Dulux diamond eggshell, floetrol, brush marks, looks awful

Discussion in 'Painters' Talk' started by Monkey Chops, Jul 13, 2021.

  1. Monkey Chops

    Monkey Chops Member

    Had a bad time with come water based dulux trade diamond eggshell a while back and have ended up buying it again because I saw this floetrol stuff that eliminates brush marks. I’ve diluted the paint 10% with the floetrol, mixed well and started painting with a wooster silver tip soft brush, and also a fox soft laying off brush in a bowl of clean water. Also tried adding a bit more floetrol, but that hasnt helped.

    it’s warm here, about 21c, there’s a breeze through the room I’m painting, but conditions not as bad as last time. Last time, the laying off brush was my saviour, managed decent results, but this time, no matter what I do, it’s got a really bad finish, just purely brush marks. no amount of laying off is helping, the floetrol does not seem to stop the brush marks, but it does increase the working time.

    can anyone help please? Spent ages prepping the room and back to square one!
     
  2. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    The breeze through the room could well be a contributory factor as modern paints rely on air flow to dry them out since the drying agents (solvents) were removed when VOC compliance came into force back in 2010.
     
    Monkey Chops likes this.
  3. Monkey Chops

    Monkey Chops Member

    Thanks, i’ve tried with the doors shut and it’s still not good. Definitely better than without floetrol as far as working time goes, but those brush marks are causing me problems. I’ve also tried a 15-20% floetrol dilution and that seems better. Will keep trying different things.
     
  4. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    You are using excellent products, maybe you are not putting enough paint on.
     
    Monkey Chops likes this.
  5. Monkey Chops

    Monkey Chops Member

    Thanks, I let it dry over night and added a good slug more floetrol, so about 20% ish. This seemed to do the trick, working in short sections, then laying off. It seems like the trick is to use less paint, especially on horizontal surfaces (windowsill), which is where I was having the problems. Looks like it’ll be 3 thin coats.

    Hopefully that helps others searching for answers. Cheers.
     
  6. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    Dulux advise a mist spray over the surface prior to painting to help with the brush marks and keep a wet edge, to be honest I don't get any problems using Purdy's then neither does my mate who gets his synthetic brushes from The Range @£4.99 a pack of 5 :eek:.
     
    chillimonster likes this.
  7. Monkey Chops

    Monkey Chops Member

    Lack of experience and warm, breezy conditions probably didn’t help. ;)

    Those silver tips lay off quite nicely, but the wide soft fox brush is better. For me anyway!
     
  8. chillimonster

    chillimonster Screwfix Select

    I never feel much respect when I decorate, there's always resentment ,
    a close relative "should be doing this ". But as water takes over more
    I read posts here showing the job requires even more skill to achieve
    good results and product knowledge to deal with latest innovations
    like the durables.
    My opinion.

    Worthing's bit far but I've heard its good on the range.
     
  9. Kaboo

    Kaboo Member

    OP, I faced exactly same issues. Had a very hard time getting a good finish with Dulux Diamond Eggshell paint. After reading glowing reviews about it, I had bought a 2.5 L can of it. So really wanted to get decent results with it and not waste it. So I persisted and read through several forums including this one, absorbing suggestions from many experts. I have got a recipe now that works for me every time... since then I have now used up all of my 2.5 L of paint and got good results with it. Here are the things I implemented. First - buy Purdy paint brushes. This was the common most suggestion by every pro or experience DIY'er. I bought Purdy Sprig brushes and they made the biggest difference (thanks Astra for this suggestion). Second - diluted the paint by adding 10% water or 5% FLoetrol (Dulux decorator centre). Both helped but water was better. Third - chose cooler time of the day. In the current season early morning or later evening. Fourth - used a water sprayer (again thanks Astra), empty household disinfectant sprayer (after thoroughly cleaning of course) and sprayed water from like 2-3 feet away. If I could not do this then wiped the surface with a clean but wet microfiber cloth. Fifth - paint in quick gentle long strokes while making sure not to touch the painted portion again.

    Because of thinning and water mist means I did very thin coats. It took me 5 coats to get good opacity. So more effort and time, but I did very little sanding in between the coats so time saved there. Most importantly I got the results I wanted (yay!!). ANy brush marks settled. Dilution by water and then the spray helped keeping the edges wet for longer. Paitning early morning or later in the evening slowed drying.

    While struggling with this paint, I went to the local B&Q (Oxford) and chatted with a paints expert there. They suggested it is a harder paint to get good finish with. They suggested trying VAlpsar Trade Wood and Metal. I did and was totally impressed with it. It was so easy to paint with this, a much more fluid paint, easy flowing, easy to apply but high opacity. Two coats and I was done with as good finish as I got with Dulux Diamond Eggshell but without all that shebang. I have pine paneling around my kitchen which needed repaint in one colour. Then skirtings and other joinry in white on first floor. For both I used Valspar and it worked really really well.

    So although I got Dulux Diamond Eggshell to work, I am not going to use that paint again. Its Valspar Trade for me from now on!
     
    Adamfya likes this.

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