Dealing With a Troublemaker

Painting with CeCe Caldwell's Natural Chalk & Clay Paint is so very easy.  No stripping, no sanding (unless the finish is peeling, chipping, etc.) and the furniture needs only a good cleaning with a degreaser.  But even with this wonderful paint, sometimes things don't always go exactly as planned.  I found this vintage coffee table that I love for its simple yet classy lines and legs and cleaned it with a degreaser like I do every other piece I paint.  It had some dark spots on one end where it looked like something had been spilled, so I sanded over those to remove any remaining residue,

Since I already had the sandpaper in my hand, I lightly sanded over the entire tabletop for good measure.  I decided on Virginia Chestnut for my base coat and that night I painted on a coat. 

 

 

A painting tip:  Always turn tables and chairs upside down when possible.  If you don't, you will think you have everything covered but you won't.  Trust me on this! When you get the legs and underside of the tabletop painted, just flip it over and paint the top and any spots you may have missed when it was turned upside down.

 

I had several projects going at the same time so I forgot to get a photo of the table right after being painted with the basecoat of Virginia Chestnut.  But everything was good so far.  On my way out of the garage the next morning I noticed the tabletop still looked wet in some spots which was strange because the paint dries so quickly.  It had been raining the night before and I was in a hurry so I really didn't think too much about it other than I was going to put on the topcoat when I got back home. 

When I got ready to paint the topcoat, I was tempted to go ahead and paint on the topcoat of Seattle Mist but there were still splotchy areas and I knew it wasn't wet paint.  If you look closely you can see a few of the wet looking spots. I was so distressed that I forgot to take a pic of the entire table. 

 

 

 But I did do what I knew I was supposed to do! It's what should always be done when you first see splotches coming through the basecoat.  I started by sanding off the paint - but only in the areas where the bleed through was happening.  Real quick and easy to do.  The paint that came off in those areas was gummy but was so easy to sand off.  And this is the very ugly mess I was left with. 

 

 

It was time to bring out the magic "secret weapon". 

 

 

Zinsser Bulls Eye spray shellac is a lifesaver.  I lightly sprayed over the entire top and waited for it to dry.  It dries so quickly!  The shellac seals in all the ugly unknown things trying to bleed through your paint.

 

 

 I recoated the top with another coat of Virginia Chestnut before applying a topcoat of Seattle Mist.  After the Seattle Mist was dry, I wet distressed with an old wash cloth.

 

I then finished the legs and area under the tabletop with CeCe Caldwell's Clear Wax.  When it was dry, I buffed it to a beautiful shine.  Since tabletops get more rough treatment, using a sponge applicator brush, I applied a coat of CeCe Caldwell's Satin Finish diluted 50/50 with water.  When that had dried, I lightly sanded with 500 grit sandpaper and applied another coat of diluted Satin Finish.  When the second coat had dried I again lightly sanded with 500 grit sandpaper to remove brush strokes and give a really smooth surface.  I finished by applying a coat of Clear Wax over the Satin Finish, letting it dry and then buffing.  (You can apply Clear Wax over Satin Finish but not vice versa).

 

And here she is!  My little troublemaker table turned into a real beauty.

  

 

And the moral of this story is:  You never know what a table may have gone through before you paint it.  At the very first sign of a stain bleed through - STOP!  Don't think you can paint over it and it will be covered.  No matter how many coats you apply, the stain will bleed through.  Go head and deal with it at the first sign of a problem by blocking the stain with spray shellac.  If you paint enough furniture, you'll eventually be faced with this problem one day.  And now you know how to handle it!