How to paint interior doors white

Painting interior doors is a responsible process that requires preparation and compliance with all rules. Be sure to carefully prepare the canvas for painting - this way the paint will lay down in an even layer and it will be much easier for you to give the door a neat and fresh look. You can repaint your interior doors any color you want, but most often they are given a natural shade or painted white with bright splashes. After reading the following article you will learn how to paint interior doors white.

What kind of doors can be painted?

To give the interior door a glossy appearance, the panels are coated with alkyd enamel.

Interior doors, ready for painting, are popular products on the construction market without exaggeration. First of all, it's cheap. Secondly, you can decorate the canvas yourself the way you need it - paint it, varnish it, cover it with a special film. Often these doors are already ready for painting. They are primed white and most often do not have panels. The absence of panels is a new modern type of canvas that can be “dissolved” in the interior, fitting them to the same image as the walls in the room.

To give the interior door a glossy appearance, the panels are coated with alkyd enamel. But the disadvantage of this process is the persistent, long-lasting and pungent odor that the dye gives. Long-term ventilation of the room is required. Acrylic-based paints are the direct opposite of alkyd enamel; they are odorless, but more expensive. In addition, the durability of acrylic paint is not very high and to preserve it on the canvas, it is also necessary to open it with varnish.

Interior doors can be made of various materials - less often it is natural wood, but it is often not painted, but varnished. Although solid pine or other coniferous wood, which is considered an inexpensive material for making doors, is sometimes painted. Of course, this will hide the beautiful texture of the wooden panel, but will more reliably protect it from external influences. Such doors are primed before painting and this will be enough for the paint to adhere well to the canvas.

If one of the wood-based materials - fiberboard, chipboard, MDF and others - was used to make the canvas, then there will be no problems with painting. The main thing is to know how to properly paint interior doors made of this or that material, or rather, how to prepare such a canvas for painting.

Interior doors made of fiberboard are more difficult to restore before painting, since this material does not tolerate rough handling. You need to be careful with fiberboard panels - clean them carefully so as not to damage them, otherwise you will have to go for new doors.

There are certain rules for preparing chipboard fabric for painting. The disadvantages of chipboard include poor moisture resistance, due to which the canvas can delaminate, so before painting the doors it is best to undergo additional processing - remove all sorts of cracks, fill them with glue and place the canvas under a press for a while.

Tools and materials for work

Before you paint an MDF door with your own hands at home, you need to prepare materials and tools that may be useful. Then painting MDF interior doors will be easy, quick, and without unnecessary hassle or problems.

The following equipment will be required:

• The paint brush is wide. It is worth choosing a product with natural bristles. It is important that the lint does not fall out. They are easily removed with tweezers. But if you don't notice them, they will dry out with the paint. They will be noticeable on the door leaf.
• Roller with various attachments. It is better to use a product with thick pile. The foam is too soft. Therefore, with its help it will be difficult to evenly distribute the paint over the surface.
• Thin brush. It will be used to paint areas in hard-to-reach places and small details.
• Construction container, bucket. Required for mixing paint.
• Film and newspapers to protect the work area.

To prepare the working surface before applying enamel you will need:

• sandpaper (to remove old paint and varnish material, level the surface of the door);
• primer (a layer of primer removes cracks and levels the surface);
• vacuum cleaner (to remove dust);
• rags.

Naturally, you will need to select and prepare a coloring composition.

How to paint doors correctly

Sometimes many people want to change something in the interior of their house or apartment, but there is simply no money or special desire to undertake a major renovation or redevelopment. In these cases, you will be surprised, you can get by with “little blood” - just repaint the door. Believe me, a newly painted door will radically change the appearance of your home, and it will cost very little and, moreover, will take very little time.

Before you begin painting the door directly, you will need to remove the fittings and, if possible, the door itself. If it is not possible to remove the door, then it can be fixed using an ordinary wedge. Then we remove the old paint if the door was painted. The next steps in preparing the door will be sanding, priming and putty. After this, the door needs another primer and final sanding.

