Oil based Eggshell paint still not cured after 11 days. Help!

[David matthews]

i have just paid a considerable amount of money to have some wardrobes and lounge units built and painted. The construction and design is great, but two of the three units paint finish is proving to be a huge problem.

After 11 days, one of the wardrobes paint finish has not cured at all, making it completely unusable because the paint is scratching and marking very easily!

They used Dulux trade eggshell in a mixed shade called 'urban obsession'.

I have read that typical curing times for oil based paints are 3-7 days, but ours is now well passed that point, and shows no signs of hardening.

Why has this happened?

What are my options?... Be patient, ask them to sand it back and repaint?

 

[misterhelpful]

Temperatures can play a big part in paint curing properly - is the room/area warm enough 24/7?
If the paint has been applied excessively thick on the two that are not curing, it could be a contributing factor.
The paint could be faulty - it's not common but not unheard of that oil based paints come in bad batches so you could contact the manufacturer to see if they have received any complaints or reported problems with the batch -check for the batch number on the tin. (This is unlikely if one wardrobe has dried properly though.)

 

[David matthews]

Thanks for your input misterhelpful. I suspect the paint was applied excessively and too quickly between coats.

What would you suggest I should do now?

Will it still cure, but take longer?... Or should we sand it back (electric sand) and re apply the oil based more carefully?

 

[misterhelpful]

Sanding back thick fresh oil based paint can be messy and, if not done properly, can give you a poor surface to work on. In theory, the paint should still cure but may take a while longer. If you can afford to wait a week or so to see if that resolves the problem, then I would suggest doing so. If it's still not cured/tacky by then, you might have to bite the bullet and remove it. If this is necessary, it may be worthwhile adding a drop or two of Terebine driers to the paint before applying, which will help with the curing time and avoid the problem re-occurring.

 

[Newboy]

What material the paint has been applied too?

Definitely oil-based?