# Leftover paint used as primer?



## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

In my world it's called self sealing. But I deal with lacquers and such.


----------



## Frankawitz (Jun 17, 2006)

Caslon said:


> Paint technology has evolved to where it's both.


Boy some guys primers are to seal they penetrate the surface to Bond with substrates paint lays on surface of substrates


----------



## Jmayspaint (Apr 20, 2014)

Things are changing, perhaps not as much as the marketers would like us to believe, but coatings (like everything else) are being improved with technology. The tricky part is sifting through the BS and double talk of the marketing campaigns and figuring out the real capabilities of these new products. After all, if they can make this work it would be an improvement for the industry. 

Take a real hard look at products like PPG's Breakthrough, and BM Aura, not to mention advances in the world of industrial coatings ad DTMs. In the realm of lacquer, pre-cat products have done away with the need for lacquer undercoats in many instances. 

I suspect we will know a lot more about these "improvements" five years from now. As the natural selection of market forces weed out the duds, and the performers rise to the top. In the mean time, I'll keep experimenting. We'll never know if we don't try.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

This could be a long discussion. To me, there are sealers, primer / sealers (basically tinted sealer), primers, and paints. This is a conventional penetration view. 

If you just look at product performance attributes, there are some interior wall paints that perform better than many interior drywall primers. Putting 2 coats of paint instead of one coat of "primer" and two coats of paint to get comparable or better results isn't a bad idea.


----------



## Frankawitz (Jun 17, 2006)

Well as for paints being better? As for clean up goes they are great but as for long lasting not there yet. Average paint job will last about five years some paints don't make it that long. When dealing with a water base product it's made to break down, so your not going to get those hard enamel finishes like you got from oil base products like varnish, lacquer , oil base paints. Now we have urethane, acrylic , latex all water base, where floor varnish would last 75-80 years now you might get ten if your lucky an no one drags furniture across your floors! But we in this trade can thank the Congress of the United States for all these wonderful water base products!:whistling


----------



## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

The EPA


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

With formulations changing so fast, just getting an acrylic product that actually dries hard and won't stick wooden windows shut 2 months after painting is a chore.


----------



## straightedgellc (Jul 12, 2014)

I feel primer is very useful for some applications but just I don't use it for everything. I would rather do 3 three coats of the body color then have to prime something white and then paint two coats over that. I know you can always tint the primer and I have but Its just another detail to try and keep up with and I have bigger fish to fry! :thumbsup:

http://straightedgepaintingllc.com


----------



## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

hdavis said:


> With formulations changing so fast, just getting an acrylic product that actually dries hard and won't stick wooden windows shut 2 months after painting is a chore.


So, your experience is that whatever they're putting into primer and paint in one coat is causing some of those type latex enamels to dry not as hard as they once did? Causing windows to stick? Maybe..maybe not.

Gotta be sure the next day to "exercise" newly painted windows and other trim where movement is involved to keep them from sticking.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Caslon said:


> So, your experience is that whatever they're putting into primer and paint in one coat is causing some of those type latex enamels to dry not as hard as they once did? Causing windows to stick? Maybe..maybe not.
> 
> Gotta be sure the next day to "exercise" newly painted windows and other trim where movement is involved to keep them from sticking.


This was "100% acrylic enamel" over previous paint. The windows still stick more than a year later. This isn't unusual for a cheap paint, but this wasn't cheap paint.


----------



## PennCoat (Apr 15, 2014)

Use an actual primer for priming. Don't take short-cuts or you may have adhesion issues.


----------



## straightedgellc (Jul 12, 2014)

:laughing:I wish there was a standard in the painting industry, like a manual!
And if you break the rules you get brush cleaning duty for 4 weeks!


----------



## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

straightedgellc said:


> :laughing:I wish there was a standard in the painting industry, like a manual!
> And if you break the rules you get brush cleaning duty for 4 weeks!


There are standards.


----------



## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

People confuse process standards and performance standards. If you go by performance standards, you get to choose the process to achieve them. I've seen plenty of "good" paint processes that resulted in performance problems.


----------



## madmax718 (Dec 7, 2012)

much like frying chicken, skipping the flour dip, the egg wash, then the coating makes for bad fried chicken.

Primer clings to the surface. Paint clings to primer.


----------



## instock (Nov 17, 2012)

Paint is designed to dry from the top down. If you skip the primer, the substrate can wick the moisture out of the back of the paint and it will dry before it can bond.


----------

