How to Chalk Paint Furniture | Beginners Guide to Chalk Paint & Wax

hey I'm Deanna welcome to my studio this is a beginner's guide to chalk paint and chalk paint wax I'll be making over this old side table and explaining the steps as I go so let's get started the most basic chalk paint finishes two parts paint and wax and I'll be demonstrating both of these in this video with chalk paint there is no major prep work before you get started you heard that right no sanding no priming but you do want to make sure your piece is nice and clean before you get to painting you can give it a wipe down with some warm soapy water or if your piece is very dirty you can use something a little stronger like TSP to remove any grease or grime I've already gone ahead and washed this piece down with some TSP so I'm ready to start painting you're gonna need a ton of chalking I've got the color French linen which is a medium gray tone chalk paint comes in a lot of colors so you do have lots of options a nice lone created this paint in 1990 and she called it chalk paint because it has a chalky matte finish when it's dry it's different than chalkboard paint and there's actually no chalk in the tin you'll also need a paintbrush I'll be painting with the anti-saloon oval natural bristle brush but you can really use any brush that you like pour some paint out to get started I like to do this rather than dipping my brush right into the can so I don't contaminate the paint dip your brush in the paint and just go for it nice big strokes back and forth brush strokes go in every direction try not to overthink it this is intended to be a handcrafted process so easy and forgiving that anyone can do it if you notice any drips or runs try to catch those well they're wet you can't always stand them out later but it's easier to just scoop them up as you go along I also have a couple of small areas that my oval brush didn't quite fit into so I'm just gonna go with a little brush and get into those tight spaces don't worry if you can still see some of the original color underneath I'm gonna be doing a second coat which will make that much more solid I find that in most chalk paint projects I do you end up doing two coats of paint this just has to sit and dry now for about 30 minutes and then I'll come back and do another layer the first layer is now dry and with chalk paint as long as it's dry to the touch you're ready to move on to the second coat all I have to do is pour out a little bit more paint and I'm ready to get started my second coat is done and I think it's looking great it's really nice and solid compared to the first coat for this video I'm going to be leaving it as a solid coat but if you are interested in learning how to distress or create a worn finish stay tuned for my next video which will be on that topic if you haven't already subscribed to my channel go ahead click that subscribe button and the notification bells so you're alerted when I upload that video now the next step in this video is going to be applying the chalk paint wax which is the sealer for the paint but I do need to allow this to dry again it'll be drawing the touch in about 30 minutes but I want to give it a couple of hours so it gets really nice and hard on the surface before we go ahead and rub in that wax I'm gonna clean up my brushes and then I'll move on to waxing in a couple of hours the second coat is completely dry and I'm ready to move on to waxing it was dry to the touch in about 30 minutes but I let it sit for a few hours so that it could dry all the way through you'll see in a moment that when we apply the wax there's a lot of rubbing on the surface and so if you wax your piece before it's dry all the way through there's a chance you'll wear through the paint now that's fine if you're going for a distressed or worn look but in this case I wanted to keep the paint more solid so I gave it that little bit extra time to dry in order to wax you just need a couple of things first off you'll need your chalk paint wax for this furniture piece I'll be using clear it looks white but it goes on the surface clear and you'll need something to apply your wax with you can either use a wax brush and they come in all different shapes and sizes you don't necessarily have to use one but it does make the job a little bit easier or you can apply with a lint-free cloth you're gonna need some lint-free cloths as we go anyways so have lots of those on hand old t-shirts shop towels soft cotton rags anything that doesn't give off lint will do work a little wax into the bristles of your brush and then paint the wax onto the surface working one section at a time once you've got that section completely coated set your brush down take one of your lint-free cloths and then waste that area to remove the excess wet once you bite the excess flux you can move on to the next section if you don't have a brush specific for waxing you can do a couple of different things you could repurpose an old paintbrush which is exactly what I'm doing here and I find that any brush that's round or oval does work better than a flat brush that's just a little bit too soft and floppy or you can just apply your wax using a lint-free cloth and I'll show you how that works you'll have two cloths one will be for your wax on and one will be for your wax off get a little bit of wax on the wax on cloth use the cloth to rub the wax into the surface still working one section at a time and once you've got the wax on to that entire section take your second cloth a clean dry lint-free cloth and just wipe with that to remove the excess I find the brush comes in handy in any areas where there are details or grooves because you can use the bristles to press in whereas the cloth is a little bit trickier to get that right in those creases as you're working through your project you'll notice your cloths start to get clogged up with wax at this point they're no longer effective wiping away the excess wax they're just kind of smearing it on the surface so every once in a while you'll have to swap out for a clean lint-free cloth if you've been wondering what's the purpose of applying this wax it's the sealer for chalk paint chalk paint is very porous and absorbent and so we apply this wax topcoat to create a water-resistant scuff resistant barrier that's gonna help your furniture stand up over time plus it leaves it as a nice velvety soft finish because it is the sealer for chalk paint you do want to make sure that you get it everywhere it's very subtle but when you're up close you can see the color of the paint shifts ever so slightly becomes a little bit more vivid and that helps you to see the areas that you have wax and the areas that need wax still on a high use surface like the tabletop it's never a bad idea to do a second pass just to make sure that you haven't missed any areas I can see a couple of spots that look a little lighter in color which tells me that I did miss those areas so I'm just gonna give the entire top a quick once-over apply the wax just like you did at the beginning and then take a soft right and wipe away the excess uses some hot water to clean the wax out of your wax brush the hot water helps to melt the wax off the brush you can also use some grease cutting soap like your dish detergent to help further remove the wax I like to keep my wax brushes and paintbrushes separate that way I don't have to scrub so hard between each use once you remove the majority of the wax squeeze it out dry it off and you're good to go until next time the wax is dry to the touch right away but it'll take a couple of weeks to cure and get to its hardest strength to maintain your finish you can just dust with a dry rag wipe up any spills right away and if over time something starts to look a little dull or gets marked up you can easily spot relax to touch up the surface and in a couple of months when you get tired of the color no problem just paint over it with chopping because yes a nice long chopping will easily stick over top of any slow and chalk paint wax okay so project complete again this is the most basic chalk paint finish chalk paint and chalk paint wax if you are interested in learning next steps or a few more creative hands-on furniture painting techniques remember to subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and go ahead and click the notification bell as well because that's how you'll be alerted every time I upload a new video if you have any questions about today's video please leave those in the comments section below and please share your tips and tricks for chalk painting furniture to help out those who are just getting started thanks so much for watching and I'll see you back here next time

Channel: DIY DEANNA

Views: 758,698

Rating: 4.933167 out of 5

Keywords: annie sloan, chalk paint, chalk board paint, annie sloan chalk paint

Id: gh9m8yDLV0Y

Length: 11min 40sec (700 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 19 2020