Has anyone used Annie Sloan paint?

[mumblechum1]

Recently bought a kitchen dresser from ebay which was cheap because it was painted in brilliant white gloss. I'm planning on painting it, possibly in AS Paris Grey, with the back board in Emperor's Silk.

Any experience/horror stories/tips about Annie Sloan paint?

[FunMitFlags]

Shop

[FunMitFlags]

When I bought it the lady in the ship told me that you must dilute it with water (80:20 iirc) before using.

I've had mixed success with it.

[Woodenheart]

Ive heard you can water it down so its not as thick,

[PrimalLass]

It won't be hours of sanding. Give it a light sand with very fine paper, almost polishing it off. I don't like the unsanded look, but it turns out beautiful if you sand it (like blending it in really).

[Saramapes]

Just used Annie Sloan chalk paint - 2 coats - and the wax, on a lovely rocking chair which had been painted. Can honestly say it now looks awful. The paint is gritty and leaves lumps of grit. - the second coat didn't help. It does NOT cover evenly at all. And the wax has not helped at all. I am so disappointed as I was convinced by the no prep marketing. - and now I need to spend hours sanding off the wax and gritty awful paint. Could cry...

[ChippingInNeedsSleepAndCoffee]

LOL - I love the ZombieThread warning How long have we had that I wonder??

Have you been to Nettlebed yet?

Have you finished the dresser??

[mumblechum1]

Chipping no, not been to Life; I do go thru Nettlebed occasionally so shall have a wander in next time.

Haven't done anything with my dresser since last week; have had 17 wills to write over 7 days so just no time at all. Maybe this evening, I only have 2 wills to write tonight

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

You live near Marlow... have you been to Life @ Nettlebed? It's lovely, it stocks Annie Sloan and had a lovely cafe!! Also Home Barn does Annie Sloan stuff and is lovely for a browse around - but a bit ££ I've visited quite a few of the Annie Sloan stockist this past month, including the bloody Oxford shop, it has been good.

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

Mumble - did you repaint it this weekend?

[pierpressure]

I am just repainting a dresser. I originally used paris grey, and mixed some black (or maybe charcoal) in to the paris grey for the accents/carved bits. It looked great, but a bit bluey grey for the room. I have now repainted it in country grey mixed with original for a beigey grey which tones well with my F & B shaded white walls.
It looked great BUT I waxed a bit of it this morning and if you have mixed 2 colours together, my tip would be to mix, blen, and mix again as any streaks of slightly less mixed colours REALLY show up when it is waxed and make it look a bit streaky.
I am now going to have a lovely read of acmasterpainters blog as that is the sort of paint anorak I am!

[acmasterpainter]

Thanks Mumblechum1 for the kind words, glad you can follow my instructions when you are painting.

I do rate Annie Sloan chalk paint and the issues people tend to have is through over thinking it. I know, I had to unlearn a few things to get to grips with the simple basic principle of no prep, stick to anything.

When they say no preparation, you should at least remove dust, blu tack and sellotape and scrape off big build ups of dirt and grease, if only to make the surface flat.

For consistent painting results, use a good 2.5" firm bristle synthetic brush and add a drop of water to the chalk paint, work thoroughly and steadily. It accommodates your painting style and skill level.

ie If you are a pro, you will be able to lay it on very fast and it will lay off nicely. I tend to do 2 coats for depth, but you can cover most surfaces in one good coat if you want.

If you are a DIY who would rather watch paint dry than apply chalk paint to a piece of furniture, it will also accommodate your less polished technique. If you have ridges, sand them out, if it doesnt cover, wait an hour and paint another coat on.

If it crazes, I can only assume you have lashed it on to a crazy thickness, or painted straight over some horrendous lumpy greasy surface.

Otherwise, I am not saying it is impossible to go wrong, but ...

For bleed through, go on my site and search bleed through chalk paint and it will tell you a solution (no pun intended). The hardest part is waxing, you need to keep it thin. There are a couple of basic tricks for long runs of work, with a bain marie and a sheepskin cover for an orbital sander, otherwise it is elbow grease and time.

Engineer heads should not use chalk paint, the arty side of it will do your head in.

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

No it's not. Though, if it was me, I'd paint over the red with Paris Grey first to take some of the red/pink out of the base. Can't wait for the new pics!

[mumblechum1]

Hi, great minds think alike - I decided to order Emile in the end, as we saw it on the wall in the Annie Sloan shop and liked it. It's not as pinky as it looks on the chart

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

Mumble - I was looking at the paint chart last night and thought that depending on the colour scheme of your house Emile or Old Violet could also be nice - or indeed Primer Red. There are so many lovely colours that go with Paris Grey. In fact - you could do stripes

[upinthehills]

Glad you have had success - i found annie sloan paint totally dire. Mega thick and dried with cracks and grazing all over it. Horrible finish - chalk is the right name for it. Tried watering down to no avail.

Worst thing i found was how quickly it went off - you couldnt go over a bit you had painted without lifting it off.

Maybe i got a bad batch, but never again. Project is half finished in the garage - need to sand it all down and redo in fb satinwood!

[mumblechum1]

chipping yy, I'm thinking I'll order a tester of charcoal and mix it with Paris Grey.

The paint goes way further than I expected; I'm not even half way down the 1L pot, after 2 coats, and one tester was more than enough to do the backboard.

thanks Ginda, I'll keep that in mind for my next project

[Ginda]

Sorry, with link working here

[Ginda]

Mumblechum there is a fantastic professional master painter called Andy Crichton who posts on here sometimes, he has a blog called Traditional Painter where he has loads of tips and reviews, and among the brands of paints he rates is Annie Sloan (he also likes Mythic and Little Greene).

I have been decorating using his recommendations and it's all been great, so I say: if Andy likes it, it must be good! You can read his review of Annie Sloan paint [[http://traditionalpainter.com/category/paint/annie-sloan on his blog here]

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

Thanks :)

It looks good in the Paris Grey - not too keen on the red myself either. I like the single colour, but if you want a contrast then I think either the Old White with a touch of Paris Grey or Paris Grey with a touch of Charcoal in it would look lovely.

[mumblechum1]

Ok, hopefully my photos will be on my profile now....

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

Mumble - bloody C drives I'll wait with baited breath! It sounds lovely! I wouldn't bother with an AS brush for the wax, but I'm considering one for the paint as they're supposed to be luuuuverly and I thought it might give a nicer finish. Might borrow one to try first - it might not be any better than my other brushes.

[mumblechum1]

chipping I've just taken a couple of photos but they've disappeared into the black hole that is my C drive! Will take another couple once I've done the red back board and have another go.

I found it easy to use, just used a normal 2.5 inch paint brush both for the painting and another, clean one for the waxing. I wasn't about to spend £16 on a waxing brush and the woman in the shop actually said just to put it on with a rag. I put the wax on v quickly and sloppily as i wanted to buff it up before it had a chance to dry on. I'm now going to slightly distress it so the white shows through a tiny bit, then re-wax.

better, you do need to put some knotting sealant on, I saw that on one of the online blogs.

[betterwhenthesunshines]

I have some furniture to paint - the knotting has stained through the current paint finish. Will this also happen with the Annie Sloan, or is knotting solution the one bit of prep I will have to do?

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

Mumble - any chance you'd like to post some photos??

How did you find it to use?

Did you buy one of her paint brushes - if not, what did you use?