Can Wood Blinds Be Painted or Sprayed?

Use a shellac primer on stained wood blinds.

You can paint wood blinds as long as you thoroughly prepare them prior to application. Whether your blinds are made of bare or stained wood, they are not good candidates for adhesion. To generate a lasting finish, prime the blinds with the proper base coating. Brush painting wood blinds tends to promote a flawed finish. For faster, more attractive results, spray the new finish onto the blinds.

Cleaning

Any sort of dust will prevent a primer base from properly adhering to your wood blinds. Ordinary rags will likely leave unseen dust behind. To remove all dust from the blinds, wipe the wood with sticky tack cloths. Never use any sort of wood cleaning chemicals; these will also prevent adhesion.

Masking

If there are any portions of the blinds you'd prefer are left free from paint, cover them using the appropriate materials. Ordinary tape may leave residue on the blinds upon removal. Prevent this by using a low-tack painter's tape. You can identify this type of tape by its blue color.

Primer

A painted finish will not stick to your wood blinds unless they are pretreated with a primer base coat. Choose a particular type of primer, depending on the condition of the blinds. A latex spray primer is sufficient for bare wood blinds; however, it will not stick to stained blinds. Because these types of blinds are coated with an oil-based finish, they cannot bond with water-based latex primer. Oil-based primer will bond to the blinds; however, the acrylic finish coat won't bond to the oil-based primer. In this case, treat the stained blinds with a shellac spray primer that will bond to both oil- and water-based coatings.

Paint

Although you may paint properly-prepared wood blinds with ordinary latex paint, the finish may not prove durable for very long. Instead, finish the blinds with a strong, glossy acrylic enamel. This paint will hold up well under duress and is much easier to clean.

Spraying

Proper application technique is critical to promoting an attractive, uniform finish free from flaws. When applying the primer and enamel, maintain 8 inches between the blinds and spray can nozzle. Spray side-to-side, and don't settle on a single area for too long or sagging will follow. For best results, keep the spray stream moving at all times.