A friend has some brown formica indoor doors for me. Is it possible to paint them?

I wanted white to match the rest of the house. If it's possible to paint them, what sort of paint should I use?A friend has some brown formica indoor doors for me. Is it possible to paint them?
Yes, but if you want this paint to last you have to sand these doors down with either #150 or #180 grit paper, dust off the door with compressed air or vacuum, followed by a wipe down with either Acetone or Lacquer Thinner as both of these chemicals are excellent for cleaning any residues from laminates.





Once this is done you'll need to prime this with a oil based primer and paint the door with an oil base paint. Latex/acrylic based products won't adhere really well and you won't get the durability of a finish using them on this. Pratt %26amp; Lambert or Sherwin-Williams has oil paints readily available in any color and sheen you can want. Pratt %26amp; Lambert has Suprimer primer and RedSeal which I prefer, and S%26amp;W has the ProClassic Line. Also, use what's called ';Japan Drier'; which is an additive for oils that will accelerate the drying time to a couple of hours.





I use petroleum base paints on all of the trim, casework and doors on my projects. It provides a better finish, durability and aesthetics. You can also later sand and touch up such finishes later down the road with greater success.





If you would like my advice or further help on this don't hesitate to contact me.





**Kilz and TSP isn't the magic apply to all or fix-all for everything. Though they have numerous applications one of them is not for this. High Pressure laminates such as formica are a petroleum base product, thus stronger bond will be achieved when using the methods and petroleum base products I have defined; also #220 grit will not cut through the top surface of the laminate adequate enough to degloss and promote good adhesion of any paint in this application.**





Mike Lonergan


TradesProfessional, Inc.


http://tradesprofessional.comA friend has some brown formica indoor doors for me. Is it possible to paint them?
Yes, but it is easy to make a hash of the brushwork and for it to look awful.





Formica needs a special primer like Prime-it plus or BIN 1-2-3, any specialist primer that claims to be suitable for dense products like ceramic, glass, laminates. A water-based primer is fine. I personally would then use an oil-based undercoat followed by Dulux Satinwood. Use a brush and a 4 inch foam roller. Stretch the paint out for a flatter finish, even if you have to do more coats. Key the surface first with a P120 grit abrasive paper.





Sugar soap, vacuum cleaners, esp and all the other stuff mentioned here are really unecessary.
Yes it is . first get some coarse sand paper and rub down the doors. Next get some ';Sugar soap'; from a DIY outlet. was and rinse well. Rub down with fine sand paper and wash the dust off. Dry out and then oaint with undercoat and top coat.





Laborious yes but well worth the effot in the long run.
';Lightly'; sand with 220 sandpaper. Clean with TSP.Apply a couple coats of water-based Kilz-It and paint with enamel paint. I use a small sponge roller so it won't show brush marks. Place tray and roller in plastic bag in fridge until ready for second coat. Saves washing paint out of the roller.
Yes, you can get special paint for painting formica. You can also get a produce called ESP to use as an undercoat for ordinary paint.
Yes or you can put stuff over them and paint that white too.





It's up to you ;-)
I'm no painter but I think you might have to sand them to give them a key.