Painting with Rustoleum - Need help/tips

[sanddrag]

I could use some tips for painting with Rustoleum. I don't mean the spray type, I mean liquid out of a can. I'm too cheap to spend $10 for a good paint brush so I tried using some foam brushes. Un-thinned, I got heavy brush strokes in the final finish. I tried thinning it with mineral spirits and got it to lay reasonably flat, but this was thinned about 50/50, and at that point, the only position you can paint in is flat, otherwise it runs. Also, it seems the thinner evaporates too quickly and causes bubbles. Any tips? Perhaps a roller would be better, but it doesn't get into all areas. I'm about ready to give up with the hand tools and pour it in a spray gun, or get rattle cans ($$). Or should I just go with a different paint altogether?

 

[hunter1151]

Rustoleum always seems to run and takes way to long to dry. Krylon is hard to beat out of a spray can, and it really isn't to bad of a paint. What are you painting??

 

[JC23]

Try less thinner and heating the paint first.

 

[rickairmedic]

Roll it on with a Foam roller and then lightly backbrush with a dry brush ( foam or bristle ).

Rick

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

.... I'm too cheap to spend $10 for a good paint brush so...

You're gonna go through ALL that rather than just buy a decent paint brush? Incidentally, a "decent" paint brush is NOT $10 either. But you're aware that same mineral spirits you speak of will wash the brush and you get to use it over and over?

 

[sanddrag]

You're gonna go through ALL that rather than just buy a decent paint brush? Incidentally, a "decent" paint brush is NOT $10 either. But you're aware that same mineral spirits you speak of will wash the brush and you get to use it over and over?

Perhaps I will try a real brush. I'm painting 2x4 steel box tube that has been primed. The other problem I have is paint not covering on the corners/edges, because it's thin and it's difficult to get it to stay on the corners.

 

[jvitez]

Wooster black bristle brush. Painting metal requires more than one coat if you want it to look nice. I actually like foam brushes for this type of work, but as I said, the second coat makes all the difference.

 

[fflintstone]

spray it thru a gun, thin it 20-40% as needed. light coats.
you will never use a brush again.

 

[mike13u]

Time is money...You have already wasted both. Buying good brushes is an investment in your work. Buy good brushes and clean and store them properly and the $15-$20 you spend will last you a long, long time. This project and the next few projects to come will all look nicer.

 

[djjsr]

One thing that will help is to paint when the ambient temperature is cool. The brushstrokes will flow out a little before the paint skins over.

 

[InPrimer]

Here's a lesson I learned a lomg time ago, sometime shopping at the Dollar Store isn't cheaper...

 

[brianpgriset]

spray it thru a gun, thin it 20-40% as needed. light coats.
you will never use a brush again.

This guy is right, get a cheapo spray gun at HF for $10 on sale (as cheap as a brush!) and thin out and spray. I've had great results with this, and prepping with a DA and 80 grit paper. I am repainting some 50's era metal kitchen cabinets for my garage and I've had great results. It's true, it takes a good week for the paint to really set up but it's pretty hard now, I can rake my fingernail over it hard and just barley leave a mark.

 

[rickairmedic]

Roll it on with a Foam roller and then lightly backbrush with a dry brush ( foam or bristle ).

Rick

Did I mention foam rollers work great with rustoleum paint unthined .Oh yeah added plus to foam rollers " no overspray."

Rick

 

[Ign]

Wooster black bristle brush. Painting metal requires more than one coat if you want it to look nice. I actually like foam brushes for this type of work, but as I said, the second coat makes all the difference.

This. You gotta do more than one coat.

I love Rustoleum, I think it's the highest quality, readily available, quality paint for the DIY-er. You can buy it on any Sunday at Ace, HD or Autozone. It's not terribly picky about surface prep, and is extremely durable IME.

If I'm brushing it on I don't thin it at all. If I'm spraying it, I thin about 50%.

I rarely spray anymore because I don't have a paint booth and overspray is a PITA. By the time I set up to spray I can just as quickly brush it on, PLUS I'm often painting things like horse panel, crusher screen and expanded steel where overspray becomes EXCESSIVE.

Also brushing you can usually get away with just two applications (because it can be brushed on so thick). Spraying will take more than two applications.

I disagree about Krylon being worth a darn. On at least three occasions I've seen it fade, chip or peel badly within days or weeks of application. Maybe I didn't prep properly - but that's the whole point - - Rustoleum lets you be lazy about prep and since I'm not painting show cars I'm not picky.

