How do I paint furniture so it does not chip or look streaky?

Paint sticks to a clean, keyed, primed surface and to nothing else. Furniture is usually covered in decades of polish, wax and hand grease, which is exactly what stops paint bonding.

Safety

What you'll need

• Sugar soap or degreaser
• Abrasive pads or 120 to 240 grit paper
• A primer suited to the substrate
• Furniture or eggshell paint and a good brush or small roller

Step by step

1. Test for lead first on old painted pieces.Anything painted before 1992. A test kit costs very little, and a positive result changes how you can prepare the surface.
2. Take the hardware off.Handles, hinges, knobs. Painting round them always looks like painting round them, and reassembly is quick. Bag the screws and label them.
3. Clean thoroughly with sugar soap.This is the step that determines whether the paint sticks. Decades of furniture polish, silicone and hand grease sit on the surface, and paint will not bond through them. Rinse and let it dry fully.
4. Repair before painting.Fill chips and holes with wood filler, let it cure fully, and sand flush. Paint highlights dents rather than hiding them.
5. Key the surface.Abrade the whole surface with 120 to 240 grit or an abrasive pad until the sheen is gone. You are not removing the old finish, just giving the primer something to grip.
6. Remove all the dust.Vacuum, then a barely damp cloth or a tack cloth. Dust in the first coat becomes a permanent gritty texture.
7. Choose the primer for the substrate.This is where most failures happen. A shellac-based or specialist adhesion primer for melamine, laminate, varnish and anything glossy. A stain-blocking primer for knotty pine or old wood that bleeds tannin through the paint.
8. Prime and let it cure.A thin even coat, fully dry before the next step. Skipping primer on a slick surface is the main reason painted furniture peels off in sheets a year later.
9. Apply thin coats.Two or three thin coats rather than one thick one. Thick paint sags, takes weeks to harden and chips easily. Sand lightly with fine paper between coats.
10. Lay off in one direction.Finish each panel with light strokes in one direction, in line with the grain, and stop touching it. Going back into a partly set coat is what causes streaks and brush marks.
11. Use the right applicator.A good synthetic brush for water-based paint, and a small foam or mohair roller for flat panels, laid off with a brush. A cheap brush sheds and leaves tramlines.
12. Let it cure, not just dry.Touch dry in hours, fully hardened in days to weeks depending on the paint. Putting things on a freshly painted surface, or closing drawers, is what causes early marks and sticking.
13. Consider a topcoat on high-wear surfaces.Tabletops, chair seats and drawer fronts benefit from a clear water-based furniture varnish or a wax, depending on the paint. Chalk paint in particular needs sealing.

Tips

• Degrease properly. Almost all peeling paint is grease or polish under the paint.
• The primer choice matters more than the paint. Match it to what you are painting on.
• Thin coats, laid off in one direction, and then leave it alone.

Common mistakes

• Painting straight onto a glossy or waxed surface — Paint has nothing to grip and nothing to bond to through the wax or polish, so it peels in sheets once knocked. Degreasing, keying and the right primer solve it completely.
• Applying one thick coat to get it done — Thick paint sags, dries slowly and skins over an uncured layer beneath, so it stays soft, marks easily and chips. Two or three thin coats give a harder, more durable film.

If it doesn't work

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