Everything You Need To Know About Paint Primers! - Newline Painting

Essentially there are three types of primers that you need to know. They are oil-based, shellac primer and latex-based. These types of primers can be found from your local hardware stores such as Bunnings, Mitre 10 and Bowens. Before you start randomly purchasing the first primer that you see, here are some things you need to know before selecting the right one for you.

• Oil-based Primer

Oil-based primers are very versatile because they work well with both latex and oil paints and can be applied to a large number of different surfaces. The most common of all is wood and timber (interior, exterior, bare, finished, painted and unpainted). This is because oil-based primers are able to seal the porous surface of the wood and provide the paint with a better surface to paint over.

Other materials that oil-based primer works well with are metals such as steel. They are good at preventing stains from appearing through the new paint on the material. It should also be mentioned that oil-based primers can prevent or slow down paint peeling blistering and cracking.

However, the biggest downfalls of oil-based primers are that they take a long time to dry as well as releasing a lot of harmful chemicals in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) when exposed to for a long time.

• Shellac Primer

Shellac primer, on the other hand, is not as versatile as an oil-based primer. They work well to seal in odours and smell from stained surfaces because they are made of denatured alcohol. Surfaces such as smoke damaged walls or severe water that requires the smell or stain to be sealed can be effectively done so by using a shellac primer. They also work on materials such as wood, plaster, plastic and metal.

Shellac primer is much quicker to dry than oil-based primers because they don’t penetrate the wood surface deeply. They are also the only primers that can be applied in freezing temperatures. Due to their ability to soften under high temperature, they can only be applied to certain areas on the surface in small patches, also known as “spot-priming”.

• Latex-based Primer

Latex-based primers are water-based and are popular with priming unfinished drywall because it does a good job at smoothing out the surface for painting. They are flexible and quick to dry. Because they are quick to They also expand and contract along with the wood at various temperatures. Latex-based primers also perform well with soft-wood, galvanized metal and concrete.

Unlike oil-based primer and shellac primer, latex-based primers don’t prevent the appearance and sealing of stained surfaces as effectively as the other two. Furthermore, they also come as low-VOCs primers which makes them more healthier and safer to deal with.