MDF or otherwise fibreboard It began to be produced in the USA in 1966 and is a relatively “young” material. However, it has been an excellent alternative to wood for many years. furniture production. MDF facades have become commonplace in kitchens, offices and other premises. How to properly prepare an MDF surface for painting, what tools and materials you will need, and how to do everything yourself - read right now.

MDF is a unique modern material, which is made by pressing wood waste under high pressure and at elevated temperature indicators. The material for binding the components is lignin, which has a natural origin - it is extracted from wood.

To the obvious advantages of MDF, which are used for the manufacture of facades, experts include:

• excellent moisture-resistant qualities;
• heat resistance;
• surface strength;
• versatility and ease of use;
• resistance to harmful microorganisms and fungi;
• budget cost.

Since MDF facades lose their original shine over time, they require replacement or painting. Even a beginner can paint a facade made of such material if he has certain skills and suitable equipment. Since the material is homogeneous, it does not need preliminary preparation. The only exception is deleting a layer old decoration, if there is one. Surface MDF facades is resistant to mechanical stress. You can not only cover it with paint, choosing a color to suit your taste, but also slightly change the texture.

If we talk about the technology of painting MDF facades, it includes several simple steps:

• minor surface preparation;
• applying primer;
• choosing the type and color of coating material;
• its application to the prepared surface.

When painting MDF facades at home, you need to prepare:

• paint brush or roller;
• masking tape;
• construction hair dryer;
• primer for wood;
• fine-grained sandpaper;
• rubber gloves to protect hands.

For professional painting MDF facades will require a room of about 40 square meters. meters with a separate chamber for painting, a place where you can grind parts, dry and store workpieces, and then finished goods. The temperature in it should be at least 20 degrees. The painting chamber must be equipped with an exhaust hood and a rotating table. There should be racks in the drying room, and a powerful vacuum cleaner in the grinding sector.

Facades are painted using a spray gun. Keep in mind that the material consumption is 60 - 200 grams per square meter. meter.

The type of paint will determine the diameter of the nozzle, air pressure, the chosen spray method, the number of layers applied and the frequency of coating.

Surface preparation

The paint application procedure includes the preparation and application of the selected finishing material.

If paint will be applied to furniture, the set must first be disassembled. There is no need to unscrew it completely; it is enough to remove only the parts that you plan to paint. It is recommended to remove handles, inserts and other fittings. If this is not possible, special masking tape will help protect them.

If the surfaces to be treated are constantly located near gas stoves and electric furnaces, it is advised to choose paints that have fire-retardant properties for painting, such as Polistil metal products. In order to protect the hood and air ducts from corrosion in the future, you should purchase electrically conductive paint, such as Zinga.

To prepare the surface yourself, you need to completely remove any paint coating from it. When the cleaning is completed, the MDF facade is also cleaned of dust. It is difficult to clean the surface manually; it is recommended to use a hair dryer. The next step is sanding using fine-grained sandpaper.

Next is priming. Before starting to work with the composition, be sure to shake it. To prepare the surface, it is recommended to use primer intended for wood. But if there are plastic components, it is better to use primer designed for plastic. The primer should be allowed to dry thoroughly, up to 2 days. Only when it is completely absorbed by the surface is it permissible to begin painting.

Painting and coating

Coloring can be done in two ways:

• Ordinary. Involves traditional paint application, resulting in a beautiful matte or glossy finish. It all depends on the type of paint and varnish material you choose.
• Textured. Here, glisal is used for coating in order to obtain an unusual surface at home.

When painting with regular paint, you should stick tape on those parts that you will then cover with other colors if you are planning a two-color or multi-color finish. It is necessary to apply paint in the selected direction along the direction of movement of the tool. Before applying the next layer, the previous one must dry well. After painting is completed, all parts are screwed into place.

When covering an MDF facade with glisal, you first need to choose a color. To achieve an unusual shade, you can add a little paint of the color you like to the glissal. It will help to bring the solution to the desired consistency plain water. Before applying the composition to the MDF board, it is recommended to first try it on paper.