When choosing a tool for painting, we focus on what kind of paint and varnish material will be used. If painting will be done with latex paint, then you need to use a flute - a special wide, flat brush. If alkyd paint is used, it is applied with a roller and then leveled with a flute. When painting, the main condition is that the doors are painted in sections, but without fail in one go.

The specific painting technology depends on which door will be processed - panel or panel. Panel doors are painted with latex paint starting from the upper third, with the stroke going from top to bottom. Then the middle part is painted and finally the lower third. Alkyd paint on the panel door must be applied from the central part to the edges with a roller (first the roller is moved up, then down). After that, the paint is shaded using vertical movements of the flute from top to bottom.

Paneled doors are painted exclusively with a brush (flute) in the direction of the grain. First, the panels are painted, then the recesses and the front part of the surface. Then - the central frame frames, the mullion and the vertical and horizontal frames. The very last thing to do is paint the edge with the lock and hinges.

After painting the door leaf, you can begin painting the door frame. Before doing this, be sure to stick masking tape on the walls. We paint the door frames, starting with the vertical frame, then paint the top beam, and finally the trim.

To achieve a good combination of doors and room, experienced designers advise taking into account a small nuance. When painting one side of the canvas, you need to paint it so that the shade of the edge with the lock is in harmony with the color scheme in the room into which the door opens, and the edge with the hinges should be combined with the room from which the door opens. This subtlety will allow you to get the perfect combination of rooms and doors.

If painting the door has not brought you the desired peace of mind, then look around - maybe there are several more doors that require urgent painting.

Material Compatibility

It is not so easy to understand the modern variety of materials. Chemical compositions for the uninitiated person are a secret behind seven locks, and when buying a material to apply to old paint, many rely on luck, hoping that the old layer will not react in any way to contact with the new chemical. There are some recommendations according to which you should select the material depending on what the door is painted with.

Variety of colors

Therefore, before you go for paint, you need to clarify what the canvas is painted with.

• Epoxy and polyurethane compounds contain aggressive solvents. Cyclohexanone or xylene are capable of destroying materials that are reversible polymers obtained by natural curing (nitrocellulose, vinyl, copolymer-vinyl chloride compounds). Simply put, epoxy or polyurethane paint will destroy the coating made with nitro paints.
• Epoxy and polyurethane materials are applied only over the same compositions or primers, maintaining drying intervals for each layer.
• Silicate compounds are generally not applied over any other types of paints.
• Alkyd paints are not aggressive and can be safely applied over any material.
• Copolymer-vinyl chloride compounds and compounds based on chlorine rubber are applied only over acrylic, epoxy, and silicate materials.

Important! To update the door, it is better to use paint of the same type as the previous layer.

Compatibility table
Despite the recommendations of the material compatibility table, it is better to use an experimental test: apply the new material to a small area of ​​the canvas and see the reaction.

Tips for preparing fabric for dyeing

Before you begin processing or dyeing the fabric, it must be removed from its hinges and freed from fittings.

Before you begin to process the canvas or dye it, it must be removed from its hinges and freed from the fittings. If the door is old and the lock handles are difficult to remove, then it is better to seal them with masking tape. The same should be done with glass, if any.

The second step is to clean the door from old paint. To remove it carefully without damaging the canvas itself, the paint must be heated - craftsmen have adapted to do this using a blowtorch or a hair dryer. After that, the paint can be cleaned off with a spatula, and the remaining residue can be sanded with sandpaper.

There are alternative ways to remove old paint - a store-bought remover, the disadvantage of which is a strong odor, or a homemade one made from caustic soda, oatmeal and water. The mixture of these components, brought to the state of liquid sour cream, is applied to the canvas, wait a little and then remove it along with the paint using a spatula.

The easiest way to remove paint from an old interior door is to use a sander with a wire brush. But if the door is made of fiberboard or chipboard, this must be done carefully to prevent cracks or other damage.

When the paint is completely removed, the canvas is puttied, if necessary (recesses, crevices) and primed. You can also use decor finishing for fiberboard doors in the form of veneer, laminated board or eco-veneer. But painting the doors is cheaper and faster, and painting it yourself is easier than applying a protective wood sheet to it.

