Question about painting shelves

[DPrime]

Hey there, didn't know where else to ask this, thought this might be the best place.

I recently started painting some Billy shelving units black - which I know now is more trouble than it's worth. They look pretty slick now, I gotta admit, but it was a big pain in the ass, and now they're a little bit sticky. It's not so bad for collectibles, but anything paper gets stuck and will tear if I leave it there too long and try and take it off.

Is there anyway to fix this? Eventually, I'm going to get custom shelves done after I get posted out in a couple years and get a new house, but right now I don't want to flip the bill for that. Is there a spray or something I can use?

 

[FACEBOX]

Sounds to me like it isn't dry, or didn't cure.
I recommend that you leave them out in the sun and/or spray some sealant over it. You probably put on too much paint at once.
The best thing to do is to paint on very thin layers at a time. Sometimes requiring as much as 7 thin layers. This way the paint has time to dry.

If you don't let it dry soon, dust will start to stick to it and you'll never be able to remove it.

 

[DPrime]

Sounds to me like it isn't dry, or didn't cure.
I recommend that you leave them out in the sun and/or spray some sealant over it. You probably put on too much paint at once.
The best thing to do is to paint on very thin layers at a time. Sometimes requiring as much as 7 thin layers. This way the paint has time to dry.

If you don't let it dry soon, dust will start to stick to it and you'll never be able to remove it.

Yeah, I'm hoping that's part of it, and it just goes away in time.

It's not super-sticky or anything, not to the touch anyway. I had this happen in the old apartment, when a Transformer that was still in the box was sitting on a shelf for a long time, and when I tried moving it a little of the box surface came off. This was one of those closet type shelves that had been painted by the super long before I moved it, so it must have been dry... I just hope this isn't the case with these because I'll have nothing to put my books in.

 

[stinkowhiff]

Did you use a primer coat of something like Kilz over the original finish? If not, I'd recommend you go back and do this.

After you prime and paint, you'll want to put two coats of a sealer on it. If you're using latex paint, you'll want to pick up a clear, water based polycrlyic.

It's more work up front, but it will be much better results in the long run.

Bob

 

[DPrime]

Did you use a primer coat of something like Kilz over the original finish? If not, I'd recommend you go back and do this.

After you prime and paint, you'll want to put two coats of a sealer on it. If you're using latex paint, you'll want to pick up a clear, water based polycrlyic.

It's more work up front, but it will be much better results in the long run.

Bob

Thanks for the advice, but at this point I'm just gonna say screw it and leave it. I've put some of that rubber matting on it so my GI Joe stuff doesn't stick long-term, and just get some custom shelves made in a few years when I'm posted out of here.

Lesson learned!