Favourite (white) paint for wood work?

[didireallysaythat]

With the feeling that we might not be going anywhere this Xmas, I thought I could use the time off to do the paintwork in the house. Lots of architrave and windowsills, I'd like a white paint, preferably water soluble, that doesn't show brush strokes.

Any recommendations on brands, finish and brushes/rollers/pads?

Thank you

I like zinnser stay white, it doesn’t yellow and goes on beautifully.

@Taoneusa thank you !

I've used zinnser before and did exactly what it said on the tin. I'm sold on you suggestion

(I realise I asked a dull question)

I'm a massive fan of Farrow and Ball's white wood primer and Wimborne white wood paint. Expensive but leaves a beautiful finish.

I use Screwfix's No Nonsense white satin paint. It's cheap (about £18 for 2.5 litres I think), goes on really nicely (I use a good quality angled brush), it doesn't show brush marks and doesn't smell (it's water-based).

@Narutocrazyfox never tried farrow and ball - always figured it was going to be too expensive. I guess for wood work it might be cheaper but I'm not sure it's worth putting expensive paint on alcotraves if I'm using economy white on the walls.

@didireallysaythat to be fair I wouldn't use F&B on walls - not really worth the cost. However, I painted several shelves and the mantlepiece with F&B and the finish is absolutely beautiful. I only bought one small tin of each, and had paint left over. I made the shelves out of scaffolding boards, and regardless of sanding it's hard to get a smooth finish but the Wimborne white makes them look gorgeous - it has a soft sheen and it's a true brilliant white - for small projects I'm hooked!

Dulux eggshell. Never had any issues with it.

Zinnser primer and then Johnson's trade aqua satin

I think eggshell paint gives the best finish, and you don’t need to be that careful with technique but I found it a pain to keep clean. I’ve just redone mine in satin.

I’ve tried different techniques and the one that has worked best for me is to dampen the brush tip slightly before dipping in to the paint, and repeat every so often when the brush starts to drag on the surface. The finish has come up nicely compared to not dampening, or using rollers.

I’ve stuck to Dulux trade satinwood PBW this time because I couldn’t deal with the choice again. Last time I painted the woodwork I ended up with 7 tins of different shades of white and off white.

A follow up questions oh wise ones - do I need to use a primer if the woodwork has already been painted?

If the previous paint is water based white, you can get away without primer, just a light sand.

If it’s darker, or if you’re not sure whether the previous one is oil based, best to use primer. There are some primers which apparently leave a good grip so you don’t need to sand the previous paint but I don’t know if they do what they say on the tin.

I’ve stuck to a cheap Dulux undercoat and primer, easy to use, easy cleanup and seems to do the job.

I used bin zinsser primer before (red tin) because of rave reviews, but found it awful to work with. It’s definitely bomb proof, as it is impossible to clean up!