No. 3 Painting method using a candle

Worn white paint, through which in some places you can see the wood itself in its natural color, is wonderful when restoring antique furniture or creating new ones, but in the same style.

In the photo below you can see an example of such painting of wood with wonderful designer pens laid out on it.

Instructions:

1. Take a clean wooden board (no matter sanded or not) and a candle. Rub the candles onto the surface of the wood in several places. You need to press quite hard on the candle so that a clear trace of wax or paraffin remains on the wood.
2. After this, paint the wood with white paint and let it dry completely.
3. Wipe the dry painted surface with a rag, applying some pressure. In those places where there was a trace of a candle, the paint will come off the surface.

Below is an example of a white wood floor painted using this method. It is worth noting that when using this, it is better to apply a layer of protective varnish on top of the paint for more durable use.

Preparing for painting

For high-quality painting of doors, it is necessary to carefully prepare their surface. First you need to remove all the fittings - handles and locks, hinges, etc. The door itself is also removed from its hinges. If this is not possible (sometimes there are layout options when the doors cannot be removed), then you will have to fix the door in a comfortable position using a wedge. If the door is not new, then it is necessary to remove a layer of old paint from it. This can be done using sanding paper, a plane, a special tool, or even chemically.

The choice of product depends on the door material and the composition and condition of the old paint layer. In any case, care must be taken when working, since damage may be visible under a layer of new paint. In order for the new paint to adhere well and last a long time, it is better to additionally prepare the surface of the door. This process involves sanding, priming, putty, another coat of primer, and sanding again.

Untreated wood must be coated with a layer of suitable primer to prevent the paint from being absorbed into the wood. Naturally, all this applies to old doors. New doors only need to be degreased. Next you need to decide on the paint and varnish for the door. It’s worth saying right away that cheap paints do not apply well, do not last long and their consumption is very high, so it is better not to save money in this matter and immediately purchase high-quality paint or varnish so that you do not have to repaint the doors.

The modern selection of paints allows you to choose products with any composition and any color

The modern selection of paints allows you to choose products with any composition and any color. Even if there are people in the house with allergic reactions, you can buy a special oil to coat the door, which is harmless to people and beautifully emphasizes the wood pattern. The technology for painting a door will depend on its type, that is, painting a panel or panel door may differ, but in any case, the process must take place in one go, but the doors must be divided into sections. This will make painting much easier.

The technology for painting a door will depend on its type, that is, painting a panel or panel door may differ, but in any case, the process must take place in one go, but the doors must be divided into sections. This will make painting much easier. When using latex paint, panel doors begin to be painted from their upper third with brush strokes from top to bottom. Next you should go to the middle part and finish painting at the bottom of the door.

If oil paint is used, it is applied with a roller from the edges of the door to the center. Start painting from the top and move down, using a flute to make vertical strokes from top to bottom. Paneled doors are painted only with the grain and in the direction of the grain to avoid unsightly stains. These doors must be painted in strict sequence. First, the grooves, recesses and panels of the door are painted, and then the front surface, the central frame trim, and finally the middle vertical and horizontal frame trims.

After painting the door, begin painting the door frame. It is also painted in a certain order: first the vertical frames, then the top beam and finally the trims. After finishing painting, you need to let the paint dry completely. If desired, you can then apply an original design to the door using a stencil.

Which paint to choose

First, decide what paints are used to apply to the door:

• Alkyd enamels. This is the most affordable option. Film strength is average. The advantages include a large range of colors and compatibility with MDF, fiberboard and wood. The main disadvantage is the long drying time and the characteristic pungent odor. Among materials of this type there are a large number of glossy coatings.

• Acrylic enamels. This type of paint is a water dispersion of acrylates. The main advantage over other compositions is the absence of odor and quick drying. In addition, the color palette, represented by hundreds of colors, allows you to create unique shades yourself. To protect the surface, it is additionally coated with parquet transparent varnish.
• Oil-based tinting paints are great for transforming interior and entrance doors. Absorbing into the wood texture they give it a unique shade. The only condition for their use is wood, without any coating.