For those complaining about dry times the Rustoleum Professional stuff dries MUCH faster, but color selection is limited - altho the black is a hit for bumpers, headache racks, trailers etc.

The Rustoluem Universal is ****, I'm not sure what they were thinking with that.

 

[brianpgriset]

Here is one of the cabinets... quick sand and spray. Not bad.

 

[bradweingartner]

I LOVE painting stuff with a brush vs. rattle can. For one it's cheaper. For two, I find the durability is improved with the thicker coat.

I use foam brushes, cheapest I can get. Straight from the can. Get a nice gloss finish with little to no bush-strokes. It's gotta be 50% technique. It's one of the best old timer secrets from the days before spray-bombs.

Besides, most of the stuff I'm painting is not show-quality stuff. It's old stuff that I'm trying to prevent from rusting. Paint in a can is perfect for that.

Important thing is to be patient I think. Lay it on fairly thick and let it self level. It takes a minute.

 

[IndyGarage]

Not sure if Valspar makes Rustoleum or not, but they make some paint called "Industrial finish" which my local Lowes has in stock. They just have a couple cans of it hidden with the outdoor paint.

Anyway, they can match any color you want with it, and it's some of the nicest paint I've used. I was using the Valspar Tractor paint, and this stuff is way better. I just take a small part off whatever I'm working on, take it in there, and the paint matches perfectly.

 

[Ign]

Not sure if Valspar makes Rustoleum or not, but they make some paint called "Industrial finish" which my local Lowes has in stock. They just have a couple cans of it hidden with the outdoor paint.

I bought a quart of Valspar white from my local Do It Best. It was what they pushed as their Rustoleum competitor. I don't recall exactly what Valspar called it, but it probably wasn't "Industrial Finish." The label had lots of deep reds and maybe some golds.

It sucked. It was runny and more like painting on water. Coverage was very poor compared to Rustoleum.

 

[drive em]

I use acrylic enamel reducer and hardener to make the Rustoleum last about 10 times longer than it normally would:

 

[Ign]

I use acrylic enamel reducer and hardener to make the Rustoleum last about 10 times longer than it normally would:

Funny, I was just in a can of that gloss white yesterday. I needed to make a ramp for my old girl (dog) and I was going for cheap to free, so I threw some of that in a pan along w some play sand and rolled the ramp for a non-slip sorta texture. Worked pretty damn good, and the white won't get so hot in the direct sun.

I rolled it on REALLY thick (to hold the sand) and it took 6+ hours to dry to the touch, but again it was much thicker than it should ever be.

 

[MAYOR28]

+1 on foam roller. The black was done with foam roller (Rustoleum Pro...), silver is Rustoleum Hammered. Going to do the rest of the metal cabinets I keep collecting to look like this one:

 

[koditten]

I'm with the "no longer spray" group. I sprayed Rustolium for years, and it looks great, but with the addition of thinners, you reduce the UV resistence. I found my trailers look better for a lot longer with a nice, short nap roller. I use the small diameter rollers to get into smaller areas. I have to admit the paint goes a hell af alot further. the paint is going onto the project instead of the air. I know over 60% goes out the vents. Big waste in my opinion. No bull shitting around with resperators either.

Don't get me wrong, nothing grabs a customer faster than a nice shiny paint job that looks as if you coold swim in it. Those paint jobs look great, but they just don't hold up as long as 2 coats rolled on.

These are my finding in relationship to utility trailers that I build, you results on your project could be totally different.

 

[Ferrino]

Old thread for sure, but I had a question about using an enamel hardener with Rustoleum: does it have the same effect when rolled (as opposed to sprayed)? Just thinking it would be a safer alternative for those without the right breathing apparatus.

 

[warweapon762]

Old thread for sure, but I had a question about using an enamel hardener with Rustoleum: does it have the same effect when rolled (as opposed to sprayed)? Just thinking it would be a safer alternative for those without the right breathing apparatus.

It really depends on how thinned out it is. I find if I use hardener with rustoleum that is thinned out a bit more than you would if its sprayed it will go on like its sprayed. The down side to this is that it takes ALOT of coats to make this work or it will run and be ripply.

I know a couple of guys in my area that roll on car paint as opposed to spraying and it will take like 20 or so coats before they are done. But the reason they do this is so they can work on one panel or piece of the car on a weekend afternoon. Not really efficient by any means but it really cuts down on sanding out imperfections if you do it this way. You also have to be kinda quick when using hardener in this manner, infact one the guys uses a timer to calculate when he needs to stop rolling on paint and prevent rippling from the roller.

I personally would rather spray it/block sand between coats than deal with the hassle of getting a good roll on viscosity and timing how long I have to paint before the hardener sets in.

