Question
I'm finishing some cabinets with Ben Moore WB latex, then distressed back down to the bare wood on edges and corners. What's the best thing to use for a clear topcoat? I'm looking for a fairly flat finish, but protection for the exposed wood. I normally use WB pre-cat lacquer, but would this be too brittle over the latex?
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor B:
The latest edition of Fine Woodworking's "Finishing & Refinishing Furniture" (Taunton Press) features an article by Paul Snyder (our technical advisor) titled "Perfect Paint Job" and shows WB's being used over Ben Moore latex paints.
However, you might consider another option if you're trying for a distressed milk-paint type finish. Most of these antiques have flat paint on them, not a clear shiny topcoat. You might consider instead putting the clear coat underneath the paint. That way, when you sand or scrape the paint off to get the distressed effect, you're actually only going down to the clear layer and not the bare wood. This also works if you use one color (say, yellow or pumpkin) as a base or "show through" color, then an intermediate clear coat for protection, then the top coat of another color paint (say, blue). Then you can distress it by sanding off the blue until you hit the clear layer and the yellow shows through. That way it's pretty hard to burn through to bare wood.
