Painting MDF with roller - Orange peel effect

[chris.gid]

I'm painting some cupboard doors with Dulux quick dry satinwood with a foam roller and getting an orange peel effect.
Doors were primed with 2 coats of MDF primer beforehand.
Does anyone have any advice on how to get a better finish. Have tried laying it off with a brush and get brush marks, i have just added about 10% water to thin the paint down on a door i have just painted but looks like i will still get some marks.
Are my expectations too high?

 

[AJB Temple]

Yes. Don't use quick dry paints. It needs to stay wet enough for you to lay off with a good quality, well broken in, brush.

 

[clogs]

simply not wet enough as above...
take the door off and paint it laying down.....

I used to paint private schools.....
never enough time and the money wasn't enough.....BUT....!!!!
all the glossing was done with a fluffy 4" roller (prewashed in a washing machine to get rid of the loose strands) and cut in with a brush......
I still can gloss both sides of a door flat or paneled in less than 3 mins without runs......but I've painted hundreds of doors....
after some practice u can get a very high shine, almost as good a spraying....
I aimed for the same finish as No 10 Downing St's front door......quite easy to attain with practice.....
then we only had oil based paints....

flat ur cupboard doors down with 400's on a block NOT fingers and paint again......

 

[chris.gid]

I agree with what you say re oil based paints, but i don't think dulux do the colour we want in oil based and its in a room that doesn't get much light so would yellow (doors are going to be the same grey as the walls so future yellowing would be noticeable)

I'll have a go at thinning the paint down a bit more.

Doors are being painted horizontal on the bench in the workshop.

I used a HVLP sprayer with water based varnish in the past and had excellent results. If it wasn't such a faff to cover up the workshop to spray i would be doing that. If i ever get round to building a bigger workshop will have to put a curtain rail system in like a hospital bed for spraying

 

[screwpainting]

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/thread...eene-paint-is-it-possibl.102539/#post-1119580
Hi, as a follow up to my post back then, I can confirm that the Little Greeen intelligent emulsion I used has survived in completely mint condition!! This is emulsion!! and it was literally 'toshed' onto bare oak edging, unprimed MDF and pine as an experiment, unbelieveable paint and I wont use anything else now, give it a test yourself, you get no brush strokes, and no orange peel from rolling, it is very thin but has a rock hard surface.
The coffee table top has taken a lot of abuse but shows no wear or tear at all,

 

[sammy.se]

I hand painted my cupboards and am happy with this finish:

I know it's not like a spray finish, but I think it's smart.

Is yours like this?

I basically quickly brush paint, then finish with a foam roller to even it all out.

 

[sammy.se]

 

[Sandyn]

I have switched to water based white gloss. I've been painting a lot of MDF recently and found if I use any undercoat, or sealants of any kind, the paint just doesn't take properly. I get the orange peel effect. I just use the paint as an undercoat, spread well with a foam roller, but after its been on for a few minutes, I don't go over it again, it makes a mess of the finish. I end up needing several coats, all applied with a foam roller, so really quick and it's dry in an hour for the next coat. I even use the roller sideways to do any mouldings. That has worked really well for me. I'm useless at painting and can never get a good finish with a brush.

 

[Ollie78]

Try a mohair roller instead of foam and I agree with previous posts about quick dry paint being less than ideal for this type of thing.

If you want it smooth then really it should be tipped off with a brush, this generally only works well with slower drying oil based paints though as the surface will "Flow" smooth.
If you want smooth its going to be a few coats and a good de nib between them, tack cloths etc.

I aimed for the same finish as No 10 Downing St's front door......quite easy to attain with practice.....
then we only had oil based paints....

Apparently they use Swedish putty to get the surface so smooth.

Ollie

 

[chris.gid]

This is my finish after the 1st coat (2nd coat on the inside of the door was better than this, maybe I'm being overly harsh on myself? Difficult to get an idea of scale but this is on 2000x600 door. Having looked at the walls the finish isn't too far off the emulsion (i'll tell the wife i was trying to blend it in ).

I'll pick up a pack of these rollers tonight and give them a go to see what the finish is like.
Harris Trade Gloss Mini Roller Sleeves Multipurpose 4

Thanks for the replies.

 

[J-G]

For the best possible 'finish', treat the top coat as a 'cosmetic'. Never put more than one coat on and make it as thin as you dare.

The top coat will never cover up a blemish and, especially if it is gloss, it will always make it more noticeable.

The most important aspect of any paint job is basic preparation of the surface along with Primer and Undercoat. There are no 'short cuts', if you haven't achieved the finish you want at the undercoat stage you'll never achieve it at the top coat stage so, if necessary, put a second (third?) undercoat on until such time as your are happy with the surface and then apply the top coat.

 

[eribaMotters]

I don't think you will get away from the slight orange peel or stipple, it's what water based eggshell does. Last year in re-fitting our bungalow I used 8 sheets mdf and 8 sheets birch plywood for my cabinet work. I used a small brush for cutting in and a 2 1/2" for anything over skirting board width. 3 coats were the norm. I limited the effect you are experiencing by firstly using moisture resistant mdf. It is denser, holds a routed edge better and resists swelling/raising of the surface when 2 coats mdf primer are applied with a de-nib and wipe down. Edges get 3 or 4 coats. I designed doors to have a T&G effect as this limited any problem of dealing with large areas. The only time I have not had an acceptable result was when I applied a 2nd coat of eggshell to soon.

Colin

 

[doctor Bob]

This is my hand painting.
Not me personally but we employ 2 hand painters.
I have to ask them to lay it off with a brush so it looks hand painted, otherwise it looks sprayed.
We do 2 coats of sprayed primer, one sprayed coat of the colour, install and then 2 coats by hand painter.
They use a water or oil based egg shell.

I don't paint, I'm rubbish at it

 

[chris.gid]

Just applied a 2nd more watered down coat with the short pile roller and seems to give a much finer texture.....see what it looks like in the morning.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

When I made some cupboards for the workshop some years ago I used floor paint (Ronseal diamond) on the basis that it should wear much better.

The coverage was excellent, and the finish fairly good - albeit satin/matt as which tends to be more forgiving than gloss to apply.

 

[johnnyb]

I think doctor bob has it. the primer undercoat is the important stage. if thats perfect (both in colour and consistency)then a top coat can be thinned so as it flows on with little regard for coverage .

 

[johnnyb]

one other thing to add temp/ humidity are very important with water based paint.

 

[johnnyb]

I like to warm up water based as opposed to thinning it dramatically reduces its viscosity.

 

[petermillard]

Adding a dash of floetrol to water based paint extends the open time and can help reduce the stipple. I always used a concave end foam roller, laid off with a soft wet brush, but the best ‘straight off the roller’ finish I’ve had is from a Two Fussy Blokes short pile roller, though they’re a but harder to get hold of.

 

[chris.gid]

Put door back on this morning and finish is OK, to be honest looks a lot worse in this pic than it actually is.

But when you see it in the room it looks fine as you will never really see the door edge on.

Other door is being painted now, have applied the undercoat with the short pile roller (don't know why but i did the other door with a brush) and will stick with the short pile.
Have been sanding down with 320 grit as its the finest i have.