Looking for a truly matte waterproof coating

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I have a bronze or brass metal cylinder that has a verdigris patina. I couldn’t come up with a use for it: it’s shaped like an umbrella stand but is way too tall and wide for it. Being stumped, I decided to make a lid for it, then it can be a plant stand, and I can always store something semi-permanently inside.

The verdigris patina on the original metal cylinder is totally matte: no sheen to it at all. I do NOT plan to change that at all.

I made the lid out of several layers of heavy duty cardboard, then coated it with layers of acrylic spackle (which has the benefit of being able to flex slightly), sanded it smooth, coated it with gesso, and faux-finished it to match with acrylic paints. It looks really good. I WILL be using it for plants, at least for now. I am careful but drips happen. Humidity under the saucers can happen.

But I am trouble finding any coating for it. It needs to be waterproof, plus protect the paint job from abrasions.

I have tried 3 different kinds of acrylic brush on-glazes so far, and even the ones stating “matte” turn out to be more satin. Even diluting I am dealing with brushstrokes, too. I can probably dilute them to avoid brushstrokes, but unless they are totally matte, I can’t use them anyway.

So I turned to going over the clear spray finishes I have. All turn out to have a bit of sheen to them as well.

Before I start buying and testing ones that turn out to be wrong, I am hoping someone will have found a matte clear spray one that they can recommend.

I didn't really know where to post this. So, cross posting to Home Decorating as well.

Thank you.

Featured Answer

Faron79

6 years ago

.......aaaaaaaand the only way to protect something from scuffing, is to have a tough SMOOTH-surfaced coating, which, by definition = Gloss!

Flat paints aren't necessarily "Porous" per-se. The surface of a "Flat" however, ismicroscopically ROUGH. It scatters reflected light, appearing "not glossy"!

MOST EVERY paint that consumers will use.... Oil-base, water-base, artists-paints, AREN'T meant for frequent water contact. Even exterior-rated Spar-Varnishes aren't all that waterproof....for long!

Faron

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Comments (7)

Faron79
6 years ago
Sorry Linnea-

No such animal exists! I've been in retail paint/some specialty faux-finishing (until it died....thank God!!) for almost 17 years. Dead-FLAT & waterproof are opposite sides of the same rainbow.

Have you ever seen a Flat paint on a boat? There's a reason......

Faron
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
H’mm…so all flat paint is intrinsically porous? I hadn’t thought about that.

That’s why I was taking the art supply tack with this. Figuring varnishes mean for acrylic paintings would be an option. I know when you paint with acrylics, some colors have a slightly different gloss than others (unlike artist oil paints, which tend to be uniformly shiny). I recalled one teacher telling us to finish with a coat of acrylic varnish to even things out. But that was so long ago, and I never did much with acrylics. All I took from it was that acrylic varnish exists, and did buy some in a satin version recently for another project, where satin was what I wanted.

The cheap acrylic craft paints you can buy in craft stores are matte. After painting
this top, it is matte now. But it could get scuffed very easily.
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gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
6 years ago
http://www.krylon.com/products/matte-finish/
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago) thanked gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
PRO
Paint sales at Home Depot
6 years ago
It was common practice in days gone by to use gloss for the base coats of varnish, and then finish with the flat.. Best of both worlds.

Gloss and flat varnishes are basically the same. The flat varnish has tiny silica particles added to it to refract the light in different directions, hence looking flat. These particles settle to the bottle and is why it is critical to stir lesser sheen varnishes to keep the sheen uniform.

It is possible to dull down a low sheen varnish even further by letting it settle for a few days, then gently ladling off the upper liquid, leaving a higher concentration of the dulling particles in the remaining liquid.

Both water based and oil based varnishes control their sheen in this same fashion, as well as some paint products. It is always a good practice to stir paints and varnishes to control consistency.

Being from the old school,. I tend to use the term varnish for any clear coating. Old fashioned varnishes were made from natural tree resins, later alkyd varnishes were developed, and now urethanes are most common where hard, durable, water and chemical resistant coatings are desired.
Faron79
6 years ago
Gracie- we have those Krylon sprays, & more. I didn't mention them on purpose. They are NOT waterproofers like Linnea wants. They're ONLY "clearcoats".

Faron
gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
6 years ago
What I meant was maybe if she sprayed a matte OVER the waterproof sealer it would take the shine away. Thanks for the info Faron.

Looking for a truly matte waterproof coating

Faron79

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Faron79

linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author

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Faron79

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Faron79

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