Staining with glisal is not difficult. You should stir the composition, put your hands in protective gloves, stock up on a sponge, a brush with soft bristles and a bag. Glizal is applied to the surface with a brush in a layer that is recommended to be of medium thickness. After applying the composition, apply a sponge to the still wet surface, achieving the formation of interesting bubbles. Their size depends on how large the pores of the sponge are. If you use a crumpled plastic bag rather than a sponge, you can get a beautiful texture on the surface, reminiscent of the bizarre patterns that frost leaves on windows in winter. You should make a textured pattern on the surface without waiting for the glitz to dry.

When the material dries after a week, you need to varnish the surface. It is better to choose a transparent varnish to highlight all the advantages of the glisal coating, and apply it in 1 layer. Finally, you need to return all furniture elements to their place.

Today MDF is considered popular and relatively available material, without which the production of kitchen panels and various furniture. At the same time, MDF is often painted, which makes the facade smoother and more wear-resistant. In addition, due to painting, the panels receive a deeper and bright color, which can be matched to your furniture.

Ordinary MDF panels can be made into interior decoration by simply painting them

Advantages and disadvantages of painting MDF panels

Painting of surfaces made from MDF is done not only for decorative, but also for protective purposes. The main advantages of painting panels yourself:

1. The coating is resistant to elevated temperatures, which allows you to place even hot dishes on the kitchen surface.
2. High-quality painting of MDF with enamel allows you to make the facade more refined and original, giving it unique design. For example, you can decorate your furniture interesting decor in the form of pearls, mother-of-pearl, metallic and so on. To achieve this, various fillers are added to the paint.
3. Safety for health, since only high-quality paints and varnishes are used.

Painted MDF panels not only look better, but are also more reliable and durable

Disadvantages of painting MDF panels:

• higher price compared to film coating;
• If you use low-quality paint, over time the painted facade may fade under the influence of sunlight.

Modern technology for painting MDF panels

Correct and high-quality painting must be carried out in compliance with all rules technological process. To work you will need paint, wood primer or polyurethane primer coating solution, as well as varnish.

In order for a painted facade to look beautiful and not deteriorate over time, certain temperature conditions must be observed. It is best if all processes take place at a temperature of about twenty degrees. At the same time, air humidity should be in the range from 50 to 80 percent. Humidity of wall wood panels should be 8-15%.

Before application paint and varnish materials they must be filtered using a 50-100 micron filter. It is advisable to filter twice if the paint has been stored for more than two weeks.

Selection of painting equipment

To paint MDF with your own hands, it is advisable to have a room of at least 40 square meters, equipped with a special chamber for painting and a place for grinding surfaces. In addition, storage space should be provided wooden blanks and finished panels.

Temperature in the room where the façade will be painted or internal surfaces, must be at least twenty degrees. It is best to equip the painting chamber with a hood and a rotating tabletop. The drying room for finished parts must have shelving. It is best to equip the place where you plan to sand with reliable vacuum cleaners.

Modern painting technology involves applying paints and primers using a pneumatic spray gun with a 1.5-2 mm nozzle and a receiver compressor with a capacity of at least 80 liters. If used, it is applied using a sprayer directly to the surface. It is best to grind parts using a vibrating sander. Polishing is carried out with an angular grinding machine.

Painting stages

Preparatory stage

On preparatory stage You need to pay great attention to the processing of the slab. To treat the surface to a glossy finish, you need to avoid raising the pile and eliminating embossing that occurred during the production process.

The MDF facade should be milled at maximum speed, which will avoid raising the pile. Because layer paint coating Since it is very thin, it is advisable not to leave sharp corners that can be easily knocked off. For cutting corners, it is best to use an edge cutter with a radius of about 3 mm.

To properly sand the MDF facade, it is necessary to remove the surface protective wax layer from the entire surface. An eccentric type grinder is best suited for this work. To process complex curves, it is advisable to use sandpaper. If you plan to paint MDF wall surfaces that include several component elements, then it is better to properly fill the joint gaps with a primer to fill the pores.

Surface priming

At the first stage, the most problematic relief areas are primed. After this, the edges of the panel are primed. At the final stage, the entire facade is treated with soil. Using a primer gun, apply the solution first longitudinally and then transversely. In this case, each subsequent layer is overlapped with the previous one by 50%. This is how not only the primer is carried out, but also the painting itself.

Most efficient technology Application of primer involves two stages. The first step is to use a spray gun to apply a layer of insulating primer. It should prevent the pile from rising and absorbing subsequent layers of paint. After this, you need to let the primer dry and sand the surface with P320-400 sandpaper.

