Prep for painting doesn’t have to be painful! With just a quick clean and scuff sand you can paint virtually any surface with Fusion Mineral Paint. No matter what your surface is, this handy guide will show you how easy it is to prep your furniture for paint, it’s easier than you think! Do not skip the Prep step, it may affect adhesion, durability and longevity of your painted pieces. Getting your furniture prepped properly will save you time and ensure you have the best results each and every time! Follow this ultimate guide on how to prep your furniture when painting with Fusion Mineral Paint. Painting furniture is a quick and easy way to completely refresh your space with a little time investment, you can paint it beautiful!

Prep for success

Fusion has excellent adhesion durability and coverage, however a little prep will ensure you have a successful painting experience. Some pieces will require very little prep and others a little more. Choose your surface below and follow these simple prep steps to ensure your piece turns out perfectly!

Step 1

The first step is always cleaning. We recommend TSP Alternative, it is a biodegradable, organic degreaser. Using a degreaser is important because it is the oil, and grease that will cause issues with the paint adhering well. These greases and oils build up over years of handling and use and are quite normal. We just need to eliminate them for the best results. Cleaning before you scuff sand ( if your project needs it ) stops you from grinding the dirt further into the paint or wood fibers.

TSP Alternative

Using TSP Alternative is simple! Dilute 2 capfuls of the solution into 1L of water and wash your piece thoroughly until your rag is clean. Throwing away the dirty water won’t harm our waterways as our formula is organic. This powerful degreaser can be used in a spray bottle for ease of application. Unlike true TSP, this one is eco -friendly not requiring gloves or a mask.

Step 2

Choosing your surface is the next step.

Prep for High Gloss surface

For best adhesion, a high gloss surface such as lacquer should be lightly scuff sanded. Your aim is to dull the sheen, not remove the finish entirely. You do not need to sand back to bare wood. Use a 400 grit sanding pad or sponge like it is a cloth and wipe it in the direction of the wood grain until you can see you have knocked back the sheen. This should only take 2-3 passes with a 400 grit sanding pad. Even a large dresser should take no more than 5 – 10 mins sanding lightly. You are creating a ‘tooth’ for the paint to adhere to. Once scuff sanded, remove any excess dust prior to painting.

Prep for Removing wax, pledge, or sticky residue – prepping new metal for paint.

Nothing likes to adhere to wax, so if you have wax or even a polish such as ‘pledge’ on the surface of your piece you will need to remove it. Grab our odourless mineral spirits and a clean rag and give it a good wipe-over. Apply the mineral spirits with a rag and clean the surface until you can’t feel a waxy residue any longer. The mineral spirits breaks down the wax and silicon-based polishes, the cloth will remove it. If you have lots of wax from years of re-applying just substitute the cloth for some 000 steel wool. The other surface that would need a wipe down with mineral spirits is new metals. They often come from the factory with an oil coating on, the mineral spirits will remove that ready for painting.