Steam/vapor resistant paint

[andyvh1959]

As part of my kitchen remodel I also painted the door panel and control panel of my old Kenmore dishwasher to very closely match my two year old GE fridge and stove. I applied Duplicolor Toyota Phantom Grey Pearl paint after I scuffed up the original ivory finish on the steel door panel. For the plastic upper cover I sanded it, then sprayed Duplicolor plastic prep spray (smelled like Acetone) onto it, which made it slightly tacky and then applied the paint color on that. Came out great. I went over both with satin clear coat. As a test I tried to scratch it with a finger nail edge and it did nothing to it, great!

I also changed out the white touch panel with a used black touch panel. Good to go, the good ol Kenmore fired right up and cycled normally. Except, where the steam/hot vapors escape the front vent it basically "steamed" the paint white. I tried scrubbing it off thinking it may be soap residue, nope. So now I'm thinking of a thin satin finish metal trim around the vent, unless someone has a different idea.

 

[carlaisle]

Rattle can clear? If so, a catalyzed one (2K) might be all you need to solve the problem. Bad news? You'll need to repaint. When you clear that piece, be sure to get the inside, too. You want to seal it as completely as possible around that vent. With the amount of effort you have already invested in this it seems like a stainless dishwasher might be more practical.

 

[andyvh1959]

Agreed. But we're looking to sell the house in a few years and being the Dutchman I am, I tend to spend carefully. Modern dishwashers to me are no better and less reliable than the good older products.

Not much effort really to repaint that control panel cover. One thing I did not do when I painted it was to apply an etching primer over the plastic before the top color and clear. I sanded the plastic, wiped it, sprayed it with plastic adhesion spray (Acetone smell) and then applied the color coat right after that.