The second step of priming is to apply polyurethane primer and let it dry for at least 10 hours. Next, the surface is ground, and Scotch-brite abrasive is used in places where milling bends are made.

For sanding after applying primer, it is recommended to use sandpaper number p320

Painting stage

To paint an MDF facade with high quality, you need to use a spray gun with paint consumption parameters of 60-200 g/sq. m. All other parameters of the device are set depending on the type of paint coating used. In this regard, before you paint the facade glossy, you need to thoroughly understand the instructions for using the paint.

Wet painting technology

After the priming stage, drying is carried out at a temperature not exceeding 35 degrees. The drying period is on average five hours. The wet painting method is carried out by applying a mixture with a thickness of 120 to 140 microns. It is advisable to use polyurethane paints and varnishes.

The paint is applied using a spray gun with a certain pressure. Application in two layers is also possible, but the surface should be sanded before applying the second layer. At the same time, the thickness of each layer should not be more than 120 microns. On next stage Several layers of polyester or polyurethane primer are applied to the MDF board, simultaneously with intermediate sanding. The final layer of glossy enamel must be polished.

When applying complex compositions of paints and varnishes with different special effects, they must be mixed well. This is necessary so that the decoration parts do not settle at the bottom of the jar.

In addition, it is necessary to provide for easy passage of decorative additives through the nozzle of the spray gun.

When painting and varnishing MDF surfaces, care should be taken to ensure that dust, insects or other debris does not fall on it. To remove them from a painted surface, you need to have tweezers with you. If you find smudges of primer or paint, they should be removed using a utility knife and emery cloth.

Using tweezers you can easily remove bugs, pieces of dirt and other stuck excess

Powder mixture for painting

The dry painting method involves applying a special paint called a powder mixture. The technique involves spraying dry microparticles onto the prepared surface. After this, the applied paint is heated until it begins to melt. The result is an almost ideal, flat surface.

Drying

The final stage of any painting is drying the panels. This procedure must be carried out under certain conditions. In particular, the air temperature should be no more than 50 degrees, and humidity less than 80%.

Drying time largely depends on conditions environment. Typically, it will take 5 to 10 hours to dry completely. In general, the lower the humidity and temperature, the faster the MDF board dries.

Conclusion

Thus, for high-quality painting MDF boards must comply with everything the necessary conditions. This process consists of several steps such as sanding, priming, painting and drying.

Painting of MDF products is carried out in two cases. The first is when application is required. protective coating, the second is for decoration purposes. In this case, various paint and varnish materials can be used. How to paint MDF will be discussed below.

Advantages of painting MDF

Currently, this material is actively used in the creation of furniture and interiors. And all of them are subject to painting, which acts as a decorative and finishing coating.

Its use provides the following advantages:

• The painted MDF element is not afraid of elevated temperatures - this makes it possible to use it in the kitchen, where hot dishes will be placed on it;
• Decorating in non-standard colors will help add brightness and originality to the interior of the room - it can be “metallic”, “mother of pearl” or other unusual colors;

• The absence of harmful chemical compounds is an undoubted advantage for painting MDF at home - the only condition for this is the use of high-quality paints and varnishes;
• Durability – applying paint can significantly extend the life of the product.

Of course, at this method There are also disadvantages to surface protection. They consist in the fact that the price of painting parts significantly exceeds the cost of covering such products with decorative film. In addition, exposure to sunlight may cause the painted surface to fade.

Materials for painting MDF

Since MDF is a wood product, it can be coated with almost any wood paint or varnish. But get it for real high-quality coating is possible only if specialized compounds are used.

These include:

• polyurethane primer,
• polyurethane paint,
• as well as varnish for MDF.

Let's talk about them in more detail.

Polyurethane primer

When thinking about how to paint MDF panels, you need to first take care of priming the products. It will prevent paint from being absorbed into the material, thereby reducing its consumption.

In this case, you will need a special polyurethane primer for water based. It will hide the texture of the material and create a layer with high hardness and adhesion. In addition, the resulting coating will be smooth and easy to sand.

It is best to apply this primer using a sprayer. If it is not available, you can use a roller or brush. Subsequent drying takes 8-10 hours and is carried out at room temperature.

