How do I paint MDF?

No special paint needed. Use acrylic primer/undercoat followed by whatever top coat you fancy (use emulsion is you wish). If you are painting it white you will need at least 2 undercoats to get a good white finish. For emulsion, just a couple of coats straight on

 

before you do anything give the wood a nice rub down. their are a few special MDF primers out there but you can just use a normal everyday one. once the primer is on, the MDF will fluff up really bad and will need a lot of rubbing down. once smooth, give an undercoat if you are going to gloss for your topcoat. if your using satinwood just put 2 coats of that without the undercoat. be sure to give a rub down in between coats

 

good advice, acrylic primer undercoat will give you a much quicker job, any cutting or sanding of mdf should be done while wearing a dust mask.

 

good point rob, always use a dust mask for MDF

 

i would prime when you have built it all but it doesn't really matter

 

prime with zinsser bin and you can sand down in 45min then coat with eggshell(oilbased) add some driers to speed it up sand again then last coat of eggshell. Gloss looks naff on furnature unless sprayed to a high quality finish.

 

you don't want to prime with zinsser, why too expensive. a cheap water based primer will do the same thing (cost about 6 quid for 2.5lt)

 

You don't need to sand the smooth surfaces of the sheets, just the edges, including those you have cut. I usually cut the MDF to size, put a couple of primer/undercoat coats on (which as jcts says, brings up the grain) without sanding anything. Then I sand (edges only) and, if necessary p/uc the edges again. If needed, I sand everything with 180 grade just to get rid of any brush marks etc. then top coat. For the insides of fixed furniture (but not the insides of doors)like built in wardrobes I just use a couple of coats of vinyl emulsion

I've made loads of built in wardrobes, cupboards etc and had no probs with the above methods

if I knew how to put photo's on here I could show you some I have just built for my own place and my daughters

No need for

 

i used to paint a lot of MDF wardrobes too. would give a rub down first and then dust off. 1 coat of primer, then a big rub down. like you say bertie, the edges will most likely need doing again. then 2 topcoats (satin) for a flawless finish. for the insides i used to give 2 coats of clear varnish. no rub down for the insides just a really good dust down and hover

 

if anyone looking for MDF covered by pvc foil 3dmodular makes it.

 

Thanks for all this advice it's very useful. I'd like further advice on what to apply the paint with to ensure a smooth finish with no brush marks. Ta

 

Mini roller.

 

Thanks, so helpful.

Free too if you beat quotes then? I dont charge myself for cutting.

 

Post number 15 is a result of a spam engine - the thread has over 105,000 views. We should start ringing up these companies and asking for complex quotes to waste their time as punishment

 

Help... I had some wardrobes fitted in so have mdf at the sides and top that I want to paint to match the wall colour of the bedroom. I used Dial undercoat/primer on the mdf (thought it was ok until I googled and saw there's specifically mdf primers) I have already done 2 coats and sanded after it dried to due to flare up fibres. I was going to use the matt emulsion I used for the walls but now I'm thinking do I need to go over the white undercoat with a specific mdf primer? Have I ruined it before I've finished! ‍♀️ Any advice appreciated.