 

[IOWNJUNK]

Old thread for sure, but I had a question about using an enamel hardener with Rustoleum: does it have the same effect when rolled (as opposed to sprayed)? Just thinking it would be a safer alternative for those without the right breathing apparatus.

Never used the hardener when brushing or rolling rustoleum, I want it to take longer to dry so all the brush/roller marks are gone.

Respirators are cheap. Don't let that stop you from using a sprayer.

 

[Ferrino]

Thanks. I don't feel comfortable spraying any catalyzed/hardened paint in my attached garage, so I was thinking I'd either spray unhardened Rustoleum or roll a catalyzed paint. I appreciate that even rolling a catlyzed paint will release harmful vapors, but I'd feel more comfortable with that than actually spraying them.

warweapon - which types of paint are your friends rolling on, please? Are we talking 2-part urethanes?

 

[Macrosloth]

Thanks. I don't feel comfortable spraying any catalyzed/hardened paint in my attached garage, so I was thinking I'd either spray unhardened Rustoleum or roll a catalyzed paint. I appreciate that even rolling a catlyzed paint will release harmful vapors, but I'd feel more comfortable with that than actually spraying them.

warweapon - which types of paint are your friends rolling on, please? Are we talking 2-part urethanes?

Good call on not spraying a catalyzed paint.

When spraying any paints that contain Isocyanate's a half mask is not good enough. Even if your half mask protected your lungs properly and did not burn though (which in an unventilated area it wont), your eyes will absorb it.

Only safe ways are with a full face supplied air mask, and or a proper paint booth.

I find even brushing por-15 in an enclosed space pretty nasty. Its full of ISO's too

 

[Ferrino]

Thanks. One ISO-free possibility is acrylic lacquer. I know it's old technology, but it might be a good short-term solution for a garaged car.

 

[rdn2blazer]

Here is my tip. Use a better paint brand. That stuff is THE worst rattle can paint I have personally ever used. Takes forever to dry and harden up, then it's like glass and chips like mad. My entire 73' K5 frame was done in it. Prepped the hell out of the frame before hand for quality adhesion. Took weeks to not allow my fingernail to dent it. Weeks. I did do several good coats with dry time in between.

Once it finally hardened up it look awesome. Until I accidently tapped it with something and it chipped sooo easily. It been moved around and handles, the truck itself. Frame has so many chips it's not even funny. Going to strip the frame and have it powder coated like I always wanted to do in the first place. So now all the time and labor and prep and the materials and sanding disc's were a total waste of time and money.

 

[warweapon762]

warweapon - which types of paint are your friends rolling on, please? Are we talking 2-part urethanes?

I believe so... I'll have to double check, but I am fairly certain its the urethanes you speak of.

 

[warweapon762]

Here is my tip. Use a better paint brand. That stuff is THE worst rattle can paint I have personally ever used. Takes forever to dry and harden up, then it's like glass and chips like mad. My entire 73' K5 frame was done in it. Prepped the hell out of the frame before hand for quality adhesion. Took weeks to not allow my fingernail to dent it. Weeks. I did do several good coats with dry time in between.

Once it finally hardened up it look awesome. Until I accidently tapped it with something and it chipped sooo easily. It been moved around and handles, the truck itself. Frame has so many chips it's not even funny. Going to strip the frame and have it powder coated like I always wanted to do in the first place. So now all the time and labor and prep and the materials and sanding disc's were a total waste of time and money.

You should have used appliance epoxy if you were going to rattle can a frame with it. The Jeep/AMC people use it for painting suspension components for years with that stuff and it basically looks like a gloss powdercoating. I've even used it for floor pans and it isn't going anywhere.

 

[rdn2blazer]

You should have used appliance epoxy if you were going to rattle can a frame with it. The Jeep/AMC people use it for painting suspension components for years with that stuff and it basically looks like a gloss powdercoating. I've even used it for floor pans and it isn't going anywhere.

Thanks, Good to know. I was trying to get by cheap. Not so lol.

 

[warweapon762]

Thanks, Good to know. I was trying to get by cheap. Not so lol.

You can get the appliance stuff a bit cheaper if you look around. I think my local home derpo has it for $2 less than the engine enamel. Its great stuff!

 

[Ferrino]

I believe so... I'll have to double check, but I am fairly certain its the urethanes you speak of.

Please share if you find out! I don't see the problem rolling a catalyzed paint if you stay within the pot life, unless the atomization is critical? I know people roll epoxy primer onto panels when spraying is inconvenient or hazardous.