Plastic coating to go over paint?

Scramble · 10 Feb 2010

I've painted the heads of some copies of my front door keys so that they're recognizable within a large bunch of keys (my local keycutter says they don't have any novelty patterned key in that form of key yet).

But I suspect that the paint may eventually wear off as keys rub against each other so often. I was wondering whether there was any sort of plasticy laminate-type clear coating that anyone knows of that I could put over the paint to make it stronger and better able to withstand the constant bashing it will get?

wallcoatingsbloke · 12 Feb 2010

Hi.

May i suggest using either spray on "Clear lacquer" which is used for cars, to protect and shine the paint after spraying it, you can find it amongst the spray paint in halfords etc, or go to an ART AND CRAFT supplies shop, who should be able to reccomend a clear fixative or sealing spray, normally used for art, to preserve the paint underneath.

good luck.

LJW61 · 12 Feb 2010

Depends on what type of paint you used to colour them.. Oil-based paint will pickle if you sray it with clear laquer from a can..

Scramble · 12 Feb 2010

Thanks for the replies.

The paint I used was Crown's matt emulsion for walls and ceilings.

For a primer I used International's special metals primer.

LJW61 · 12 Feb 2010

Maybe you could dip them in some polyurethane varnish?

Scramble · 12 Feb 2010

Could be worth a try, but all the polyurethane varnish I've looked at says to use it on wood only.

LJW61 · 12 Feb 2010

Itll dry on anything.. You couldalso say keys shouldnt be painted with emulsion !

conny · 12 Feb 2010

Try some clear nail varnish off the wife/girlfriend.

Scramble · 12 Feb 2010

Okay, I shall go for either the car lacquer or the polyurethane varnish.

Only question now is how long should I let the paint dry for? So far I've let it dry for 6 days.

I did read some stuff that suggests that oil-based paints take a long time to really cure properly (weeks, maybe months) and that putting something like varnish over them will make them wrinkle if they haven't fully dried out, which is one reason I went for emulsion, which is water-based. It's been drying for 6 days now, is that likely to be enough?

(Not that it really matters, it's just a bit of fun!)

LJW61 · 13 Feb 2010

Emulsion will be fine after just a few hours

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Plastic coating to go over paint?

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