UKC

Evening, all.

I'm currently re-doing the shelving inside a wardrobe and have painted the inside of it with white silk emulsion - it was previously somewhat battered trade matt from the builders.

I've done this partly to use up some I had in the garage, partly because the wardrobe is a bit dark inside and I thought silk would reflect more light and brighten it up and partly because thought it would be smoother against the clothes that will be hanging in there than matt.

It's been on there for over a week, but still seems to feel slightly "tacky" if you press on it with fingers or anything smooth and I'm now a bit worried that anything like a leather jacket might stick to it in there.

I should mention that I've been leaning against it in jeans and jumper today without apparent incident and the wardrobe is on an exterior wall, so it does get cold in there.

Am I being unduly concerned or should I rub it back and re-paint with matt?

Maybe it's really, really stiff snow?

I’d stick a fan heater in there for a few hours and see what it’s like after. Or a dehumidifier.

Paint goes "off" over time and this accelerates if it is subject to temperature fluctuations e.g., in a garage. It can be quiet quick e.g., paint left in the back of a decorators van can go "off" if it freezes overnight. Going "off" mean a bad smell and it doesn't dry properly.

I got bitten by this a month ago - I painted a window frame with some F&B eggshell that had been in my garage for a few years. Wouldn't dry properly and had a funny smell. My wife had an allergic reaction to the smell and even though I removed as much of the paint as I could and overpainted with Zinser 123 Bin Aqua (masks smells/stains and is trace VOC) she can't go into the bathroom without her eyes running and her face swelling up!

I'd never even thought of blaming 'paint'.... That's a great tip, thanks.

Not that - bought earlier this year for painting a ceiling.

tbh, I tried F&B once after my Uncle recommended it - never again! According to the paint chap in my local Homebase, most painters won't touch it and come in to get Dulux mixed to the customer's required F&B shade!

Emulsion does take time to properly cure also. It will be touch dry/dustable within a day but they say not to fix anything to it or knock it or owt for at least a month after painting.

Second this - I also got caught out with some old emulation, stuff doesn’t last like it used to once opened 

Interesting.  We had a few rooms painted around a year ago and one of the paints, a mix from B&Q, has remained with a slightly different feel all this time. It is less tacky than it was, but still doesn't feel quite right. Hopefully yours will settle quickly. 

If that's their Valspar range, I tried that once in our old dining room (they had a shade that was a really good match for the curtains) and it was awful - horrible to apply, didn't really stick properly and seemed to want to peel off in a sheet when it got knocked!

That's what I'm hoping, but I can't really wait that long to get on with the job - it really needs a second coat, which I'm hoping to get on this evening.

Perhaps I'll put the fan heater in there to speed up the cure - as mentioned, it is an outside wall, so colder in there.

I've already put some trunking in to get on with the electrics for the lights and it looks like the LED driver unit has already stuck where I screwed it in! Shouldn't be an issue, as not planning on taking any of them out - and if the driver unit needs replacing, any damage will be out of sight anyway.

Emulsion is sticky on shelving. It’s not the right type of paint for that surface. You need a paint that is suitable for that type of surface. 

I've only painted the interior walls, which are plasterboard - the shelves will be white-faced chipboard.

It's the stuff that could be brushing against the back wall that I'm anxious about.

F&B is absolutely rubbish. I won't have in the house. Little Green Intelligent Emulsion for walls and Oil Based Flat Eggshell for woodwork.

Did you stir the paint properly? This can be the culprit.

Pretty sure that's the one....awful stuff!