Advice! For achievement best result this procedure must be carried out in full accordance with the instructions established by the instructions for use of this composition.

Polyurethane enamel on MDF

Compared to other paints and varnishes, it has the following advantages:

• the coating obtained with its help is wear-resistant and chemically resistant;
• has no odor because it does not contain volatile components;
• Can be used to paint components intended for both indoor and outdoor use.

It is produced by various manufacturers. In great demand uses products from Italian brands Sirka and Sivam. Their popularity among polyurethane materials for MDF is similar to that of Zinga electrically conductive paint, among compositions for anti-corrosion metal treatment.

This polyurethane paint can be two- or one-component. The first type requires the addition of a hardener to it before use.

The second variety does not require such an additive and is available in ready-to-use form. Both types are applied by spray, roller or brush.

These coloring compositions, as well as fire-retardant metal paints Polistil, are sold in special metal buckets. Their weight can range from 1 to 25 kilograms.

Along with the above-mentioned brands Sirk and Sivam, other brands such as Tikkurila and Teknos are also popular. But they are all quite expensive.

Therefore, if necessary, paint materials from other, less well-known manufacturers can be used instead. Or use cheaper alkyd enamels rather than polyurethane enamels.

It is also worth paying attention to acrylic and oil paints. In particular, when deciding how to paint an MDF arch, you can take a closer look at domestic acrylic compositions.

Advice! Choose moisture-resistant dyes. The product coated with them can be easily washed in the future, which is very convenient.

Varnish on MDF

The use of MFDs for furniture production has become very popular and in demand. Due to the fact that the material has a relatively low price, anyone can afford it. Now almost no kitchen or wardrobe can be produced without MDF panels. That is why painting the material is considered the most the best option external design and protection of MDF furniture. I myself was puzzled by the issue of updating the furniture in my apartment, so I studied the technology and all the possible difficulties that arise when painting the material.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of products after painting?

For this process, it is important not only to choose the right paint for MDF, but also to understand what properties you are achieving by painting it yourself. If we talk about the advantages, I highlighted the following:

• For kitchen furniture the property of resistance to influence increases elevated temperature– and this is so important for surfaces on which we place hot dishes every day
• Using various fillers and color solutions, you can make the interior of the room not only elegant, but also individual. After the work is completed, none of your friends will have such a unique design.
• Only high-quality paints are used to paint MDF products. Therefore, there is no need to worry about harm to your health.
• Undoubtedly, the reliability and durability of furniture increases due to such events

Although the advantages immediately indicate the need to run to the store and buy paint and tools for DIY painting, you should know some disadvantages:

1. If you compare paint and film coating, then the second option will be cheaper. Therefore, in order to save money, you should think about the design method
2. If you save on paint, the service life of such a coating may decrease several times. This is due to the fact that low-quality paints lose their color under the influence ultraviolet rays and other negative factors

Main requirements for quality work

If you decide, like me, to paint MDF with your own hands, then remember that the key to a successful job is the correct sequence and compliance with all painting technologies.

Before you start, you should stock up on the following list of materials:

1. High quality paint for MDF
2. Primer for wood, or polyurethane primer
3. Varnish – to fix the coating and add shine

Painting of panels should take place in optimal climatic conditions - it is best if the room temperature is about 20 degrees Celsius, but the humidity level does not exceed 50-80%. The room in which the decoration will be carried out should be well ventilated.

In my case, I had everything at hand necessary tools to facilitate the dyeing process. This is a spray gun for spraying paint onto a surface, a grinding machine and an attachment for subsequent polishing of the material. Of course, without these tools, you will be able to do the painting yourself, but the duration of the process will increase significantly.

MDF panel painting technology

Before painting MDF panels, you need to prepare the surface. This is probably one of those processes that is used for any finishing works and almost always must be performed at the proper level.

The MDF needs to be milled so that the pile does not rise after painting. In addition, the paint is never applied in too thick layers, which means that sharp corners will be easy to knock off. To avoid such an incident, do not leave sharp corners. To remove the wax layer from the surface I used grinder. My furniture did not have complex parts or curves, but if you have such, then use sandpaper in addition. With its help, you can manually walk through hard-to-reach places.

