloth shirts are a great tool, as are bird’s-eye-weave diapers.

the drawback to most paste waxes is (as shown in the photo at the top) that they can leave behind a hint of a pink-ish or amber tint, which will show on lighter and darker paint colors. over white/light paints, if you can’t easily get annie sloan’s soft wax, bowling alley wax is an option. it goes on very clear, and does not yellow over time. it buffs to a higher shine than plain paste wax…even glossier if you put on a second coat…though it requires more muscle to apply and polish.

tinted waxes (besides the annie sloan dark wax, mylands is hands-down my favorite line, but there are plenty available – your local antique shop will probably stock a great choice, too) give you wax and color in one step. (peek here to see a project using tinted wax on raw wood, and here for a restoration project.) over lighter shades of paint, wax containing a tint such as raw umber, antique pine, or dark brown will leave behind a yummy patina and a nice aged effect. black tinted wax over black paint gives beautiful depth. brush it on as thinly as possible, and if buffing with a cloth doesn’t remove as much as you want or give the desired sheen, try going over the surface very gently, and with the grain, with 0000 steel wool instead*.

(word to the wise: tinted waxes should not be used on a piece that will come into close contact with light-colored fabrics, since there is a chance that some of the pigment might rub off from, say, a dining room chair on to your aunt louise’s new white blouse, or from the bed headboard on to that fabulous ivory pillow sham you just brought home.)

if the wax is too firm to brush on easily, set the whole tin in a pan of hot water to soften it up, or leave it to sit in a sunny window for a little while.

*one other little trick to have up your sleeve is to apply a thin, very sparing dusting of rottenstone to the surface just after you brush on the wax. when you’re ready to buff, the rottenstone acts as a gentle abrasive, bringing up the shine and making the work go a little more quickly. it will leave just a tiny hint of dusty gray behind where you’ve sprinkled it, another great way to “age” a newly painted surface. using a small (1/2″ or 1″) chip brush, dip just the tips of the bristles into the rottenstone, and then tap the brush gently above the waxed surface to distribute the dust. (richard martin, long the king of fabulous painted finishes here in memphis, has a signature look to his work that includes a dusting of rottenstone left in all the right nooks & crannies. it is perfectly gorgeous.)

and, finally, don’t toss your waxed-up chip brush…ziplock-bag it, and keep it for next time. the bristles might become stiff, but will soften up when you start working with it again.