Can You Whitewash Laminate Furniture

These days we don t have to be that harsh to create whitewash finishes.

Can you whitewash laminate furniture.

You can distress wood laminate or metal easily by yourself to make your furniture unique. It is possible to whitewash painted furniture but it takes time and the steps vary depending on the look you want to achieve. Purchase or create the whitewash mixture. Whitewashing used to include the use of caustic lime to corrode the top layer of wood giving it a rustic chalky appearance.

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. 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. Because it s often somewhat glossy looking and important to sand it down until the finish is very dull before priming. You can even whitewash faux wood if you do the proper amount of preparation.

It s easy to skip the sanding step because sanding is a drag but it s especially important with laminate. Next apply an oil based primer with a brush or roller and wait 4 hours for it to dry. It s all too possible to damage an older piece of veneered furniture if you try to refinish it. Furniture with laminate or plastic can be painted and updated.

To paint laminate furniture start by sanding down the surface using 120 grit sandpaper so that the paint will stick better. A piece of laminate furniture that has already been painted is ready to go when it comes to giving it a distressed appearance as you won t need to prime it or give it a base coat. Whitewashing furniture creates a gentle distressed or antiqued look by simply applying whitewash or watered down white paint to your furniture. This video tutorial shows the simples steps it takes to successfully paint over laminate or pl.

Then apply a coat of an acrylic latex paint with a brush or roller using short even strokes. 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. While the project does require paint with a chalky finish and sealing wax you can finish the rest.

Whitewashed furniture is popular in country or cottage style homes and decor. Distressing is a simple process that makes newer furniture look antique by manually adding wear and tear. You can sand prime and paint laminate as if it were a solid wood piece of furniture.