tips and techniques

It's a wrap! General Finishes next round of tutorial videos are on their way! We will be releasing one per week for the month of November so stay tuned.

• Gel Stain
• gel topcoat
• tips and techniques

The Restoration Hardware look is fantastic, but the price can definitely be a turn off.  But GF has good news!  Anastasia Vintage has come up with a technique to acheive a Restoration Hardware inspired look using General Finishes products. 

• Glaze Effects
• Milk Paint
• tips and techniques

GF Milk Paints are self-sealing so it is not necessary to use primer. You may use a stain-blocking primer if you need to seal knots, cover grain, paint light or white color on dark wood, or if you're painting a wood that is known to bleed, such as pine or oak.

• tips and techniques
• primer
• Milk Paint Application Tips
• Milk Paint

You can use GF products over wall paint, but proceed with caution. Latex wall paints are engineered for a different purpose than wood finishes. Walls generally experience less wear and tear than horizontal surfaces, so they are manufactured without the resin systems that make furniture paint more durable.

Note: Latex wall paints must cure for 7-10 days before glaze or topcoat can be added. 

• tips and techniques
• application tips

We named our product Milk Paint with the intention of putting a clear, bright, contemporary spin on an old fashioned furniture paint tradition. With that said, GF's Milk Paint is not a true Milk Paint as it does not contain any milk powder. Our product is carefully engineered for durability and ease of application. It is a mineral based acrylic and comes pre-mixed rather than in a powder form. All you have to do is prep your piece, stir the can and get started!

Here are some other qualities that make our Milk Paint stand out:

• tips and techniques
• Milk Paint Application Tips
• Milk Paint

ANSWER: You can design your own custom glazes, washes and varnishes with General Finishes intermixable water based products. See tips and recipes below:

GF Tip: For all of the following mixes, GF recommends the following two steps:

• Glaze Effects
• high performance topcoat
• Milk Paint
• tips and techniques
• water based finishes

ANSWER: Many mahogany pieces from the late 1920s to early 1930s have an aniline dye lacquer finish which can bleed through no matter how many times you paint or prime over it. Although ideal coverage over an aniline dye lacquer can never be guaranteed, the following two products have been known to minimize bleed through:

• tips and techniques

ANSWER: Any GF Water-Based Finish can be removed from a mirror using 0000 steel wool and Windex. However, you can prevent a mistake from happening by applying Frisket first. More details below:

• tips and techniques
• water based finishes

ANSWER: You can rub down the finish with 0000 steel wool and Orange Oil to lower the sheen.

Pro Tip: GF does not recommend using steel wool with water based finishes because the particles can become embedded and rust.

• oil based top coat
• tips and techniques

ANSWER

No, GF does not recommend using steel wool with water based finishes because the particles can become embedded and rust. Some alternatives that GF recommends are Klingspor's Synthetic Wool and Mirca Mirlon 1500 synthetic wool.

Oil Based Finishes:

• tips and techniques