Priming Furniture: Everything You Need to Know

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Lets talk priming furniture! Your plan is to paint piece of furniture. All the necessary prep work is done – cleaning, repair work, and a good scuff sand. The furniture paint says no primer needed, or primer is included. So can you really skip this step? And if you are priming, what to use? The short answer is that it depends, really on two things:

1. What is the piece made of? What is the condition of the piece?
2. What is your desired final finish?

So lets dive into this a little bit more. Here are some of the most common scenarios you will come across and what to do.

Scenario 1: Battling Bleedthrough

Your piece of furniture is made of a wood that tends to “bleed through” waterbased products. So what does this mean? Without getting into too much detail, there are tannins in the wood that are pulled to the surface by water (and water based products). It may not happen immediately – sometimes it waits until you’ve gotten to the top coating step, or even a few days after you’ve completed a piece. I paint a lot of mahogany and mahogany veneered pieces so I’ve dealt with my fair share of bleed through. It is aggravating, to say the least. So I always prime these types of pieces with a stain blocking primer to avoid any potential extra work down the road.

The type of stain blocking primer depends on the color you want to use for the project. So if the piece is going to be a light paint color, I’ll use a white stain blocking primer. These are my 2 favorites, both great at blocking stains with 2-3 coats:

• BIN shellac based primer: not water based, need to clean brush/roller with alcohol or just throw it away, high VOC (need to wear mask and I don’t use it inside), less expensive option.
• Melange Paints stain blocking primer: water based, can clean up with water, low VOC (can safely work inside), more expensive option.

When going for a darker color, these are the products I use:

• Shellac: yes, you can use straight shellac as primer! It has the same pros and cons as I list above for BIN. If I want to distress the final finish I will use shellac so I don’t see any primer.
• Melange Paints stain blocking primer in gray: It is the same product as list above, but in gray. It’s great for if you are painting in a highly pigmented color like red or yellow.

Scenario 2: Laminate/Glossy Finish

The piece of furniture is made of laminate, Formica, or has a very glossy “factory finish” that doesn’t roughen up well even with a good scuff sand. When you have these types of pieces, use a bonding primer. I have a couple I use routinely, and again it depends on the final color choice.

For a light finish:

1. STIX bonding primer: water based, cleans up well with water, less expensive.

For a dark finish:

1. Melange Clear Bonding Primer: water based, cleans up well, a little more expensive than STIX, but if I’m going for a darker color it’s worth it because I’ll likely do fewer coats of paint. If I’m distressing the final finish I will use this clear primer to avoid seeing any white.

Scenario 3: Original Finish Removed

The piece is made of wood, and not a type that’s likely to bleed. However, the original finish is deteriorating and has lots of scratches or dings that need sanding out. After the cleaning, repair and scuff sanding steps, there are areas of raw unfinished wood. These areas absorb the paint differently and the finish will not be uniform, so a primer is needed to seal up these areas and give a uniform surface for paint. Any of the primers listed above will work, I’ll use what I have on hand, taking into account my final color choice.

Scenario 4: No Primer Needed!

When all of the stars align, you’ll get this scenario – you aren’t concerned about bleed through, the piece has a finish on it that is not damaged, and is not too smooth or glossy. If these criteria are met, skip the primer and go straight to paint. This of course assumes the finish paint you are using doesn’t recommend primer – make sure read your labels.

Deciding when you need to prime furniture can be tricky. Hope this is helpful and please comment below if you have any questions!

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