Variety of paints and varnishes

• Nitro enamels. They dry quickly, but at the same time the volatile, caustic solvent evaporates, which can cause poor health and even poisoning. If you take precautions and use personal protective equipment when working, then this option deserves attention. After the solvent has completely evaporated, the coating becomes safe. It is considered a high-quality and fast method of painting.
• Colored varnishes, glazes. These materials are used for painting varnished door panels. Used in cases where there are no significant cracks or chips on the base. To fully restore the varnished surface, the old varnish must be removed, or you can refuse to re-varnish and paint over the interior doors after puttying.

How will we paint our wooden door?

The choice of compositions for coloring wood is very extensive. First of all, let's decide whether it is desirable to preserve and highlight the natural beauty of a natural array or whether it is necessary to completely hide the texture pattern by covering it with a continuous opaque layer.

Taking into account our own taste preferences, we will pay attention to: opaque enamels and coloring compositions with acrylic, polyurethane, alkyd, perchlorovinyl and obsolete oil bases, which are rarely found in domestic products; transparent and tinted varnishes, oil impregnations, stains that refresh the color of wood or give new shades. We won’t talk about taste priorities.

Let’s just listen to the advice of experienced painters who recommend that home craftsmen buy: water-based acrylic paints, because they have the optimal consistency for working with a brush, excellent spreadability and decent hiding power, somewhat inferior to oil paints; alkyd paint and varnish products, characterized by high water-repellent qualities, resistance to temperature fluctuations and drying speed. Of the recommended options for painting bath doors, the second type, resistant to negative influences, is most suitable. Moreover, it can be used to paint both entrance and interior doors.

Sequence of work

The door structure is not only the door itself, so it is very important to carefully carry out the preparatory process. Of course, you can repaint only the canvas, but this way the jambs will fall out of the overall picture. And so, the process of painting the door should be carried out in the following sequence:

• The door structure is removed and placed on a stable surface (optionally, a pair of stools). If alkyd paint is used for work, it is better to move the work to the open air, because such paints and varnishes have a pungent odor.

Preparing a wooden door for painting

• Then, without removing the canvas itself, it is fixed with wedges so that the paneled brush has access to all hard-to-reach places. It is also necessary to block the doors so that during the drying process the doors do not slam shut and damage the new layer of paint.

Whatever route you take, you will still have to dismantle the fittings. If there are permanent parts, they can be hidden under paper or foil.

Technology of painting a door white

For work you will need the following materials and tools:

• Paint brushes (flutes)
• Table or stepladder
• Sanding paper
• Primer
• Dye
• Scraper or sharp spatula
• Hammer, nails and screwdriver
• Sander
• It is better to paint doors on level ground in a horizontal plane.

In this position, the paint does not run off and the surface is better painted. If desired, you can paint the doors with a roller without removing them from the hinges, but a door laid horizontally and painted with a round and flat brush looks more beautiful. So, the door must be removed from its hinges and placed on a table or trestle.

The door hinge axles are easily knocked out with gentle blows using a strong screwdriver pressed against the axle head and a hammer. All fittings are removed from the door, preparatory work is carried out and then it is painted in a certain sequence, depending on the type of door. Then, if necessary, paint the fasteners. If it is necessary to apply another layer of paint, sand the first dry layer with a portable sander.

Important. All dyes with an alkyd resin base are applied only to a completely dry surface.

If the wood is wet, the paint layer will peel and peel due to air bubbles formed underneath. Those who want to find out how to paint a wooden door have no doubt guessed that painting is carried out in several stages. Often using two different formulations. First, impregnation is used with or without a tinting effect, then a decorative coating is applied.

It is important to choose formulations that work flawlessly in tandem. For example, drying oil is not applicable before varnishing. Only stain! Even if you decide to refresh the color of the canvas and jambs exclusively with stain or oil impregnation, one layer is not enough. Two or three stages remain to be completed, the surface will tell you. You will have to paint as many times as necessary for the perfect result.

