Now that you have painted your project, you may be wondering ''Do I need to add a wax or varnish to protect my surface? Well below we have given our advice on when you should consider using an additional top-coat.
Cornish Mineral Paint™ doesn't require you to apply an additional top-coat after painting as our new all-in-one (Paint Everything) mineral paint has a durable built in polyurethane top-coat, but there are some exceptions depending on your project and lifestyle.
Do I Need A Top-Coat?
- Protection Against Children & Pets: With three young children and two dogs, our house is rowdy at times and bangs are a pretty normal occurrence on our painted furniture. Although no finish is ever going to be bullet proof, a durable top coat is going to make your painted projects last for years and will protect your paint from these situations. If you have children and pets, we recommend using our 'Proper Job' Ultimate Varnish, as our varnish is a transparent polyurethane toughened acrylic varnish suitable for use on paintwork, wallpaper, fabric, interior wood and plasterwork. Available in Gloss, Satin and Matt finishes.
- Dark/Black Paint colours: Dark colours tend to show smudges, fingerprints, and dust more easily. If you want to be able to wipe those surfaces, using a top-coat.
- Kitchens and Bathrooms: Generally, we always highly recommend top coats for pieces specifically in kitchens and bathrooms because of the potential for water exposure, food spillages and high humidity. After spending a lot of time painting your kitchen cabinets or wooden bath surround, you will want to make sure your surfaces are protected. We recommend using our 'Proper job' Ultimate Varnish.
- High traffic projects and areas: High traffic areas should always be protected with an additional top coat, particularly dining tables, coffee tables, desks, end tables, and cabinets as these are all used often and subject to wear and tear. Although no finish is going to be bullet proof, a durable top coat is going to make it last for years and will protect your paint from high use. We recommend using our 'Proper job' new ultimate varnish, as our varnish is a transparent polyurethane toughened acrylic varnish, suitable for use on paintwork, wallpaper, fabric, interior wood and plasterwork. Available in Gloss, Satin and Matt finish.
- Exterior Projects: Cornish Mineral Paint is an interior and extrerior paint, which means you can truly ''Paint Everything''. When painting outside furniture the paint finish has a guaranteed proection for five years, but if painting chairs and bences, you may want to add an additional top-coat. Due to weather, Cornish Mineral Paint will weather over time, leaving you with a rustic finish, to prevent this from happening we would recommend using a top-coat.