Jali products are made from MDF, which paints beautifully with the right preparation and technique.
1. Before you start
We recommend assembling and fitting most of your Jali furniture unpainted first, and then painting in situ. This will speed up the process, as you won’t be worrying about scratches, and you’ll only use the minimum amount of paint.
Some components, like fretwork, doors, or anything that touches your walls, ceiling or floor, are best painted separately. They can then be installed once dry. But, it all depends on your room and design.
2. Prepare the Surface
Once assembled, we can address any visible imperfections, scratches or gaps, which can be sealed with wood filler.
Filler is not glue, so when placing between parts, first ensure they are fixed securely in place – perhaps with PVA glue or wood screws. Once the filler has dried, it can be sanded smooth.
For sanding, we use a combination of coarse and fine sandpaper, usually on a velcro sanding block (but anything will do).
We use 180 grit for coarse, and 400 grit for fine. Coarse removes material, while the finer grit polishes edges or mouldings before painting. It’s common to use a combination, sanding first with coarse, then follow up with fine.
Typically, MDF edges are slightly fluffy and porous, and will not receive paint well without first sanding with fine grit sand paper. However, we often edgeband any visible edges to save you the hassle, as this takes paint well.
Before painting, remove any dust and debris.
3. Priming
Water-based paints and primers cause the MDF wood grain to swell and rise up, which creates a bumpy unappealing finish. The trick is to apply an initial layer of primer, then sand it back to a really smooth finish – without exposing the MDF below. This serves as the perfect base on which to apply top coat.
You can use a brush, roller or sprayer to apply your paint. Spraying requires more gear and preparation, and not least masking off areas with tape or plastic. If not, you’ll still want to put down plastic, cardboard, or an old bed sheet to protect floors from accidental drips.
Thicker paint tends to only require one coat, while cheaper paint can be a little thin and ultimately require more coats. Go for quality paint to save more time and money overall.
Once the primer is fully dry, use fine grit sandpaper to carefully smooth the surface, but without exposing the MDF below. We use handheld power sanders to save time, but block sanding will work too. This process produces plenty of paint dust which can be hard to contain, so wear a mask (at home, we’d use a ‘fold flat’ P3 mask) and keep a vacuum handy!
You could use a tack cloth – a slightly sticky rag – to wipe surfaces free of dust. All dust and debris should be removed before applying top coat.
4. Top Coat
Jali uses water-based top coats, which are minimal odour, easier to clean and tend to dry faster than solvent-based paints. They are also the environmentally sustainable choice, and are available in all colours and sheens.
As with primer, top coat can be applied in several ways. A good choice is a small foam roller, which leaves a smoother, more even finish than other rollers. Use a narrow (ish) brush for any detailing, like mouldings in tops or skirting.
Not sure how much paint to buy? Get in touch with our friendly team at sales@jali.co.uk or ring us on 01227 833333 for advice!
Fretwork
Decorative fretwork can be a challenge to paint, because of all the inside edges. Once sanded, it’s easiest to spray the paint on. We don’t sell spray cans, but they are readily available at DIY stores. To ensure full coverage without wasting paint, consider that you will need to spray from all four points of the compass. However, you also need to paint both sides. Therefore, you can spray North and West (for example) on one side, allow it to fully dry, flip the fretwork, then spray from the remaining orientations. Keep the spray angle and height fixed, and be careful not to apply too much, to avoid drips!
Painted Oak
So far, we’ve only mentioned painting MDF. However, darker colours on plain surfaces like MDF will show up even the slightest blemish or scratch. We also offer a real oak veneer, which paints well and doesn’t even require primer. It’s a really good choice for darker colours, and parts used as countertops or desktops. Even though they will inevitably become scratched with use, the marks are completely disguised by the beautiful wood character!
