Painting the Kitchen- Latex or Oil Based Paint?
Question:I am painting my kitchen, trim, and metal cabinets. All are currently painted with an unknown paint (oil or latex). I have read I should use oil based on the trim and cabinets, but what should I use on the walls? Which is easier to clean grease etc. off of? What finish should I use to cover dirt/grease better?
Answers:
If you use latex, you need to clean the dirt/grease off the surface before you paint. With oil base, you cant paint over the dirt.
Today's latex satin sheen paints are very attractive and very maintainable in a kitchen environment.
I would consider cleaning the walls and surfaces with something like 409 and then using the latex semi-gloss or satin sheen. You can use on both walls and wood.
For metal cabinets, you should use a primer before you paint with latex. Don't think it's a good idea to put latex directly over oil.
For kitchens and baths I use only Behr Satinteen. It's latex so it's very washable, easy to apply and clean-up is very nice. I don't like to paint with oil, it's too messy and smelly.
We used Valspar paint (from Lowes) in a Semigloss finish because it is very easy to clean. We are packing to move (we sold our house) and I am noticing now that we are cleaning out the kitchen, that the paint looks great. We used the semigloss Valspar paint for the walls, kitchen cabinets, and trim. It has been about 3 years and it still looks great! Nice and clean.
Our new home is painted with BEHR paint. I don't know if the people just didn't take as good of care, but I think it looks dingy and dirty. It was painted less than 12 months ago. We will be repainting it ASAP.
Good luck.
Any interior painting should be latex. It is easy to use and cleans up very well. The question you should ask is satin, semi-gloss or gloss. For a kitchen I would go semi-gloss or gloss. These have hardeners in it that provides the finish and makes it easy to wipe off when dirty. Unless your house is about 50 years old chances are it was originally painted with latex anyhow and you don't want to mix and match. Oils are best for outside use only.
I have been painting for 20 yrs Oil is an inferior product yellows fades and chalks ..if you have oil ,primer then paint with Pittsburgh pitt tech DTM direct to metal paint it is an industrial coating I use it in kitchens for its extreme durebility especially good on cabinets. drys fast , perfect touch ups will cover anythingyou cant go wrong 21$ agallon here in Tejas good luck any specific painting question just e-mail use GUNK to clean grease off
The best thing for interior is latex paint. If you use a gloss on the trim and cabinets, that helps because gloss paint holds up to wear better than flats. If you don't know what the paint is on the walls, and think it could be oil - WARNING. Don't paint latex over oil paint. You need to prime it first with a latex primer that specifically says it can prime oil painted finishes. Then paint it with the latex paint of your choice. I have had best luck with Sherwin Williams paint. The SuperPaint they have is great; covers well, durable, doesn't fade in the least. They even have a notch above SuperPaint called Duration (which I used the exterior type for my house siding), but never used it on interior walls since I have had such good luck with SuperPaint.
Choose a latex based paint with low VOC's. There are a variety on the market that have virtually no odor and work very well. You might stay away from zero VOC's as they do not work as well and are not washable. There are some new paints on the market with ceramic bead technology in the paint allowing a matte finish that is washable and it feels beautiful. There are also new latex based trim paints on the market that work as well or better than oil based paints and you can avoid the odor and fumes. These paints are more child and pet friendly as well.
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