I wonder if you could add a little water to the primer to use on any areas you might want to distress so it's easier to remove, or is it possible to not do those areas with primer?
I love the Zinsser primer. It covers so well.. It kills my paint brushes though.

Do you know about using candle wax or soap for a distressed look? Haven't tried it myself but many have. Prevents paint from sticking in areas you want distressed.

BTW that cool brush that Annie Sloan sells for $35.95 looks very much like the pouncing brush I used for stenciling and it certainly didn't cost that much.

Laurie - I don't know if that would work or not. Yeah, I'm never without the good ol' Zinsser!

Pesky - *feeling silly* I didn't realize making your own was that easy actually. Regular unsanded grout? Where can you buy the plaster of paris? Michaels? Did you try it with both? Maybe a dumb question but does the paint keep with that added?

Lucky and Pesky - I did hear about the candle wax before but never tried it. I remember someone on here talking about that before. Ttodd?

If I did make my own by adding the grout or plaster of paris, I'm assuming I would still need two coats and still need to wax or poly?

Is the paint smooth when you put it on if you use plaster of paris, or add grout to it?

I read another recipe for chalk paint.. half gesso, and half latex paint. Gesso is sold in any craft shop like Hobby Lobby or Joanns. That makes the most sense to me because the original chalk paint that they used years ago was primarily made up of gesso, and they just added color to it.

I've never used chalk paint and have aged and distressed furniture for years. Nothing really in the past few years though due to time (or lack thereof).

I've always used random paint laying around my house or in my dad's shop. My dad always used Old Sturbridge paint on the furniture that he made and distressed. Along w/ DH he has also used milk paint.

I only ever used flat paint because it is easier to rub back in the spots that I wanted to age/ distress. The shinier the finish of paint the 'harder' it is.

In the past I've used candlewax, soap etc. to protect an area that I wanted to show through but in the end always found it easier to either seal that spot (I used a Q-tip) or sandpaper to rub it it back. You can even use a plain brown paper bag if you want to rub back the paint on a 'raised ridge' like on a wooden medallion or carving or edge and a bonus of the brown paper bag is that it will buff that flat surfaces up to a really soft polish.

Luckygal - I also thought that about the AS paint brush. I bought a quart of paint last week, but will probably not use her wax or brushes. We're lucky to have a supplier in the city where I work, so no shipping. I was able to see pieces painted with the chalk paint. Apparently a quart will go a long, long way. I like the fact I don't have to strip, prime, etc.

Waxing/poly will give totally different look/finish/feel.

Are you painting baby furniture Shee?

tina

You can also use shoe polish/wax on areas wanted distressed. Find some cheap options and try it on an area not seen. I love the continued discussion of making your own chalk paint.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I should probably dig up that chalk paint thread I saw a few weeks ago.

Ttodd - For some reason I'm not grasping this, lol!

"In the past I've used candlewax, soap etc. to protect an area that I wanted to show through but in the end always found it easier to either seal that spot (I used a Q-tip) or sandpaper to rub it it back. You can even use a plain brown paper bag if you want to rub back the paint on a 'raised ridge' like on a wooden medallion or carving or edge and a bonus of the brown paper bag is that it will buff that flat surfaces up to a really soft polish."

Did you put the wax on a Q-tip? Just use a brown paper bag on areas I want to distress without any type of wax or soap?

With the flat paint, you didn't add any type of sealer afterwards; just kept it flat?

In general, I really didn't want to go with the chalk paint/wax or any type of poly also because if I want to paint it again in the future, that all needs to come off first.

Tina - Not quite yet. We'll hopefully know next Wed. what we're having so I'm just getting ready to rock n roll. :)

That was a bit vague about the Q-tip, huh? I'd dip a q-tip into a sealer and seal what I wanted to have showing through the next layer of paint then I would wipe the paint off of that spot w/ a damp rag to let the color show through from underneath.

A crumbled up brown paper bag works like sandpaper but is much gentler. If I was working on a piece that might have several layers of color on it I would use a paperbag towards the end to distress instead of sandpaper. Also since it is so smooth and not gritty it will buff a piece to a soft glow.

Sometimes I would wax a piece for the final finish or sometimes I would seal the final product.

I guess you could buy plaster at a craft store, they also sell it at HD or Lowes, but I only found it in ginormous bags. I bought the grout because I can use it on another project.

I did two coats on my piece. I didn't sand between coats, but you could. When I finished the final coat, I sanded using 220 grit paper, and knocked off the paint on the high spots and edges. I then used just MinWax for waxing. I'd never used wax before, so it was different for me, but I did like the finish. I used a car wax pad! DH had some in the garage, so I used it.

I don't know how long the paint would keep, I mixed up using only one cup at a time. The first coat had some left over, so I sealed it up in a plastic bag. It was literally freezing in the garage the day I painted, so the paint took a lot longer to dry than it should have. Once the first coat was dry enough for me to move the piece, I brought it inside and finished painting indoors. The 2nd coat dried sooo fast, but I let it sit over night before I sanded & waxed.

I had a bit of paint left over, but just disposed of it like I would any latex paint, and I washed out my brush with no problems. It was a bit grainy, especially as it set up, but it also smoothed itself out a lot, and when knocked back with the sand paper, was no problem.

Ttodd - Thanks for explaining that! As far as the sandpaper, did you end up taking the bag over the whole piece then? And you never used primer?

I may have to bust out a sealer or wax even though I don't want to.

Pesky - Thanks for going into detail!

Love this thread. I am thinking of venturing into the painting with homemade chalk paint to experiment. Thanks for all the tips ladies and thank you to Sheesharee for posing the question.

I just painted a french provincial desk...it was a pinky clay colour originally and I've painted it with a satin, espresso latex paint. Sprayed it actually. But now I'm finding its a bit too dark and I'd like to have some of the details just lightened up a bit. Never painted furniture before!! Any opinions or advice on what I could do?

ok I have a question. I just painted my rattan furniture with outdoor latex paint white. I want to distress it but also want to seal it. There was really no color underneath as it is 22 years old. Can i apply dark wax to distress it and then polyurethane?

Suz, you'd be better to start your own thread and share pictures of your furniture.

If you do decide to DIY chalk paint please try the calcium carbonate recipe .
Here is a link to different versions of chalk paint.
I get my Calcium carbonate from Amazon.

There is also a new "chalkish" type paint that does not require sealing.Google Farmhouse Paints.(costly but I hate waxing )

I probably would not use a primer if you plan on distressing.

2 coats should do it.

Suz ~ Use a water based stain if you plan on a poly over.

I have a friend who distress furniture for her shop and this is the recipe she use

chalk paint..my mixture is 1/2
cup warm water, 1/2 cup plaster of paris...Mix those 2 together then add 1 1/2
cups of your flat based paint and mix well..there is no need to sand your table
first because the pop ( plaster of paris) will harden and stick very well to
your item..it may take 2-3 coats. Then lightly sand after completely dry..wipe
down your item to get all the sanding dust off..I use cheap baby wipes. Apply a
thin coat of clear wax and buff it out with a dry rag about 8-12 hours later.
.

I used the recipe to paint an end table and found the plaster of paris at Wal-Mart.