Don't get me wrong I love chalk paint and immediately jumped on the chalk paint bandwagon with so many others. The thing that I do not like about it is
1. It dries pretty quickly especially when you are applying it outside
2. I DO NOT like the streaks and brush marks it leaves.
I hope I am not offending anyone here about the brush marks . I know some of you like them and that is one reason why you like chalk paint. I just don't feel like I am getting a professional finish if they are there because when I look at furniture pieces in the stores they do not have the brush marks. I see a smooth almost glass like finish of antique color.
and the fact that I am almost a perfectionist really doesn't help.
Trust me! I have tried everything possible to get that smooth glass like sprayed finish like you get with spraying the paint. I have tried about every single brush from camel to synthetic and just about every brand of synthetic available. This is the best way that I have come up with to keep the lines away and get away from that crafty hand done finish.
1. Chalk paint dries pretty quickly and you will notice that after you use it quite a bit it will get thicker as it keeps getting exposed to air.
TIPS
1. I always water it down even after a fresh bought can I always add some water. How much water to add is something you will find out when you start applying it. I usually get a plastic cup and pour the chalk paint in it and then add some water . When you pick up your brush and it drips its too watery.
2. I always use the angled Purdy Brush. This is the best brush that I have found that puts the chalk paint on well. I usually keep 3 dry ones handy because you will notice that when your brush gets pretty wet you will start seeing some brush marks. When I see this I just pick up a dry brush
3. Brush as quickly as you can . DO NOT GO BACK OVER WHAT YOU HAVE BRUSHED
4. Here is the main trick a damp sanding sponge. I get a fine sanding sponge. Yep. that's right. just run the sanding sponge under the water squeeze it and sand lightly between coats and you will see that it feels as smooth as glass. This process usually requires more coats sanding between coats but you really aren't using much more paint because you watered it down . The best part is you don't have to wax before you sand because of the dust. You can sand un waxed inside and there is hardly any dust.
5. Drop those expensive wax brushes and pick up the cheese cloth. Yes from my experience it works so much better than those bulky things and you don't have to mess with the cleanup. Toss out that paper cup with the paint and throw away the cheese cloth. You just have to rinse out the brushes with some warm water. Another trick to keeping the brushes looking good is to not throw away the cardboard covers they come in. When the brush is wet you just put back the cardboard cover over the bristles after you have smoothed them down and close it . It will dry and the bristles will look like they did when you pulled it out of the package.
This is a piece I sanded with the wet sponge.
See no lines. I did just paint this 3 times sanding between coats and I sanded a lot more with some fine sandpaper to allow the stain to show through