Important! Wall panels MDF for painting also needs preparation. For a complete coating of paint, putty all the joints of the panels and then sand them.

Priming follows the principle: difficult areas first, and then everything else. Correct application consists of longitudinal and then transverse application. By the way, layers of paint are also applied according to this principle. I applied the paint using a spray gun whose consumption was in the range of 60-200 g/m2. You can select the remaining parameters yourself, based on the type of dye. Always pay attention to studying the instructions that come with the manufacturer's paint. After painting is done, all you have to do is wait for the coating to dry and then apply finishing layer varnish

Painting MDF

Always have tweezers or a needle handy. The fact is that when painting MDF, a speck or midge may get onto the surface, which will need to be removed using these available means.

If you don’t have a spray gun at hand, then use the usual rollers and brushes. In some cases, many people use aerosol cans with paint, but their cost is overpriced compared to other paints. It should be remembered that the ability to install panels for painting in a horizontal position allows the paint to be applied as correctly and efficiently as possible, without creating smudges. If such a case does not arise, then paint with brushes and rollers as carefully as possible and do not take a lot of paint at once.

Do not apply one layer, but a thick layer of primer or paint. It will be much better if you make several, but thin layers. Remember that you must wait until the previous layer has completely dried, otherwise you may ruin the entire coating and will have to be content with what you got. Temperature for drying, MDF should not exceed 50 degrees, but we all understand that the ideal temperature would be no more than 35 degrees, and the humidity should be less than 80%. On average under optimal climatic conditions complete drying occurs in 5-10 hours, but it would be a good idea to leave the material to dry for a day.

If you have a smudge, then after drying, remove it with a stationery knife and rub it with fine-grained sandpaper. During the varnishing process, this defect may become completely invisible.

Many people are mistaken in the opinion that the higher the temperature, the faster the drying process. In fact, at a temperature of 20 degrees, the MDF facade will dry faster than at 30 degrees. Therefore, you should not artificially increase the temperature in the room. Adhering to all standards for choosing paint and painting technologies MDF material, you will be able to do the work yourself and in the future give advice to your friends based on your own experience. I realized that there is nothing complicated in the process of painting furniture at home, but the use of only high-quality materials and tools speaks volumes about the quality of the coating and its appearance.

Perhaps there is not always enough money to update the interior. Painting MDF is a solution if the furniture frame is intact, but you want to transform or change the design. You can try to repaint the facade of the kitchen or other MDF furniture yourself.

Good that modern technologies and the materials allow painting MDF at home quite efficiently. Let's take a closer look at how to paint MDF facades with your own hands using standard technology.

Painting MDF facades is a rather labor-intensive process that requires patience and diligence. And also purchase quality materials, to get a good result. The materials used to make furniture are wood or furniture boards. IN Lately The use of MDF facades is becoming increasingly popular. To repaint furniture, you need to prepare materials that are standardly used for wood processing. These include:

• Sandpaper with varying degrees of abrasiveness.

• Masking tape.

• Equipment for painting facades (spray gun).

• Various compositions for degreasing, priming, painting.

Let us consider in detail what these materials are and what function they perform.

Sanding paper

For the process of sanding MDF boards, ordinary sandpaper is used. It is used with varying degrees of abrasiveness and on various stages. In each individual case, the sandpaper grit changes. MDF is a fibreboard that is processed similarly to wood. Thus:

• When preparing the surface for priming, we will use 220-280 grit sandpaper.

• To remove uneven application of primer, use sandpaper with an abrasiveness of 320.

• Final sanding before painting is done with 500 grit sandpaper.

For ease of work, you can use sandpaper with a foam or felt base.

Sprayer for painting

You can paint MDF facades yourself using paint brushes or rollers. This is a completely acceptable option, but it will be impossible to achieve a flawless surface. Therefore, it is better to use paint sprayers to process MDF furniture with your own hands. In addition to the quality of application, the spray gun will make it possible to speed up the process.

Advice! Use paint sprayers for the priming process as well. This will significantly speed up the application of primer.

Paint sprayers are divided into two types: electric and pneumatic. You should also pay attention to the diameter of the spray rod. For painting MDF, rods with a diametrical cross-section of 1.2 - 1.3 mm should be used so that the painting material is applied in a very thin and uniform layer.

