Chalk paint wax how to#
Chalk paint wax plus#

Yes, it’s an investment and much more expensive than your average brush. I have the basic flap top brush from Annie Sloan. Waxing Basicsįirst, invest in a good wax brush. So to get started I thought it would be helpful to share a basic step-by-step process of how you actually use the clear wax, in case you are brand new to the process. Keep in mind I’m not an expert in this area, but I’ve used it a few years now and this is the technique I was taught from our local store.

Chalk paint wax plus#

Plus clear wax works to intensify the color of your piece while sealing and protecting it. Annie Sloan also carries dark wax, but I personally love the clear because it’s super easy to use once you get the hang of it. To follow that up today I am sharing my tips and tricks for using Annie Sloan clear wax.

I’ll tell you a secret…you can learn EVERYTHING we teach in a workshop just by reading her books.A few weeks ago I shared my top 10 chalk painting tips.

Chalk paint wax how to#

You will gain an appreciation for the many varied techniques simply by playing with the paint and wax and exploring the variations of how to create a multitude of looks! And, of course invest in Annie Sloan’s amazing books. Now…of course, there are other ways to do it! When I teach a workshop, we talk about wet distressing, how to distress using nothing more than a wax brush and some water, the benefits of distressing with an electric sander, course sandpaper versus fine sandpaper…and so on. Distressing AFTER you wax doesn’t have to be cumbersome or “hard.” If you wait too long to distress your piece, you will have to work much harder to remove the paint. You will have an easier time of it if you distress immediately after you paint and wax…before the paint has had a chance to thoroughly dry and begin its curing process. When you distress your furniture after you apply your initial coat of wax, you don’t want to wait a day or two to do so. Whereas, if you distress after you wax, the end result will be less varied. When the wax is applied and then polished off, those distressed edges will have a higher sheen than the rest of the piece. The result is an irregular paint finish that is smooth in some places and more textured in others (as a result of brush strokes). Meaning, when you distress before you apply the wax, the sand paper is not only removing paint along the edges, but also smoothing out the paint finish around the distressed area.

You have a consistent finish when distressing after you wax.

I’ve seen and heard of people who have distressed their pieces before they waxed and lamented that “too much paint came off.” When distressing after you wax, you can be much more intentional about taking off just the right amount of paint in the right places without over-doing it. Annie Sloan Paint is VERY EASY to work off.

You have much more control over your distressing by doing it after you wax.

It is a much cleaner process! Wax tends to hold in the dust from the sanding itself keeping an extremely limited amount of free-floating particulates in the air that would otherwise be all over the place if you distressed before you waxed.

So, let’s talk about the advantages of distressing after you wax. You can read all about how Annie distresses on pages 12-50 using a variety of methods