How to Paint With Acrylic Enamel

Painting with acrylic enamel is suitable for irregular shapes, small touch up jobs, and adding color to hard to reach places. Acrylic enamel is durable and chip resistant. Automobiles are painted with acrylic enamel, although there are many other types of materials painted with this product--mainly metal, piping, fencing, steel and aluminum. Acrylic enamel paints come in tubes, cans and aerosol sprays. There are many colors to choose from, and most paint jobs only require one coat.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Soapy water Sponge Degreaser Sand paper Primer Paintbrush

1. Prepare the surface of the object you will paint by cleaning, degreasing and sanding it. The surface must be clean and dry for best results.

2. Spray a top quality primer onto the prepared surface. Primer seals the surface and prevents the need for more than one coat of paint.

3. Use a quality paint brush with tight flexible bristles. Dip the paintbrush in the paint and apply the paint to the surface heavily in small sections. The paint will flatten itself out as it dries.

4. Do not re-paint over a section that is already drying. This will smudge the paint and ruin the smooth finish.

5. Allow the acrylic enamel paint to dry overnight. Even though the paint might feel dry to the touch after a few hours, make certain it is completely dry by leaving it alone for at least 24 hours.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a larger paintbrush for large jobs and smaller paintbrushes for smaller jobs.
• Always wear a protective mask to prevent inhaling harmful paint fumes. Never use acrylic enamel paint in a closed room or garage.