Degreasing agents

Very important point before starting painting furniture facades MDF, carry out the surface degreasing procedure. If you ignore this process, then after completing all the stages, defects may be discovered that can only be corrected by doing everything completely again. Degreasing of MDF facades is carried out using compounds that contain organic solvents. Such products successfully remove various oils and fats. They also work well with polyorganosilicones.

Types of primers

Furniture facades cannot be painted without a priming process. This is also one of the guarantees of high-quality work. It is priming that will ensure reliable adhesion of the surface of the facades with paint and paint compositions. You can use several types of primer that are also suitable for MDF surfaces:

• for plastic surfaces;

• epoxy;

• steam-filling.

Surfaces from natural wood It is not recommended to use epoxy primer. And prime MDF boards one by one with all primers: plastic, epoxy, vapor-filling.

Painting materials

There are two types of enamel paint for MDF:

• alkyd based;

• on acrylic base.

The first is a derivative of alkyd resins. You can quickly paint MDF panels with this paint, since after application to the surface it quickly hardens when optimal temperatures and degree of humidity. Costs less than acrylic, but requires final varnishing.

Acrylic enamels are more convenient when working with MDF, since they absolutely do not require applying a varnish layer. After treating the surface of this type of paint, an ideal glossy layer is immediately formed.

On video: MDF painting technology.

How to prepare MDF facades for painting

Painting MDF with enamel requires very careful preparation. How responsibly to approach this process, depends on the quality of the enamel coating.

It consists of several points that must be performed correctly.

Removing old coating

An important tip that we pay attention to: you cannot apply paint for kitchen facades or other pieces of furniture to painted MDF. The adhesion of the layers will be very weak and the new coating will peel off very quickly. To avoid negative consequences, preliminary MDF processing. Before painting the product, it is necessary to remove the old gloss using coarse sandpaper. It is not necessary to completely remove the gloss; you can simply disrupt its integrity in such a way that grooves are formed over the entire area, which can increase the adhesion of materials.

Primer work

The technology for painting MDF with primers consists of several stages. But do not forget that before repainting the furniture and treating it with a primer, the surface should be degreased.

After the degreasing process, do not touch the surface with your hands.

• The process begins by priming with a primer for plastic surfaces. Experts recommend starting from the ends and hard to reach places. Priming of this type applied in two layers. Each subsequent one only after the previous one has completely dried.

To achieve a uniform color, both with paint and primer, it is necessary to apply each subsequent layer perpendicular to the strokes of the previous one.

• The next primer is epoxy. Apply 1 or 2 layers. Drying should be done at optimal conditions at least a day.
• The next layers are vapor-filling primer. This substance is tinted, so it is necessary to choose it correctly. If you plan to use light-colored paint, then the primer should be white. In the case where the surface is smooth, one layer of primer is sufficient. Otherwise, we evaluate it based on the density and condition of the kitchen façade.

Final sanding

On last stage To prepare MDF for painting, it is necessary to sand it. To do this, use sandpaper with the finest grain.

Moreover, you don’t need to press it too hard so as not to disturb the primer layers. If, after all, after sanding, areas with open pores have opened, then they are treated with a one-component putty.

The final sanding process is also important, as it removes excess putty and the orange peel that the primer layers form.

Paint application instructions

Before painting MDF, it is necessary to clean the surface from any dust that remains after finishing sanding. It is better to do this by degreasing. Next we present detailed description technologies for painting MDF facades. Is it possible to do the work when painting MDF with your own hands using a paint brush? I guess, yes. But the result will not be perfect. So, they repaint the furniture according to this algorithm:

• The first rule: prepare the dye for application according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• We fill the sprayer and adjust its operation so that the capture area is small. This will allow you not to waste extra material and paint more thoroughly.
• The process of applying the coloring material also begins with the most problem areas, and then move on to the main area.
• It is better to apply several layers. The painted products are dried at intervals of about 20 minutes.

If you have no experience working with a spray gun, then it is necessary to carry out training work on some test workpiece.

In the video: mistakes when painting with a spray gun.

After painting the MDF, it should be coated with furniture varnish, which allows you to create a gloss. The process is exactly the same as when applying paint. But you should prepare for it more carefully. The room in which work is performed must be perfectly clean. If the workshop is dusty during varnishing, then it will be difficult to achieve a mirror gloss.