Tried to restore an old dresser with chalk paint and it peeled off in sheets

Honestly, I found this solid oak dresser on the curb last month in Portland, and I thought chalk paint would be an easy fix. I did two coats, let it dry for 48 hours, and put a wax seal on top. The next morning, I went to slide a drawer and the paint just came off in big rubbery sheets. I guess I didn't sand or prime the original varnish, so nothing stuck. Learned that chalk paint really needs a good base or it's just pretty garbage. Now I'm sanding the whole thing down to bare wood and starting over with a proper primer. Has anyone else had this fail with chalk paint on already finished furniture?

2 comments

2 Comments

emmajackson8d ago

The same thing happened to me with a nightstand I grabbed from Goodwill. Ended up having to strip the whole thing with chemical stripper because sanding was just smearing the old finish around. After that mess I switched to using a shellac based primer like Zinsser BIN before any paint, and that stuff sticks to anything. Did a whole set of chairs that way and the paint hasn't budged in two years. Just gotta accept that skipping prep means redoing it twice, which is basically what you're doing now.

sethb458d ago

Yeah I had a similar thing happen with a old dresser I picked up at a yard sale. I tried sanding it down too and it just turned into this sticky mess that smelled like furniture polish mixed with regret. Ended up soaking paper towels in denatured alcohol and leaving them on the surface for a few minutes, that actually loosened up whatever that old finish was without having to deal with chemical stripper fumes in my garage. Worked surprisingly well but it took like four rounds of it to get down to clean wood. Anyway after that I just started hitting anything painted with a coat of Zinsser first too, that stuff really is magic.