hand-painted kitchens, furniture & period property decorating

Primer, brush and Mylands Wood and Metal Eggshell

Posted: 22 Aug 2013 08:07 AM PDT

The post Primer, brush and Mylands Wood and Metal Eggshell appeared first on Traditional Painter

Traditional Painter for Warwickshire, Ron Taylor illustrates the importance of matching primer, brush and paint. In this case the first attempt with Mylands Wood and Metal Eggshell in white wasn’t great, but but he looked at the combination of primer, brush and paint that didn’t work, and changed a couple of things, with success.

Mylands Wood and Metal Eggshell is a product recommended to me by Sarah Moseley of Brewers at last years P&D Show in Coventry. I must admit the brand was totally unknown to me before that. I recently got some literature and decided to give the Eggshell a go.

Packaging

The tins look classy on first viewing, but suffer, in my view, from all being the same across the range ie there is one style of sticker on the front stating the product inside, in the same way Farrow & Ball market their products. This may be more cost-effective for the manufacturer, but makes it very easy for us end-users to mix up products in day-to-day use, especially if you have tins of different product in the same colour.

Zinsser Cover Stain not best Primer for Mylands eggshell

I spoke to Mylands technical department and they recommended their primer under the product for bare wood and as an adhesion promoter for existing oil painted finishes. I hadn’t ordered any of that, so I decided to prime with tried and tested oil-based Zinsser Cover Stain (a high adhesion stain blocker) on a previously painted panelled door.

With the primer dry, I chose a Proform Picasso to apply the Mylands Eggshell. The results weren’t good! The product was dragging and drying out on the primer and leaving visible brush marks. I thought it could either be the paint, the primer, the brush or a combination giving the disappointing results.

Re-think

I know the Picasso is a great brush but it doesn’t work well with this eggshell. Cover Stain is a bellweather primer but I know, for instance, that it does leave a very dry finish and isn’t compatible with some acrylic topcoats which are sucked into the primer and dry out too fast. So I changed my thinking for the rest of the room and applied Johnstone’s Trade Ultra Primer, another reliable high adhesion primer, to the remaining trim.

This primer dries with a slight sheen and doesn’t dry out acrylic paint prematurely. For the topcoats I also changed the brush to a Corona Tynex/Orel Ontario, my favourite brush for acrylic trim paints.

The results were a total revelation, like I was using a different paint entirely.

The paint layed on fast and flowed out well. So well, I would put the finish in the Sikkens BL Satura league.

The finish dried extremely smooth

It could easily be mistaken for an oil based product.

Open time is good Though the room was fairly cool, I had plenty of time to paint panels and window sills without dragging.

Mylands eggshell needs a sheeny base

I revisited the door I had previously primed with Cover Stain, with disappointing results. After a good sand of the topcoat, I repainted it as above and achieved the same finish on that.

In summary

The product seems to be a hybrid, ie acrylic with a small amount of oil added.

It shows none of the sticky application traits of Johnstone’s Trade Aqua or Sadolin Superdec.

It seems thick in the tin but flowed off the Corona Ontario onto the Ultra Primer with ease. I didn’t add any paint conditioner during this test either.

As I say, I didn’t use Mylands own primer, so results with that may have been different from the outset. But if there were ever a case study for matching brush, primer and paint, this is it.

Did I like the product? You bet. And I will definitely be ordering more Mylands product, Marble Matt and Wood & Metal Eggshell, on this showing.

See below in the comments, feedback I have had about the Mylands primer and the eggshell in colours other than white.

Ron taylor hand painted kitchens warwickshire

Ron Taylor, a specialist painter and decorator based in Kenilworth, is the Traditional Painter responsible for hand painted kitchens throughout Warwickshire.

Ron is one of the UK’s leading authorities on the specification and application of water based and waterborne paints.

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Primer, brush and Mylands Wood and Metal Eggshell