Cleaning tools from traces of paint

After working with a water-soluble composition, the roller or brush should be immersed in warm water for 2 hours. Then wash under running water and dry. Store tools in a dry place. It is best to hang them down with the bristles. Immerse the brushes with any remaining solvent-based material in a container of white spirit. Moreover, it should reach the base of the bristles. After 2 hours, rinse the instrument and dry with a clean cloth.

It is not advisable to use brushes used to apply a solvent-based composition for work with a water-based composition, and vice versa, no matter how well they are cleaned.

When taking breaks from painting tools, remove excess paint and wrap it in cling film or a plastic bag. The edges can be sealed with masking tape to prevent air from entering, and the devices can be placed in a cool place. So it is permissible to leave the instrument for two days, but no more.

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Options for combining the colors of the door, baseboard and floor

Color solutions for room decoration play an important role in creating comfort. To feel more comfortable in your own home, you need to create harmony in it. Some people understand this as a combination of colors in the final arrangement of rooms, i.e. they pay more attention to the combination of furniture, curtains, all kinds of accessories, etc.

In this case, of course, their harmonious fusion with walls, floors and ceilings is taken into account. But this is not where you should start. Complete harmony can be achieved if you think about the color combination between the main elements of the premises at the preparatory stage.

And, again, “home-grown” designers strive to combine the decoration of walls, ceilings and floors into a single picture, considering everything else to be secondary details. No one will argue about this - these elements must be in harmony with each other.

But we must not forget about such things as doors, trim, baseboards - these are integral parts of the interior of each room, and should not fall out of the overall image. Therefore, the combination of colors of doors, baseboards and floors must be given no less attention. The owner of the apartment should feel comfort at an intermediate stage - after the completion of the renovation, but even before the start of arrangement of the premises (i.e. in the absence of furniture, curtains, carpets, etc.).

In general, color matching is a big science, but it’s not difficult to master. Especially if you remember that there are 7 primary colors in nature - a “rainbow of colors”. Everything else is their shades and combinations.

Someone might say that there are 2 more basic colors - white and black. But, oddly enough, they also have to do with the combination of 7 colors. A rainbow is the spectral decomposition of white into its components (from red to violet). And black color is the opposite of white (“a black hole”, for example, is a vacuum, i.e. emptiness).

White color in the design of baseboards and door frames is a win-win option for any combination of shades

Selecting and applying white paint

White color is one of the most capricious. In order for the surface to acquire a radical white color, one layer is not enough. The most reliable way to paint a door white is to use a light primer and two-part white paint.

In this case, the surface will definitely become whiter than snow. Subject to the technology and sufficient skill of the painter, of course.

But most home painters do not adhere to the technology. This is quite expensive, especially if we are talking only about painting 1-2 doors. What then to do with the primer and two-component paint?

The debate between exactly how many layers are needed and what kind of paint should be used goes on with varying degrees of success. Some believe that primer is not needed, others believe that one-component paint can be applied to the primer.

Still others generally believe that it is quite enough to simply paint the door twice with one-component paint.

What do you think? Share your experience in the comments.

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Color solutions in finishing for a white door

White color in the design of baseboards and door frames is a win-win option for any combination of shades. Therefore, if there are doubts about the correct color harmony, you should put a white “edge” around the perimeter of the floor (i.e. along the baseboards) - it will smooth out the flaws.

If you are more confident in choosing the color of floors and doors, the tone of the skirting boards can be combined with one of these details, provided that the doors and floor are different. When these 2 elements are painted the same color, you can choose a contrasting shade for the baseboards.

Sources:

• https://www.remontbp.com/varianty-sochetanija-cveta-dveri-plintusa-i-pola/
• https://sdelai-sam.pp.ua/?p=8311
• https://www.himtek-yar.ru/useful/advice/470/
• https://stroy-banya.com/okna_dveri/pokraska-derevyannyx-dverej-svoimi-rukami.html
• https://tsi-plit.ru/stati/kak-pokrasit-mezhkomnatnuyu-derevyannuyu-dver/