Painted desk is still tacky after two months

Question

I am admittedly new to DIY and especially painting furniture, this being my first project. I put together a custom desk two months ago using a laminate IKEA countertop. I followed the instructions most often repeated for painting laminate pieces like this: first I cleaned and sanded the countertop, then went in with two coats of primer ("the red" Zinsser) and then three coats of paint (acrylic latex interior paint), sanding in-between each application of primer and paint and allowing 12 hours for the primer to dry and 6-12 hours for the paint, just depending on when I got around to painting.

As mentioned, it's been two months since then and the countertop is still tacky. It doesn't feel tacky when you touch it, but if I place anything on it for even 10 minutes there is a noticeable peel when I go to pick it up. I placed a stack of papers on the desk and two days later the bottom piece of paper was very stuck, so much so that small bits of paper tore away and were stuck onto the desk when I peeled it off.

Is two months not long enough for the paint to fully cure? Did I just use the wrong kind of paint? Am I safe to just put a topcoat/sealer on it now?

Answer 1

Old paint, thick layers, cold or humid work area / storage all contribute to this problem. This also extends the drying time between layer application, meaning that even 24 hrs might not have been enough. This is a well known problem with painting doors and trims: they can take months to harden if for instance paint was applied in a rush in a basement type environment.

Two layers of primer on an already sealed (counter top) surface certainly make it hard to dry, and it won't start to cure until it's dry. It's possible that moisture from underneath layers is keeping the top from curing. This also risks incomplete curing, keeping the finished paint soft when finally dried.

You could wait, or use a trick from the art world by applying a varnish overtop. Since this is a working surface I would first let it dry & cure in a warm area, and if that is not satisfactory, strip it and try over.

Answer 2

When painting laminates and other hard to paint surfaces you typically want to use a bonding primer, these will penetrate the substrate and allow for better adhesion of your topcoat.

From the sounds of it, the primer wasn't completely cured before adding a second coat, when the first coat isn't dry and you add an additional layer, we call this "stacking". What happens is, instead of forming two layers, they become one, thick layer which can take even longer to dry.

My suggestion would be to strip it either chemically or by sanding. Get back to a raw surface, apply a single coat of bonding primer and allow it to fully cure before apply one or two coats of the acrylic. If you're brushing or rolling the top coat and you're looking for a smooth surface be sure to get a soft bristle brush or a tight nap roller cover such as a 1/4 microfiber and maybe add some floetrol which will act as a self leveler, removing brush strokes and lessening any roller stipple.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Best off to scrape off all the paint, let the residue cure for a couple of days, then apply coats of paint more slowly.

The problem is that "environmentally friendly, low odour" products are usually a water based paint - before the chemical reactions that cause paint to harden, the water (or in the olden days the hydrocarbon solvent) has to evaporate. Then the chemical hardening reactions will happen. So drying times may be longer.

Wait days between coats..

Using some solvent based paints applied too thickly can also have the issue that the paint forms a chemical skin sealing the solvent in to the paint - I can remember some heavily painted metal where I pressure washed it three months after application, and sticky flakes of paint blew off ..

Try not to put on coats of paint too heavily.

Answer 4

I have seen this happen (beyond what's already been mentioned) when the paint was not properly mixed and like what's been mentioned, either to many layers were applied or each previous layer was not totally dry before applying the next layer. This usually happens mostly to horizontal flat surfaces versus vertical surfaces but can happen in both cases. What you can do next is take your fingernail and press onto the paint in a few spots one of which should be the exact center of the largest area painted. If you can easily leave a dent, or even if the paint feels "mushy" it will likely never dry because you have sealed off air to the resins that would evaporate to dry the paint. Easily dented paint is removed, as others have suggested best by scraping. You will want to be careful with scraping so you don't gouge the underlying laminate. But, at the end of the day, even this can be remedied with filler and paint. You are, afterall, covering up the orginal material. If you can't dent the paint, sanding with coarse grit may remove the layer or layers that are not dry. Then, you can test with paper like you did before to ensure things don't stick. If they dont, you are free to paint with the topcoat/color layer. If they do, the is a slight chance the resins interacted with the laminate seemingly "melting" making that stickness. Two layers of dry paint are foiled by an underneath layer of wet paint. Paint is sticky when it's not dry so just keep that in mind as you try to resolve. For me personally, I would not add another coat of anything with out getting a solid base underneath. I liken this to pouring concrete on top of mud, sure the concrete will set and be just fine even if the mud never dries. This isn't a perfect example I know but one I thought of quickly enough to type.

Answer 5

My parents have some furniture like that. It was tacky in the 70's and remains tacky to this day...

Before you throw in the towel see if you can rest a plastic trash bag on the surface without sticking or leaving a mark.

My friend complains about his wife buying a black front door because its hot as hell in the summer. It was even warm in 40 degree weather when the sun was on it.

You could try cutting up some trash bags and loosely taping a layer of black over it and leaving it in the sun. If you find wetness its likely from the paint (air is dry in winter).

Don't know if this will work but its almost free to try as a last resort.

Answer 6

I have a huge pet peeve about people painting furniture, cabinets, or other wood surfaces that typically get touched often, with Latex paint. Latex paint with always be "soft". That means it will always be susceptible to humidity, scuffing, scratching and gouging by anything that touches it. It will also always have a mildly tacky tactile sensation to the surface rather than a smooth, hard, enamel finish. An easy solution that is way better these days is to use "cabinet" paint, which is an Alkyd enamel paint. It is still water-based for easy cleanup, and while not as hard when cured as traditional oil-based paint, it results in a much harder and better feeling finish than Latex paint. I recommend limiting the use of Latex paint to "soft" surfaces (dry wall, plaster etc.) or surfaces that are not intended for regular touch or contact with other surfaces or objects.